You probably have noticed that you tend to “slow down” after lunch, but did you know that most people get the majority of the work that they are going to accomplish in a day done before they head out for their lunch break? If you work at home, then this lunch-pitfall can be an even bigger issue since you may not have a set lunch break or may have a variety of other factors that interrupt your morning work time so that your productivity levels are even further lowered.

Fortunately, the after-lunch lag is not inevitable; it’s a habit. And habits can be broken. Here are some ways to get the most out of your mornings, then keep on getting results all afternoon if you wish or need to do so:

Get right to work
Whether you stumble out of bed and straight to your computer or drive into work, once you arrive you need to be on task. This gives you more morning hours and lowers the likelihood of distraction. This means that while you need to be pleasant to co-workers, you need to avoid the morning coffee-room chatter and any more than a basic exchange with adjacent colleagues.
 

Set up a routine
A routine that helps you get started in the morning can be used after lunch – or after other interruptions – to jump-start you back into productivity. If you are at home (or you have a private office) then stretching is one of the best ways to focus and relax. Five to ten minutes of stretching is a great way to limber up and focus on your mind on the tasks ahead of you. Do it in the morning before you sit down to work, then repeat the exercises after lunch. As you continue this habit, your body and mind will begin to respond to the stretching by being ready and open for work once you finish the stretches. This will enable you to use your stretching routine any time you start to feel fuzzy, lazy or lose focus.
 

Keep your electronic communications limited
Each time you check your email, that is an interruption. Keep the window closed except for certain times during the day that you designate to check and respond to emails. Like it or not, most employees multitask (even if they do not mean to and do not realize it) by checking email, IMing, Facebooking or reading news feeds throughout the day while they are working. Keeping these windows closed except for designated times will dramatically up your productivity level immediately. And if you need to always be accessible by email, that is fine. Just check it every 15 minutes. Even giving yourself 15 minutes where that little “mail” icon is not popping up to let you know that you have made contact will dramatically increase your focus during that 15 minutes.