As a business owner, there may be a bajillion demands and ideas competing for your attention on any given day. All decisions, including unimportant ones and ones you don’t even know you’re making, are like deductions (or leakage) from your brain bank and creative energy.

You can preserve your precious mental mojo by front-loading routine decisions, like figuring out what to eat or wear on any given day.

Lots of strategic innovators wear personal uniforms for this reason, and you can take a similar approach with the meals you eat during work hours.

If you’ve lost track of time staring into a refrigerator or pantry, or if you’ve skipped breakfast or lunch rather than deal with the hassle, then food uniforms could be a real game changer.

UNIFORMS - They’re not just for fashion

FOOD UNIFORMS are pre-batched, low effort options that fuel your brain and body in exchange for minimal effort and time.

Failing to feed yourself, or feeding yourself garbage, has a bigger impact than deciding not to get dressed (which is its own sort of unintentional approach to uniforming).

Food failure is not a form of efficiency. It’s a form of self-sabotage.

You don’t have to be a fitness fanatic, calorie counter, or Martha Stewart-style batching queen to fuel your work hours with decent sustenance that boosts your best ideation and problem solving skills.

In less than 15 minutes, you can pull together a weekly plan for breakfast and lunch.

Repeat the same plan for multiple weeks, and you’ve just sorted a month of workday nourishment in a few short minutes.

That’s less time thinking about food, more time thinking about your business, and more fuel for thinking like the shot-calling boss you really are.

It’s simple. Keep it so.

Food uniforms are so uncomplicated that it may be tempting to try and fancy them up.

Spend time at the top of a week (or month or quarter) to plan, shop, and prep.
Limit your options within a given week, and even more during a given work day.

This is as much about managing your energy as it is your time.

Because food is energy, and you need lots of energy to be a freelance superstar.

First food, not first thoughts

If your breakfast strategy is less like a game plan and more like a game of chance, it’s time to spend five minutes figuring out a uniform for the first meal of your day.

Even if you intentionally skip a traditional breakfast, it’s worthwhile to assess the rituals and habits associated with the food you consume first.

Fuel up in a way that sharpens your focus and brain power without actually having to think in the process. By front loading as much as possible, you can eat well with minimal effort.

Let’s do lunch… without talking about lunch

By lunchtime, you need to refuel and maintain your focus for the rest of the day. There’s lots of research about the benefits of taking breaks to recharge your creativity.

Whether you work through lunch or take time to disconnect, your brain doesn’t need to do any more than necessary while you send good, healthy grub into your body.

Keep lunch and snack uniforms on hand to fuel yourself for the entire workday without losing focus when you need a break.

Check out these healthy lunches you can batch for the week

Without food uniforms, you have work harder to stay sharp.

Wouldn’t you rather work harder, because you’re sharp?

Weekend Batching

I tend to keep my batching process under 15 minutes by using options like boiled eggs and Kind Bars, but if you can spend more time on it, you’ll find loads of inspiration and Pinterest boards.

VARIETY, SUPPOSED LIFE SPICE

If you crave variety from one week to the next, use monthly or quarterly schedules to plan different breakfast and lunch options for each week.

But if you crave more variety than one or two options in a given week or day, ask yourself if having an array of breakfast and lunch choices is really more exciting than having an array of creative ideas and uninterrupted mental focus.

OUTSOURCE IT ALL

If you have the budget, you can always outsource your food uniforms for the ultimate in nutritional luxury.

There are a number of subscription services that make healthy, fresh, good-for-you food and deliver it right to your door. All you have to spend is your money in advance. Then when you’re ready to eat, no thinking or effort required.

Daily Harvest delivers healthy soups and smoothies ready to heat or blend

Fresh n’ Lean offers pre-made healthy meal delivery for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Restaurant Delivery

If you like to order from local restaurants and deliver services, use a batching approach to plan your choices at the top of the week. Decide now. Order when ready.

Food Uniform Takeout:

Don’t start your day with a decision process when your brain isn’t even awake yet! Make breakfast about fueling your body, not forcing yourself to make choices.

Whether you do it yourself or pay someone else, if you front-load the thinking, shopping, and preparation, you don’t have to break creative focus or dilute your executive energy to enjoy healthy meals during the workday.

Pick one or two options for breakfast and one or two for lunch. Limit your options and effort.