Productivity may seem to be a broad term with a variety of meanings and definitions depending on one’s discipline or field. While an economist might not have a similar definition of productivity to an engineer, medical doctor, politician.

Whether the definitions differ or not, the question is.  Are your efforts really paying off or you are getting the results expected from the hard work?  Is the success maintainable or long term? If yes, then better. If no, then what are the barriers to your productivity and what are you doing to overcome them?

So in this article, I will discuss the brain, food and drugs, and their relationship with productivity.

I had to focus and include the brain because it’s the primary asset to productivity. I don’t give a damn whether you are a student, medical doctor, teacher, engineer, diplomat, singer, or an athlete, the truth is we all know what our brains mean to us as far as productivity is concerned.  And when I talk about the brain, I mean intelligence too. So now, I want us to look at what’s best for the brain to help us with the intelligence needed to make our work pay off.

Brain, food and drugs have always been hot topics ever since the late nineteenth century during the years of Francis Galton, Charles Darwin’s cousin whose work laid a foundation for modern scientific study of intelligence, 

From the IQ point of view, it is self-evident that some people are always more intelligent than others. Thanks to science which has always given us ways to better ourselves by improving our intelligence but there are barriers to having a high intelligence (IQ).

Heredity also influences the level of someone's IQ because the genes of intelligence are inherited from our parents. Research has been made on multiple numbers of twins which have shown that identical twins raised apart to get the same scores as non-identical twins raised together

So as far as intelligence is concerned, inheritance can be either an advantage or a disadvantage depending on your parents. Other factors that may be barriers are diet, educational background, and to some extent stimulation games. So in order to overcome these barriers, parents have to make sure their children are well-fed and educated.

While genes play a major part in intelligence, eliminating the aforementioned barriers would also improve it. So, protecting the brain and keeping it healthy would to some extent alter intelligence to our advantage.

Surely, intelligence is a necessary tool in our lives today. A student will stay up all night studying for an exam in order to get a nice grade, a footballer will train hard and study the game in order to win a game, a surgeon will apply for the necessary scientific discoveries and technological advances in order to make sure the surgery is a success and save a life.

Influence of drugs and foods on the brain

It’s also self-evident that not a few people today have devoted themselves to drugs in order to enhance productivity. Caffeine and nicotine have been shown to increase alertness and concentration for shorter periods of time by increasing performance close to your maximum IQ.

The so-called “smart drugs” have also been manufactured by pharmaceuticals whereby various studies have reported extensive use of the drugs.

A recent study on the prevalence of substance abuse among students in the University of Port Harcourt’s host communities in Nigeria found out that the total number of drug abuse was 35.33%.

The study also showed that the most commonly abused substances by the students were alcohol 90.57%, Nicotine 39.62%, and the least abused drugs were heroin and cocaine being 1.89% respectively.

The reported causes of drugs include ignorance about the dangers inherent with drug abuse, peer pressure, the need to cope with academic challenges, social acceptance of some drugs e.g. alcohol, lack of parental care, desire to feel popular among colleagues among others.

Well, as long as drugs have not proven effective as an aid in altering productivity for a long period of time then they are not the best choice.

So the best options to protect your brain from assaults such as head injuries, chronic illnesses, smoking and alcoholism are one way to enhance its effectiveness.

Another best way is by eating healthy foods to stay healthy since it enhances brain activity. Physical exercise has also been proven to enhance brain activity by boosting the cardiovascular system thus making a healthy mind.

Brain training or the so-called mental exercise is another factor that enhances brain activity when you want to master a particular skill that you are practicing.

Several books have been written on brain-training through practice such as Gladwell’s Outliers and Robert Greene’s Mastery.

Other books such as Cal Newport’s Deep Work and James Clear’s Atomic Habits have proven techniques on how to avoid distractions during work, building productive habits and breaking bad habits including drug abuse and alcoholism thus enhancing productivity.