For my fifth blog post, I have decided to explore my last sub question which many focuses on the other factors that may influence our mental health and performance aside from sleep. I wanted to know if any other factors in our day to day life play a large roll such as nutrition, physical activity, social connected, and stress shape how we perform daily when completing tasks. In the previous posts, we have seen that sleep is the main factor that drives our performances, but research also shows that there are also other factors that are just as critical.
Many believe that as they get enough sleep, they are able of doing everything needed to perform at their very best every day. This is incorrect as the quality of our nutrition, level of physical activity, and strength of our social connections play a major role when it comes to seeing how we can perform daily (3). Even with great amounts of sleep, having a poor diet that lacks essential nutrients does not allow our brains to function at its best. Our brain needs these nutrients to regulate our emotions and to sustain energy throughout the day. As we explored in previous posts, our brains heavily rely on sleep when it comes to regulating our emotions; however our emotions are also controlled by these other factors as well (1). Without the basic foundations of our lives, we are unable to perform at our best no matter is long quantities of quality sleep are considered.
for adolescents around our age, the impact of poor nutrition and physical inactivity are overly underestimated when it comes to our academic performance. research shows that students who consistently skip meals or rely on high sugar diets often struggle with staying focused, memory retention, and problem solving which is critical for our day to day lives(2). This is due to the lack of stable food, and our blood lacking certain key factors such as omega-3 fatty acids and iron, which are needed for the brain to actively support focus and cognitive processing (1). If these nutritional needs are not met, learning is not as easy as it should be. What we put into our bodies matters a lot when it comes to our schooling.
The same factors apply to adults in the workplace. Poor nutrition and stress have been directly linked to reduced concentration, slower reaction time, and a greater chance of making mistakes on the job (4). Even though someone that is working may seem present, it is often the opposite as they are operating at a very low rate below what they should be. Studies have shown that workers who experience chronic stress without proper coping strategies are more likely to experience burnout, lower job satisfaction, and reduced productivity over time (3). This is regardless of how many hours they have worked, but rather how well their mental and physical health has been (3).
The effects of poor nutrition, inactivity, or social isolation can be very subtle as they have small effects that quietly affect our days and our performances. Some may feel like they are functioning fine while still missing critical factors that are needed for the brain to be able to perform at its best every day (4). Common habits that damage our mental performance include common behaviours such as skipping breakfast, spending long periods without movement, and self isolation (5). Inconsistent patters that could cause a drop in our mental performances could be irregular meal timing, lack of outdoor activity, and time spent with family and friends (5). Each of these factors contribute on their own to reduce our ability to focus and retain information and perform at our best whether it is at work or school.
Improving these habits does not require large changes in our lives. All that is needed are small and consistent habits such as eating balanced meals throughout the day, incorporating physical activity, and maintaining regular social connection with others. All these factors can improve how mentally prepared we are and how we perform at our best (5). According to psychological association, addressing stress, nutrition and social connection alongside sleep leads to greater improvements in focus, mood, and productivity, which helps us do better in school and work in general (5). The goal is to not just focus on one area of health, but ensure that all areas of our lifestyle are actively supporting our mental performance.
Overall, performance is not only built through our dedication throughout the day, but it is also built around the habits and choices we make around nutrition, movement, stress, and social connection. The quality of these factors determines how capable we are to achieve our best work such as retaining information and showing up at our full potential. If we continue to treat these factors as unimportant in our routine, we will continue to wonder why our efforts are not improving.
- https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/mental-health
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5981249/
- https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-research-is-clear-long-hours-backfire-for-people-and-for-companies
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stress-and-mental-health-workplace-effects/
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/brain-food-improve-memory-and-focus
