Said no one.
If there’s anything harder than trying to work, be creative and stay motivated in a Brisbane heatwave, Studio Culture wants to know about it.
Sure, we might get to work in the relative comfort of an air-conditioned office, but when summer is as invasive and all-encompassing as it is here, there’s no getting away from the feeling of only ever running at half-speed.
The “summer slump”
It’s a simple fact of life that productivity suffers in the summer months. Hotter temperatures are just a natural drain on everyone’s energy and concentration levels. Everything from productivity to attendance, to overall accuracy and performance, is liable to suffer throughout summer.
How to actually deal with it
It might simply be that there is no real way to deal with the especially insane heat waves we’re treated to in Brisbane – particularly the one we’re expected to get this week. But here are a just a few tips that anyone can follow – give them a try and maybe they’ll help.
Wake up & get going early
This one’s a challenge, but it actually works – when you wake up maybe an hour before you usually would, you give yourself much more time to avoid the crushing level of heat that inevitably starts bubbling up around mid-morning.
No one likes getting to work earlier than necessary, but even if you start even half an hour earlier, you’ll find yourself in a better frame of mind; you’ll reserve more energy for your work because you’ll have avoided trekking to work in the heat.
Eat how you want to feel: nice & light
There’s nothing worse than feeling a carb-coma envelop your soul immediately post-lunch. Even if it’s a Monday and you’re as fresh as you possibly can be, the draining nature of summer makes it harder for us to digest food, full stop.
The solution? You don’t have to diet, and you don’t have to forgo your favourite foods. All you have to do is keep your lunches light. We’re talking salads, lean meats, nuts, more low-carb stuff. No more falling asleep at 2 pm. Your body will thank you.
Prioritise more pedantically than usual
Get the important and more complex stuff out of the way, first thing in the morning. That’s when your brain’s able to flex its muscles properly. No use leaving the tricky tasks till later, when it’s pretty much fried and looking for the nearest exit.
Rediscover the meaning of “taking a break”
Do all the usual stuff you need to do when you take breaks in the office. Get up, walk around a little, stretch. BUT. You need to also try and enjoy the weather because it’s summer! Make the most of it.
Go for a swim on the weekend, or even at the end of your work day. Take little trips away. Enjoy the occasional few hours spent in an air conditioned mall or a cinema. That stuff ain’t bad for you, so go ahead and treat yourself.
Keep fit
It may be tempting to just come straight home after work, blast the air conditioning, fix yourself to the couch, and burn through a lifetime’s worth of Netflix, but you just can’t do that if you care about your long-term wellbeing.
There’s no need to cancel your gym membership just because the weather’s going insane. Go there earlier, or later, whatever suits. You’ll feel way better than you will if you just skip out.
More water, less coffee
This one may be hard for some of us, but it’s actually the right thing to do for your health. Caffeine may be great for the occasional mental boost, but it’s also powerful in its ability to dehydrate the heck out of you.
Three cups a day is pushing it, but if coffee is essential to your work process, just make sure you’re drinking a really significant amount of water (which you should already be doing anyway in these hotter months).
Good luck!
All these tips are beneficial for your health, no matter the season. But if you stick with them, you’ll be able to maintain a decent level of productivity and creativity in even the most dismal Brisbane heatwave imaginable – that is, of course, in between all of the good times you should no doubt try and cram in.
