Does Breakfast Increase Your Worker's Productivity? No, It Doesn’t!

Along with old classics like ‘carrots give you night vision’ one of the most well-worn phrases in the arsenal of tired parents is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many of us grow up believing that skipping breakfast is a dietary travesty.  

The clue for why breakfast is supposed to be important is in its name: we are advised to eat it to break our overnight fast. “The body uses a lot of energy stores for growth and repair through the night,” explains dietician Sarah Elder. “Eating a balanced breakfast helps to up our energy, as well as protein and calcium used throughout the night.”

 

Will He Be More Effective Now That He's Eaten?

Health benefits aside, does breakfast increase productivity at work? No, it doesn’t. In the 70s mum’s and dad’s didn’t have to wake up in the dead of the night to have breakfast in order to get into work on time for then, there no morning traffic rush.

Because of the traffic rush that we experience today, most people don’t have breakfast at home as they have to be on the road as early as 5:00am to drop off the kids at school then, rush to get to work for the start time of 8:30am.

So breakfast is eaten at work. In just about every office in Uganda, there is always a woman who pops by selling bread, mandazi, chapatti or samosas. If it’s not a woman popping by, then Tea Girl, to supplement her income always has breakfast for sale in the pantry.

One thing about Ugandan’s – well at least in my observations, is that without breakfast, they are unable to function. When they get to work, their thoughts are not on that all too important e-mail they should have responded to the day before or the notes they have to arrange for the 9:00am meeting. Their thoughts are firmly fixed on breakfast.

 

Fighting For That Last Slice Of Meat Does Not Increase Productivity

When they arrive at work with no passion, they hit the biometric, dump their bags on the desk and head straight for the kitchen or back out to look for breakfast.  There is no turning on the computer to see if there is anything urgent that requires immediate attention. In the kitchen they huddle and watch Tea Girl as she boils the water and milk – their oversized mugs placed neatly in a line waiting to be filled.

From a full mug of extremely milky tea, it’s deciding what to eat. “How many slices of bread should I have” so they ponder. “It’s Tuesday so I will have four slices of bread, three samosas, two chapatis and oba two kindazi’s for saawa nya.” Though they’ve been served, they won’t leave the kitchen. The men have to analyze last night’s football results and whether Jorgen Klop’s Liverpool will win the Premiership. The ladies on the other hand, have to admire their colleagues’ new hairstyle – how long it took to do, which salon they went to and their own experiences at a particular salon. If it’s not a hair discussion, then it’s about the maid, how their child is teething or the increase in the price of beans.

 

Even The Women Eat As Much As The Men

Just after 9:00am, out of the kitchen they slither, over-sized mug that’s filled to the brim in one hand and spilling over that it leaves a trail from kitchen to desk. In the other hand they have a serviette laden with     four slices of bread, three samosas, two chapatis and two kindazi’s for saawa nya.

Computers turned on, it’s not e-mails that they check first. For the men, it straight to a football related website while the women, it’s to Facebook to update their status. Remember, they have a new hairstyle they want the rest of the world to see.

Oh, they also need 45 minutes to eat breakfast before they can start work.

Please Respect My Space!

People, please respect my space!

It was in the core of the evening rush hour on Jinja Road and nobody was going anywhere – not even the boda’s who are usually able to weave in and out of traffic or the Toyota Land Cruiser’s with tinted window carrying some self-elevated politician who thinks his driver is entitled to break every single road traffic law to get him home with the minimal amount of fuss.

After more than an hour of idling, the traffic started to move – half-a-car’s length before it came to a halt. I saw no point of turning over the engine just to move less than half a car’s length. Minutes later, the ride behind me hooted. Looking in the rear view mirror, I took it that the driver of the Mitsubishi had hit his horn in error while trying to keep himself busy in the jam. Next, he flashed headlights. Then the hooting became relentless as did the flashing of headlights.

If We All Made One Line, Traffic Would Move Much Faster

It was easy to work out where he was going with the flashing and hooting. He wanted me to edge up right to the bumper of the car in front of me. And before knew it, I was out of my ride and stomping up to his. He sensed trouble and quickly tried to raise the window only to realize he had turned the engine off. By the time he got the engine going I already had my head through the window and was berating him. He duly apologized saying that he was only wondering why I wasn’t moving forward yet, the car ahead of me had moved. Really!

This does not only happen in traffic jams. It happens at the ATM, the supermarket checkout lines and just about anywhere that necessitates queuing up.

When You See Me At The ATM, Don't Que Up Right Behind My Back 

I had given the person in front of me ample room to do her ATM withdrawal with some privacy. When the guy behind me turned up, he was literally on my back – way closer than a coat of Sadolin paint on a wall. He was breathing heavy down my neck that I had to turn round, push and scold: “With all the space there is, why do you want to rub up next to me?” Perplexed, he stepped back but not far enough because I could still feel him breathing down my neck. He was also aggressively looking over my shoulder because he could see space between me and the woman at the ATM. In his mind, he figured it was wasted space that five people+ could squeeze into.     

Everything at the checkout counter was orderly, but as soon as Dude took his place two places behind me, everything went south. Lady-In-Front-Of-Me was still offloading the contents of her basket onto the checkout counter when I noticed Dude stealthy edging Chap behind me out of the line and offloading his purchases. Coughing politely to alert him that I was next to be served and there was also Chap behind me, he said: “Oh don’t mind me, I’m just putting my stuff in the corner.” I let it slide but braced for the pending confrontation.

Even At The Check Out Till, There Is Always Someone Who Wants To Jump The Line

Once Teller had picked and scanned the last item of Lady-In-Front Of Me, Dude quickly invaded the space, pushed his purchases forward whilst in every possible way trying to feign ignorance that there were two people ahead of him. Obviously, I lashed out.

“Jeez man, are you blind and being funny or you are being an idiot too?” He was startled but with a most arrogant demeanor said: “It looked like you didn’t want to be served because you weren’t putting your things on the counter.” I ought to have slapped him into the oblivions of Kitgum but instead made do with a couple of tumbavu’s.      

Photos: Monitor.co.ug, sunrise.ug, devex.com 

Women's Day - No Longer For All Women But Just The High Flyers?

From time in memorial, Women’s Day in Uganda – especially in the media, is celebrated in the same way. Four or so pages of inspirational stories about successful businesswomen or women who have made it in life. The women profiled, are the same year after year – Morine Wavamunno, Theresa Mbire, Flavia Tumusiime, Sylvia Nagginda, Jyostna Ruparelia, Camille Aliker, Allen Kagina, Janet Museveni, Doris Akol and so forth.

Her Title Aside, Has Sylvia Nagginda Been An Inspiration To The Muganda Woman? 

The women profiled, are the same year after year – Morine Wavamunno, Theresa Mbire, Flavia Tumusiime, Sylvia Nagginda, Jyostna Ruparelia, Camille Aliker, Allen Kagina, Janet Museveni, Doris Akol and so forth.

The New Ladies On The Block - Irene Ssewankambo and Anne Juuko

However today, two new names join the list of illustrious women – Ann Juuko who, was recently appointed Chief Executive for Stanbic Bank and Irene Kaggwa at the helm of Uganda Communications Commission. Congratulations ladies!

While it is significant to celebrate major achievements of the Ugandan woman and those round the world, those successes and the women who stand behind them seem a million miles away from most women and their realities.

The story of the successful businesswoman sadly, is not a common one in Uganda. Women I think, buy magazines like Flair and Bride and Groom because they like to hear successful stories that helps them forget about the more familiar stories, which are not as exciting and glamorous as those of their friends or colleagues.  

 

Bride and Groom

However, less exciting stories should not be relegated like the no story – the story of ‘not much worth mentioning’ – at least according to International Women’s Day standards or ours. They toil, but never get noticed. They sweat, but still don’t get seen or valued. In many ways, these women resemble the high-achieving woman, but somehow, don’t quite make it - at least not to the top.

What about the ‘undesirable women’ – like Bad Black, Stella Nyanzi, Full Figure, Ingrid Turinawe and Betty Nambooze for example who society punishes in different ways for failing to be anything like the high-achievers we laud today. 

Are Women Punishing Bad Black For Not Being A High Achiever?

This story is of the pain, frustration, disappointment, marginalization and alienation of women who happen not to have gone to elitist schools like Gayaza or Namagunga, don’t have feminine features or figures or bared their breasts in the quest for justice. It’s a story that needs to be voiced, but who wants to really know about it?

And there are worse stories of women who never make it in the workplace or are booted out as soon as people notice that they are different. We are talking about the same group of women here – those who may tick more than one of the different boxes – but it may also simply be women who look ‘too old’, ‘too young’, ‘too fat’ or ‘too ugly’ - in other words, women who fail to look or dress the part. Women’s Day should be a jollity of women, but every year it becomes a celebration restricted to women who can showcase significant accomplishments.

Does Not Having The Looks Play A Role In A Woman's Ability To Do The Job  

As pointed out earlier, most Ugandan women will never make it into Bride and Groom or Flair magazine’s Women’s Day celebrity list. They may have jobs but, they still won’t make the list.

What Merits Getting On To The Cover Of Flair?

Truth is that their contributions, however small or large, are often overlooked and many will be passed over for promotion simply because they don’t come from the right tribe - if you get my drift.

This year, women – and I guess we men too, should ignore the awards ceremonies, the top-women-achiever charts and the rest and instead salute the women we meet every day at work or on the way to work like the frail old women KCCA employs to sweep the dust off the streets in Namuwongo. The traffic police women whom we all chose to ignore and hurl insults at.

 

Are These The Ladies Women's Day Should Really Be About?

Let’s also use Women’s Day to remind Ugandan’s and everyone else who the Ugandan woman is, why she is so brilliant and why they should neither be disregarded or snubbed, no matter how ordinary, or different, or what tribe they may be. 

Pictures: globalthinkersforum.org, Flair, Bride and Groom, mobile.howwebiz.ug, dispatch.ug, Daily Monitor, commons.wikimedia.org, facebook.com