Those of you who work full time jobs or run your own businesses will no doubt be aware of the concept of ‘crunch.’ This is a time when getting out a product or service on time, meeting a client deadline, or simply achieving a set goal for yourself will be so important that everything else in your life revolves around this for a period.
You may be working much overtime during this period, or you may be doubling up on your responsibilities. This may even be something of a new normal for you if running a startup or other enterprise that requires your wit and will to develop against heavy competition.
That said, even if (and especially if) you’re encountering work ‘crunch,’ it’s important to take care of yourself. Take breaks where necessary, make sure you get good sleep, and it’s essential to make sure you’re eating well and staying hydrated. In this post, we’ll discuss this latter point, regarding how to eat well in a convenient and comfortable manner despite your attentions lying elsewhere:
Preparing Proper Meals In Advance
Meal prep can be a fantastic and useful measure to utilize when trying to focus on your work. This isn’t to say you should necessarily keep working through your lunch hour of course, you are afforded this break legally, and should take it.
That said, you may wish to eat without worrying about preparation or having to leave the office to wait in a queue and purchase food. This might be aided by following a forum like Meal Prep Sunday. With this effort, you cook up larger batches of food than usual, and freeze the excess in pre-prepared meals you need only microwave or heat up to enjoy as new. With a fully nutritious meal waiting for you, you can keep your energy levels up and exercise your brainpower appropriately, chasing success for the better.
Slow Cooker Convenience
Slow cookers are wonderful for those who may work at home throughout the day. This is because often, you can set and forget the very many recipes within, allowing you to enjoy tender meats, fantastic stews, and our personal favorite, this amazing slow cooker French onion soup recipe. This can give you gorgeous nutrition will all of the taste, and you didn’t have to mother the creation of such a dish to enjoy it.
Snacks & Nutritional Drinks
Snacks are worthwhile provided they’re healthy and can help you top up a hunger pang that you might have between lunch and your evening meal. If you feel tired, often drinking a vitamin-enriched beverage can also help you, but beware of the sugar content involved in many ‘health drinks,’ as they can sometimes be less healthy than they state.
Nutritional drinks can of course relate to teas such as tasty green tea or matcha, which are known to have incredible anti-oxidant properties as well as releasing caffeine at a much slower, smoother rate than a large shot of coffee might. A snack could be as simple as eating a banana, an apple, or a handful of grapes. This can keep you ticking over, especially during those days where you feel a little lethargic but have to work with enthusiasm anyway.
Finger Foods
Finger foods are important to consider, because they can be eaten while you work in some given scenarios. Pre-prepared sushi is often the best for this, because you can easily pick a piece up, enjoy it, eat a little ginger to clean your palette completely and then wipe your hands so that you can continue typing without mess.
Other finger foods might include carrot sticks with a hummus dip, or pre-portioned wraps you may have made the previous evening.
Giving Yourself Time
Note that even during a period of work crunch, you need time to let your food settle before you begin putting in hard graft at your job again. Allowing yourself at least ten-fifteen minutes to enjoy something to eat and taking a necessary break is your right. Try not to skip lunch if you can, because what might seem like a good sacrifice now can only make you feel worse and will impact the quality of your work.
On top of that, eating light foods such as our aforementioned soup can help you avoid the pitfalls of lethargy that may otherwise come – as no one wants to fall asleep at their desk.
With this advice, you’re certain to eat well during work crunch, despite all the constraints placed on you.