What I’ve Learned In One Minute…

Hi friends,

I kept falling asleep in lectures.

I was tired. Not the kind of tired where you're fighting to keep your eyes open, but the kind where you're just gone. You blink and fifteen minutes have passed and you've got no idea what the lecturer just said. And the weird thing was, I actually wanted to be there. I cared about what I was learning, but my body wasn't listening.

At first I thought it was just me being undisciplined. That I wasn't sleeping enough or I needed to try harder. But I was sleeping fine. My workouts felt good. Everything seemed okay on paper. So I kept showing up, kept trying to push through, kept thinking I'd eventually sort it out.

But it kept happening. And it was frustrating because it felt like I couldn't control my own energy. I'd sit down to study in the afternoon and my brain would just refuse. Not in a "I don't want to do this" way. In a "I physically cannot focus right now" way. It felt like a fever dream. Like I genuinely had no energy whatsoever.

I didn't know what was wrong. I just knew I was stuck. I wasn't getting the grades I wanted and I needed to make a change. So I started changing things. A lot of things. I restructured how I worked, when I ate, what I ate. It wasn't one dramatic moment, but a process of change towards being better with each day.

The foods you eat matter

The realisation that food was a big part of it came gradually. I started losing weight. I was sleeping better. And then I noticed patterns. The days I ate certain things, I felt slower. The days I ate lighter or later, my brain felt clearer.

I realised the food I was eating wasn't just about being healthy. It was affecting how well I slept, which affected how I could perform the next day. I'd been taking it for granted. Thinking food was just food. But it wasn't. It was either helping me or working against me.

The diet I was on before wasn't helping. Three eggs and bacon and a slice of bread for breakfast. Pot noodles for lunch. Pizza or meat with bread and rice for dinner. I'd have vegetables too, of course. But the heavy, fast digesting carbs were killing me. I'd eat and then my body would have to split its focus between digesting and trying to think. And digesting always won.

I hate to say it, but that pot noodles, pizza and pasta diet was costing me. It was the broccoli, spinach, omega 3s, sweet potatoes that actually made the difference. The simple whole foods that my body didn't have to fight to process. Nutrient dense stuff that helped my brain recover when it was tired instead of just giving me a sugar spike and then a crash.

Think of it like this. If you had a really nice car, super fast, luxurious, had an engine that could cruise at 320km/h, you wouldn't get anywhere near that speed if you tried to fuel it with cooking oil. Matter of fact, you might break the engine. You'd put the good v power high combustion oil in there and get the best out of what you have. Your body and brain are that supercar. If you treat it well, it will do amazing things for you in return.

Food timings

I didn't really pay attention to when I was eating until I started tracking my meals. I'd either eat breakfast or not. Simple as that.

Back in sixth form, I used to wake up at 4am to study. And because the alarm system was on, I couldn't get out of my room and eat until about half six when my father would set the alarm off. At those times, all my body could focus on was studying. It didn't have to worry about digesting food or thinking about what I was going to eat. There was no mental load. All I could do was study.

But when I came to university, I would wake up, go to the gym, eat a heavy breakfast, then go to my lectures. And I'd wonder why I felt drowsy and slept in them.

So I started delaying my first meal. Eating something light or skipping breakfast altogether. And one thing I do now is a deep work block before every first meal. All that my brain focuses on in that period of time is the work. This has worked wonders for me. Knowing that the first three to four hours of my day are about nothing but input keeps me immersed in the work I do. And I tell myself, I'll only eat when x is done.

That framework encourages me to lock in and really try to get the most important things out of my way as soon as I can because I know that after I have my first proper meal, I'll be slow and not want to work on it as much.

Snacking

I also started being more careful about what I snacked with. Chocolate bars, crisps, sweets. The sugar spikes were real. They'd hit and I'd feel sharp for twenty minutes then crash hard. It was affecting my ability to stay focused.

I'd recommend eating something simple and natural but still enjoyable. Dates, fruits, small amounts of nuts are a good start. If this is something new for you, I'd recommend having a dark chocolate bar alongside a piece of fruit like an orange.

For me personally, I love having oranges, apples or cucumber sticks. Foods that don't mess with my energy but still taste good.

The aim of snacks is to make them easy, enjoyable, but also unnoticeable to your productivity.

The types of work to do after having a meal

I think sometimes we beat ourselves up a lot over not being able to study after having a medium to large sized meal. I know I did for a long time. I used to think, why do I always find it difficult to go back to studying after lunch?

For a while I just accepted that I had to white knuckle my way through it and get back to it. But sooner or later I started to realise a trend. It wasn't that I didn't want to do work. I was doing the wrong type of work for myself in the afternoons.

In the mornings, I would have focused periods of deep work. Silence for three to four hours straight, learning the course material. Then after lunch, after taking an hour break and relaxing, I expected my brain to hop straight back into the game. But that's just not how we're wired. Your discipline is highest in the morning and tapers off as you go on with your day. What hard work you were able to do in the morning, you just won't be able to do as effectively in the afternoon.

So I stopped fighting it. I started assessing how many hours I had left in my day that I could study for. Then I'd commit to using half of that time at most for deep work again. That's the most efficient my brain could be at that time.

I'd define my end point. For me, the best form of end point in the afternoon is the amount of time I'm spending on the task no matter what. For example, watching ninety minutes of lectures that afternoon then ending. Ideally it shouldn't be a task that could urge you to work for an over extended period of time unless you have to, as this can lead to burnout.

Once I'd defined my end point, the next thing was to switch gears. Do a task I know I need to do but requires as little friction as possible. I call this the reflection session. Ideally the last sixty to ninety minutes should be focused on going over your day, what you learned, what you did, seeing where you went well and didn't. Maybe there were a few concepts you didn't understand well. This is where you email your lecturer for advice. Then you end it winding down and planning what you'd be doing tomorrow.

The last hours of your academic day should be focused on setting yourself up to give the best possible output for yourself. This is what leads to consistency and away from burnout.

Decision fatigue

When you're in a season of trying to be your most productive self, especially when you need to lock in, the last thing you need is to think about the meals you'll be having that day. This is where meal prep comes in. Spending twenty minutes in a week thinking about exactly what you'll be eating every day that week is a life changer for me. It saves me so much time from thinking that I need to do more work than I have to.

Also when the time comes when I do feel hungry in the day, I know exactly what I'll be having. Whether it's a packed lunch or buying a meal from the shops on campus. If you're going to be buying meals for lunch, this is where you write down your meal, snack and drink. Having that decision before you enter the store saves you from thinking about the meal the whole time and also wasting time in the store looking at all the options.

Where I am now

I'm at a more stable point with what I eat and when. I know that I prefer breakfast at times, but for now I'm skipping it as I want to focus more on productivity and work. For dinner, I try not to eat very late so it allows me to sleep earlier and have a good night's sleep without feeling like my body has to focus so much on digestion.

I still try to go out and eat with friends sometimes, but I try to limit it to either lunchtime or post lunchtime, about three, four, five o'clock. That allows me to digest my food and be able to sleep and study the next day.

In conclusion, your food actually plays a bigger role on your productivity than you think. It's something we don't usually talk about, but I think it needs to be discussed more. You don't have to go on some crazy keto diet or anything in the last push for the rest of the year to try and 10x your academic comeback. But what you can do is be a bit more thoughtful about the fuel you use for your engine.

I'm not saying I've figured it all out. I'm still adjusting, still noticing new patterns. But I do know this. The falling asleep in lectures stopped. The afternoon fog lifted. And that confidence I felt like I'd lost? I got some of it back.

TL;DR

I kept falling asleep in lectures even though I wanted to be there. Felt like I had no control over my energy. Started changing what I ate and when I ate it. Realised heavy carbs before studying were killing my focus. Began doing deep work blocks before my first meal. Switched to lighter, whole foods. Stopped snacking on sugar spikes. Changed the type of work I did in afternoons when my brain was slower. Started meal prepping to remove decision fatigue. The fog lifted. Got some control back.

QUICK HACKS (FROM THE MAIN STORY)

1. Do a deep work block before your first meal. Three to four hours of focused work while your body isn't digesting anything.
2. Tell yourself you'll only eat when a specific task is done. Creates natural urgency without forcing it.
3. Skip the heavy breakfast before lectures if you keep feeling drowsy. Try eating lighter or delaying your first meal.
4. Stop fighting your afternoons. Your discipline tapers off after lunch. Do lighter work, reflection, admin. Save deep focus for mornings.
5. Define an end point for afternoon study sessions based on time, not completion. Example: ninety minutes of lectures, then stop.
6. Switch your snacks. Ditch the chocolate bars and crisps. Go for dates, fruit, nuts, cucumber sticks. Keep your energy stable.
7. Spend twenty minutes on Sunday planning every meal for the week. Write it down. Removes decision fatigue when you're hungry.
8. If you're buying lunch on campus, decide your meal, snack and drink before you walk into the shop. Don't waste time staring at options.
9. Use the last hour of your study day to reflect. What did you learn? What didn't make sense? What are you doing tomorrow? Set yourself up for the next morning.

WINS & LESSONS

Win:

I was able to rest this week. My body felt super wrecked after back to back workouts. I could tell my nervous system was cooked so I took a couple of days off and now I feel more energised than ever.

Lesson:

Never buy the product just because you saw it go on sale. Think about it intentionally.

QUESTION FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

What's one thing you're eating or doing around meals that might be working against you without you realising it?

Alright that's it from me.

In a bit,

Motheo