We all have times where we don’t feel like doing what we know we need to do. I didn’t get enough sleep last night, so today was one of those days. I’ll often try to push through lack of sleep and get distracted and not get much done. Today was a mix, it wasn’t my worst day, it wasn’t my best day. Here are my five things that I should do instead of “just pushing through”. Whenever I do them, my work won’t be perfect, but it will be much better.

#1. Drink some water. It helps your brain to work properly and remember things.

#2. Eat some food. If I don’t have an afternoon snack, I tend to not work well because my blood sugar gets low.

#3 Go for a walk. Exercises helps us feel better, and focus. It is also great for our health.

#4. Take a nap. This goes double for days when I didn’t get enough sleep. I set a timer to keep my naps from 5-20 minutes because I heard that 20-30 minutes is where you can start to get both a groggy sensation upon waking and might interfere with your sleep if you have trouble sleeping at night like me.

#5. Posture. Having good posture, especially while typing, helps me maintain energy.

Drinking water, eating food, going for a walk, taking a nap and using good posture all help us maintain good energy. And real productivity is more about managing energy than time. Please let me know in the comments what you do on days when you don’t feel like doing what you need to.