Remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

When it comes to productivity and performance, we so often focus on the higher levels – fulfilment, achievement, purpose – but what happened to our basic human needs?

Why is it that we think we can sacrifice sleep as long as we have enough self-fulfilment or that prestige will compensate for a lack of close relationships?

Or that we can do our best thinking on one glass of water a day?

It’s true that the higher needs are our true motivators – the more we get, the more it fuels our motivation. Maslow referred to the lower levels as “deficiency needs” – strong drivers when unmet, but once they are met, they no longer fuel us.

Once we have enough food or sleep, getting more generally doesn’t really excite us! But we do need to meet them – our basic human needs.

Which of your basic human needs do you tend to overlook?