3 Rites Before Coding That Increase My Productivity

Inspired by neuroscience researches

I’m a proud fan of science. Neuroscience and psychology are my favorites.

Also, I’m an employee in a big tech company. My core responsibilities there are to develop products and write code. Frankly speaking — to use my brain as well as I can.

What are the chances that my job performance can be complemented by science passion? — Pretty high!

I’ve found a way to increase my personal efficiency while coding. Based on the neuroscience researches, which I love so much. It took me years of investigation and experimenting. But here are the astonishing results.

3 rituals that I perform at the opening of each working day.

Warm Up Your Brain

Your brain works 24/7. So you may say that it is “warmed up” all the time. But it’s essential to understand that brain has different operating modes.

Watching Netflix and doing mental calculations activate distinct brain departments.

Switching these modes is an energy-consuming task. Plus, it requires extra time. That’s why you need to give a hint to the brain, explaining what to expect. Prepare yourself for work. Pump some extra blood.

This way process gonna go smoother and faster. Here are the 3 most effective ways to do it.

1. Brainteasers

Any kind of task that requires mental effort to perform. Sudoku, mental arithmetic, quiz. Even refreshing in memory a verse you learned many years ago.

Personally, for me, it’s the worst way to warm up. It’s really complex to force yourself to do some math or quiz at 7 a.m. (the time when I prefer to start work)

Also, it requires extra materials and preparations to start. Clearly, this one is not the best.

2. Massage Your Neck and Ears

The massaging neck improves blood circulation in your head. This way, you give your brain more oxygen. And oxygen is one of 3 secret ingredients that make the brain function.

Besides that, ears have a tremendous amount of neuro centers. By massaging your ears, you activate different parts of your head cortex. It stimulates the entire brain and synchronizes its hemispheres.

3. Fingers workout

The principle here is like massaging ears. Our palms contain more than half of all neuro centers in the body. Triggering these centers, you warm up your brain.

Actually, it was pretty hard to find material in English about these exercises. I’ve learned them from an old Soviet Union psychology book, which I’ve already lost. And they were working pretty awesome for me. There is something more or less similar on YouTube. But it isn’t exactly what I mean. Soon I gonna write a separate article about it, with explanations and photos.

It requires fine motor skills to perform these exercises. As a result, you develop your motor skill while exercising.

Supply Your Brain With Resources

Your brain is only 2% of your body mass, but it consumes about 80% of the energy you have. So keeping yourself full of energy throughout the day is super important.

I’ve mentioned that oxygen is one of three mandatory ingredients to make your brain work. The other two are water and glucose. Keep these parameters high, and your brain will work like a charm.

Oxygen

You need to ventilate the work area at least a couple of times a day. Open windows, let the draft do the rest. Use these couple of minutes to stretch yourself.

Water

Your organism consists of 60% water. So drinking is a crucial concept to keep you alive and active. It’s best to have a cup of water, tea, or even coffee at your desk. Reward yourself with a small sip after completing every tiny part of work.

Glucose

Last but not least. Glucose is fuel to your brain. This component throughout complex chemical reactions in your body became pure energy. The simplest but not the healthiest way to get glucose is sugar.

It works great for me because I don’t like sweet stuff. No doughnuts, cakes, or anything else. So I eat sugary things only during my work. There is always a plate of candies at my desk. It works like a dope for me. Every time I eat MilkyWay or Mars, my brain gets both energy and dopamine.

Grab a Cup Of Green Tea

This one is a genuine rite for me. Everything from washing the teapot to making a fresh tea tunes me to work mood. It has something magical in the smell of freshly brewed tea.

Color matters here. Green tea is the best choice for performance, as it has a crazy amount of antioxidants. It keeps your brain in good shape throughout the working day. Energetic elements from tea are consumed by the body much longer than from coffee. Which gives your extra working time between cups.

Final thoughts

These were my 3 rituals to increase my productivity during the working day as a developer. Feel free to try it and write feedback, did it help you or not.

Please share your life hacks and thoughts in the comments below.

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