I Love chocolate…even better when it is dark chocolate. I tend to lack the will power if it is close by and I consume too much. Inevitably, I get the energy rush, only to have it quickly fade away – which makes me want to have more chocolate.
Much like a sugar high, rushing from task to task without intention gives a fleeting sense of productivity. But the inevitable crash—mental fatigue, scattered focus, or dissatisfaction—follows shortly after. Just as our bodies aren’t built for constant glucose spikes, our minds aren’t designed for nonstop time stimulation.
We’re going to compare the impact that sugar has on your body, which is like people who choose to try and create short bursts of productivity, only to find they come out of it getting a lot less done than they originally thought.
When you eat high-sugar food (like candy, soda, or pastries), the glucose enters your bloodstream quickly. This causes a sudden spike in blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia), giving you a quick burst of energy and alertness—often referred to as the “sugar high.”
People often suffer from this when they find an open 30 minutes on their calendar and rush to complete a series of low-level activities, feeling they are on a task high. Often, at the end they realize that while they checked off to-do’s, the important stuff still needs to be addressed.
How do you prevent the spike? Intentionally place time on your calendar for minor tasks during times when you know you have flexibility. I like to do this at the beginning and end of each day. However, you also deliberately create blocks of “deep work” (thanks Cal Newport) where you will complete important work or projects.
In response to a sugar spike, your pancreas releases a large amount of insulin, a hormone that helps cells absorb glucose from the bloodstream. The goal is to bring blood sugar levels back to normal, but with a large sugar intake, the insulin response can overshoot.
How many times have you told yourself, “If only I had more time.”
We often try to insulate ourselves to get work done, only to find we get distracted or interrupted and don’t complete as much as intended. We’ve overshot our intentions and now scrabble to find more time.
I use a simple rule to avert overextending. When you are planning an important project, activity, or assignment – estimate the time it will take and then add at least 50% more time to it. When it is essential, the complexity will take more time than you judge. Don’t think you need to do it in one session. Plan your initial time allocation, but then also plan the 50% in the near future. If you don’t need it, you have “found” time to work on something else.
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Repeated cycles of sugar highs and crashes can lead to insulin resistance, weight gain, inflammation, and increased risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 Diabetes. Emotionally, it can also create a dependency on quick hits of stimulation to feel productive or satisfied—similar to poor time habits like compulsive multitasking or distraction-seeking.
My advice to negate the long-term effects of time highs requires and investment…you guessed it…dedicated time. I try and plan my calendar for two weeks out, and I plan for every hour. Yes, I know circumstances will cause me to change my schedule. However, proactively setting what I think needs to be done prevents me from reacting to situations, leading me to seek a time high to try and get anything accomplished.
Like my need desire for dark chocolate I know will only temporarily provide satisfaction, I can get myself caught in time highs that seem to be productive but only address minor tasks or activities. Cut off the reactive nature of your time management (the sugar high) and start proactively planning (good nutrition) to raise your productivity.
David Buck is the author of the book The Time-Optimized Life, coauthor of The Retirement Collective, and owner of Kairos (Time) Management Solutions, LLC. Learn how to apply the concepts of proactively planning and using your time. Take the Time Management Analysis (TMA), the Retirement Time Analysis (RTA), or all the other free resources offered to help bring more quality time into your life.
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