Spring is a time of renewal for a lot of people, which often involves some cleaning. Although you might use this time to air out your home and get ready for warm weather, your business could also use a little clearing out. Here are five tips to help you use the spring to get ready for the summer busy season.

Detail Your Vehicle
If you’re like a lot of contractors, you practically run your business out of your construction vehicle. You may spend much of your time driving to client sites. This means that your business vehicle acts as a face for your business, or a kind of advertising. Not unlike a billboard, you want your vehicle to look its best. Arrange for a thorough cleaning, inside and out. Schedule service and check the condition of the tires. If the vehicle needs a few cosmetic repairs for chips and dents, now is a good time to do it. That way, when you arrive to meet with a client, you can provide a professional look from the beginning.

Service Your Equipment
For the construction equipment that you own, you need to have a plan to service it regularly. One of the problems that business owners face is finding time to take care of their assets. But if you don’t, you may find that your equipment breaks down or wears out long before the end of its natural lifespan. Before the start of the busy season, invest some time into having your equipment serviced. For small tools, it might be enough just to inspect them and test them out yourself. If they are showing signs of damage, you’ll have the opportunity to get them fixed or replace them.

Organize Your Files
Keeping your files organized is one of the most important things that you can do when you run a business. This is true even if you keep a paperless office and rely mostly on electronic or scanned documents. Take a moment to go through your files, and make sure that everything is in order. If you had a few months when your attention to filing was a little more lax than you’d like, now is the time to come up with a system that works for you. Remember that this isn’t necessarily a task that you have to do personally. Many business owners hire an assistant to help keep track of files that might get lost otherwise.

Train Your Employees
If you’ve got a bit of downtime, you should give your employees an opportunity to take some training. When finances allow, going to a construction conference is a great way to learn more about new technology or innovations that can help you run your business more efficiently. Even if you don’t have employees yet, you should use the spring as an opportunity to see what’s new and expand your horizons. If nothing else, take the time to refresh your training on first aid and other safety concerns. You’ll recoup your investment with fewer accidents and lost time on the job.

Contact Past Clients
If you work in a field that relies on a predictable clientele, you should plan to reach out to them. Clients tend to forget about contractors when they aren’t in desperate need of a particular service. It’s good to remind them that you exist. If you’re thinking about offering a referral program, now is a good time to let your satisfied clients know about it. And if you are in the process of expanding your services, you can inform them so that they can decide if there is something that you can do for them this year.

If you want to have a good busy season this year, your contracting business will need to prepare. These tips can help. For more information about running a contracting business, visit CSLS today!

There comes a point in time when many people realize that they need to change careers. You might have a variety of reasons, like an inability to move forward, not enough income or simply getting bored. Changing jobs to a whole new industry is a big leap, so you want to be sure that you’re ready. Here are a few ways you can tell it’s time.

You Need More Income
In California, even having a good job is no guarantee that you’ll be able to make enough income. Certain parts of the state have a very high cost of living. If you’ve got a full-time job, a second job and a couple of side hustles, it might be worth considering alternatives. This is especially true if you have young kids or need to take care of other members of your family. If you’re not looking forward to a high likelihood of income growth in your current path, changing directions might be just the ticket to help you find something that pays the bills by itself.

You’ve Reached a Plateau
When you first start on a particular career path, you could see nothing but opportunities. Several years or even a decade or two in, you may eventually reach a plateau. For some people, this is the right direction. If you don’t have big ambitions and you can easily support yourself, a plateau isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But if you want more growth and you can’t get it from your current career, it’s time to rethink what you’re doing. It’s best not to let it sit too long before you make a decision, however. The sooner you make the switch, the more time you have to develop your new career.

Your Expectations Have Changed
The American workforce has long since moved on from the idea that you need to keep the same career from the time you graduate from high school. And yet, people are often pressured to make a choice when they may be unable to determine what to expect years down the road. A young adult may think that they know what they want to do. But once they get into it and spend a decade doing it, they may realize that the entire dynamic of the industry has changed. Sometimes, people expect to move forward in a career path that won’t exist by the time they get there. Having the flexibility to move on makes all the difference in meeting your current expectations.

You Hate Your Job
Although almost everyone needs to have a job in order to pay the bills, that shouldn’t be the only way to assess the value that your job gives you. A career that you love makes you happier, keeps you healthier and makes it easier for you to enjoy other things. A job that you used to like but now merely tolerate or even despise will create stress that bleeds into other parts of your life. This can make you more likely to get sick or simply to feel stuck in a situation you can’t fix. Hating a job that provides income isn’t usually a sustainable situation. Finding a way out may solve more problems in your life than simply making your work hours more tolerable.

You’re Ready to Achieve Your Career Goals
As most people know, there’s a difference between having a job that meets your basic needs and building a career. People might have dozens of jobs throughout their lifetimes, but probably only a few careers. If you have been waiting for an opportunity, it’s hard to tell when is the best time to go for it. If you find that you meet some of these criteria, that time might be approaching now. Making the choice to get started can help you feel like you’re taking charge of your life and achieving your goals.

Moving from one career to another is a big step that many people will take throughout their lifetimes. Knowing when it’s right for you is key to making it a success. To find out how a career in construction could change your life, visit CSLS today!

Although landing a client and a new project is a great thing, sometimes it just isn’t going to work. There will be points where you’re too busy to take on the job within the time specified. There will also be clients proposing opportunities that just aren’t the right fit for your contracting business. Learning how to decline these projects is a skill, and it can be difficult to do at first. Here are a few ideas.

Decide If It’s No, or Just Not Right Now
The first thing you should do is qualify the nature of your answer. In some cases, a project simply won’t work for your contracting business. These opportunities could cost you money if you try to make them fit, so it is easier to simply decline. In other cases, the projects may be appropriate under different terms. It’s important to confirm that you know where you’re going with your answer before you give it. That way, if you want to leave the door open to negotiation, you can save the opportunity for a later date. There’s no guarantee that you will be able to secure different terms with the same client, but it may be worth asking.

Decline at a Good Time
As with other types of business communications, there are better times to make tough decisions, and there are worse times. The last thing that you want to do is decline an offer when you are feeling tired, overworked or frustrated. Saying no during a bad moment may make you come off more negatively than you expected. If it’s an existing client or colleague that you’d like to continue working with, you should hold off until you have an opportunity to think clearly and communicate professionally. It’s not necessary to wait days for the chance to decline a project. However, making sure that you’re in the right headspace will help you protect those professional ties.

Be Clear About Why You’re Declining
When you know that you’re going to say no, the best thing that you can do is make it clear and simple to understand. If you are rejecting the offer because you don’t want to work with the client, it’s more practical to say that your business isn’t a good fit for their needs. This sends a clear message to the client that you are unlikely to accept future work from them. On the other hand, if you’re declining because the rate is too low or the timing doesn’t work for you, you can outline these in your rejection. This can give the client the opportunity to change their offer, in the hopes that they can secure your services.

Aim for a Professional Tone
Part of running a contracting business involves learning how to maintain professional communication, even when the news you have to share isn’t good. Clients may take your rejection with grace, or they may react to it with anger. In some cases, their reaction will confirm for you that it was a wise decision not to accept the work. And yet, it’s better not to descend to their level, especially if they start showing obvious signs of frustration. Such behavior rarely leads to good things for your business. Avoid saying anything you wouldn’t want one of your mentors to read aloud to you.

Know When to Continue Negotiation
Although some clients may get irritated when you tell them that you can’t take on the project, others will react by trying to negotiate. Negotiation is another skill that can help support your business, but you need to know the right time to engage in it. If you’ve decided that you are not going to take on the project no matter what the client offers, there’s little point in negotiation. All it would do in that case is waste your time. But if the project is appropriate and interesting to you, negotiating might be the key to getting the terms to a level that you would accept.

When you run a contracting business, learning how to say no is just as important as saying yes. To get started building your construction career, contact CSLS today!

As a construction professional, you’ll probably spend more time in your vehicle each day than most people. This is especially true if you spend your day commuting to projects that take only a few hours. Having everything you need in your vehicle is important, but you also need to be able to find it all. And if you practically live in your vehicle during the day, it’s wise to make it livable. Here are five things you can do with your vehicle each day to ensure it stays that way.

Check the Fuel and Other Indicators
You probably know what it feels like to get in your construction vehicle in the morning, only to realize that the tank is running on fumes. When you run a tight schedule and you don’t have a lot of time before you need to get to your next client, having enough fuel to arrive at each destination is crucial. So is the ability to keep your vehicle in excellent working condition. Each night, take a moment to check your fuel gauge and confirm that you don’t see any other indicators. Make sure that all the lights are turned off and the door is locked.

Put Equipment Away
If you use your vehicle for performing certain types of services, not just commuting to a jobsite, you may have equipment that you need to put away before you are done. Keeping equipment in the right spot helps you to identify if anything is missing. It also makes it easier for you to start the day with everything in its place. If the equipment itself is dirty, you can give it a quick wash or wipe it down before you set it aside. This will help to keep your vehicle in a cleaner condition overall, so that you don’t need to deep-clean it as frequently.

Inventory Supplies
Contractors who are not sure which types of supplies they will need for a particular job may choose to keep an inventory of tools and materials in the vehicle. It might seem like a hassle to take an inventory of these supplies at night when you’re tired, but this is the best time. While the day is still fresh in your mind, you’ll be able to get through the inventory more quickly because you can focus on the tasks you know you were working on. This is a good time to identify supplies that you need to order for replacement the next day.

Clear Out Trash
As a business owner, you may sometimes feel like you live out of your vehicle. Of course, there’s a difference between feeling like you live in your vehicle and actually living in it. When you start to see packaging from supplies, receipts and other things pile up inside your car, you need a better system for handling waste. Keeping waste out of your vehicle helps to act as a deterrent against theft, and you’ll generally feel better about climbing in each day. If you don’t have room for a small wastebasket, consider keeping a roll of small bags in your glove compartment or console so that you can bag up garbage and take it away quickly.

Organize Files and Receipts
When you’re regularly commuting to a jobsite, you often have to bring your work home with you. This is where important documents can get lost. For example, if you complete a job and have a client sign a receipt form, you don’t want to lose that form under the seat. Instead, you should designate a spot in your vehicle where you can put receipts, contracts and other written documents that you need to keep for your business. An envelope or small flexible file can help. That way, when you get out of your vehicle, you can simply take them back to your office.

Keeping your vehicle clean and ready for use is a daily part of running a contracting business. First, you need the foundation. To find out how expert exam preparation can help you get ready for the contractor licensing exam, visit CSLS today!

Safety should be one of the most important things you do for your business. And yet, with the rate of accidents and injuries in construction, you might think that it’s not a priority for a lot of people in the industry. Safety is what allows you to go home at the end of the day, instead of the hospital. Try these five common-sense safety tips to minimize accidents and injuries.

Wear PPE
Personal protective equipment is one of the best ways that you can protect yourself and your workers on the job site. PPE includes things like proper clothing for the weather, as well as masks, gloves, and proper headgear. You should plan to keep a supply of PPE in a place that is:

• Easy to find
• Easy to keep organized
• Within reasonable distance of the relevant task

People are more likely to wear PPE if they don’t have to go out of their way to get it. Create a culture of promoting the use of PPE, so that it becomes second nature for each worker to get ready before work.

Make Signs
People often need reminders of important information, which you can do by making signs and putting them in the right places. For example, someone might need to know which types of PPE are necessary for tasks involving noxious solvents. A sign with the checklist next to each station can help people remember which types of gear they will need. For a workplace where there are many tasks happening at the same time, you can make signs identifying the risk so that workers know to look. A simple sign warning people that vehicles move through the area could prevent serious injury.

Stay Alert
People are more likely to injure themselves or others when they are not alert, which makes alertness one of the most important things that you can have on the construction site. Work on establishing a schedule that allows people to have a normal workday, with regular breaks and time to recharge. Long days, or repetitive tasks with no breaks, make it easier for people to check out mentally. The less alert they are, the less aware they are of their surroundings and the people nearby. Encouraging them to stay alert helps them to avoid catastrophic errors with heavy equipment.

Take Training
You might have some sense of the best safety practices for the jobs you do in your contracting business, but you’ll probably need to take some training in order to get that knowledge. Safety practices change over time, particularly as new technologies change the way that you do certain tasks. Give yourself the opportunity to test your skills and refresh your understanding at least once a year. Offer the same service to your employees, especially those who are relatively new to the industry. Regular training sessions help to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Practice Safety Protocols
You might think that if you have the knowledge to do a task safely, that knowledge is enough to keep you out of trouble. Unfortunately, understanding what you read in a book or hear in an instructional setting doesn’t always translate into the correct actions. Some safety protocols require you to follow a very specific set of steps within a short period of time. If you have to go consult the instructions to know what to do, you may be too late. You can minimize wasted time by practicing the safety protocols with your team. Even if you all have the skills, a periodic refresh might be all you need to make it efficient and accurate.

Staying safe is one of the best things that you can do for your contracting business. For more guidance on becoming a licensed contractor, contact CSLS today!

These days, you need a credit report for lots of things. It’s not surprising that you may be expected to show your credit report when you want to apply for business financing and other things related to starting your company. There’s a difference between business credit and personal credit, and it’s important to keep them distinct. Here are a few things you should know before you start.

Keeping Business and Personal Finances Separate
Financial experts recommend that business owners do their best to keep their personal and business finances separate. There are several reasons for this, and establishing a different credit profile for the business is one of them. In the early years of your business, before you have established credit for the organization, you may occasionally have to rely on your personal credit for certain things. It’s tempting to use a better credit score to apply for personal loans or lines of credit that you can use for your business. But as your business grows, it will be harder to separate them. It’s better to do so from the beginning.

Repairing Personal Credit
You don’t necessarily have to rely on your personal credit in order to get your business running, but there are situations in which it would be good to have a better personal credit score. For example, when you go to establish a bank account for your business, they may check your credit. Business owners who have better credit scores may have more options in the kinds of accounts that they can open. One of the best things that you can do for the future of your business is to make sure that your personal credit report is accurate and as trouble-free as possible. Working to improve your personal credit might not help your business much, but it certainly won’t hurt.

Establishing a Business
Building a credit profile for your business usually starts by establishing a formal business. In most cases, if you want to apply for things like grants or funding, you’ll need to have a formal business with a license and a tax ID. You may be able to do things like open up a bank account or establish relationships with suppliers without it. But as a general rule, officially establishing your business makes it much easier to apply for loans, set up lines of credit, and more.

Applying for Business Credit
When you start applying for different types of credit for your business, it’s important to read the fine print. For new businesses, it is not uncommon for a credit card issuer or bank to require that you accept personal liability if your business is unable to make the payments. You may also see loans or other funding opportunities that do not require you to make that kind of promise. Be sure that you understand how each type of credit affects your business’s cash flow, as well.

Choosing Credit Options Wisely
When you first start a business, it’s tempting to think of credit as a great way to expand your business quickly without requiring you to save up a lot of capital. You should be careful about your use of credit, especially if your business income is unpredictable. Building a reliable credit history for your business starts by making wise decisions about when to use credit and when to look for other ways to fund your business expenses. That way, when you are ready to use credit in a way that benefits your business, you are more likely to have a report that appeals to lenders.

Credit reports and scores aren’t just for individuals. Your business will have them too. For more guidance on what you’ll need to start a contracting business, visit CSLS today!

On occasion, something bad will happen during a project. Afterward, you may consider investigating the incident. People often hesitate to evaluate a situation, to determine if they could or should have acted differently to avoid an accident. They may be afraid of taking responsibility. Investigations are important, however, because they help you prevent the same thing from happening again. Here are five reasons to perform an investigation after each incident you encounter.

Get the Facts
Right after an incident or near miss is the best time to sit down and think through the actions that led to the problem. Once people get a week or two past the fact, they may forget some details or crucial failures that triggered the incident. It’s important for business owners to take a collaborative approach, not a punitive one. In short, if you want to get all the information, you need to have everybody on the same page. Make sure that your employees understand that they won’t be punished for working with you to get more information because they’ll be more likely to come forward to report incidents that way.

Find Problems
As you go through the steps before, during, and after the incident, you may spot some obvious problems. In the moment, it can be really easy to get frustrated or start to point fingers at people who may have made mistakes. Instead, going through the incident investigation helps you to highlight anything that went wrong, as well as the effect that it caused. Sometimes the investigation brings up issues with your workflow that you didn’t even know you had. A lack of clarity on safety practices or industry standards could be relatively easy to correct, but only if you know that what you’re doing right now is insufficient.

Identify Causes
By this point, you’ll probably have a set of circumstances that can help you to identify the causes of the problem. If A led to B, which caused C, the investigation allows you to examine what made A and B more likely to happen. For example, a consistent under-use of PPE in certain high-risk tasks might prompt you to realize that you’re not storing the PPE in the right place. Making it easier to access could increase the rate of use, lowering the risk of injury. At this point, it’s good to brainstorm several possible causes for each failure.

Devise Solutions
If the investigation brings up a variety of causes of the incident, you can use that information to start coming up with solutions. It’s a good idea to get input from your workers, especially those who were related to the incident. They may have important context that you need in order to truly understand the problem and create a solution that is most likely to work. The investigation doesn’t always point to an obvious solution, which means that you may need to try out more than one. Having all the relevant facts will pave the way.

Avoid Future Concerns
Whenever you read about a serious accident in construction, you’ll probably notice that there were a lot of failures that happened before it turned into a catastrophe. If you want to avoid these kinds of problems, you have to be willing to challenge each failure as it happens. Sweeping it under the rug and hoping that it won’t be a problem only creates a culture in which workers are disincentivized to report unsafe behavior or problematic practices. If you invest the time to investigate it honestly from the beginning, you’ll be more likely to prevent the situation from happening again.

No one enjoys handling incidents, but the investigation can help you build a better contracting business. To learn more about the path to becoming a licensed contractor, visit CSLS today!

Going from your first day in construction to starting your own contracting business takes at least a few years. You’ll spend some time on the job learning skills, more time refining your knowledge and choosing the right field for you, and the last bit getting ready to launch your own business. Here are a few things to consider as you make a five-year plan.

Evaluate Future Job Growth
To start out, you’ll want to pick a field that has growth potential that can sustain you for the length of your career plans. The Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps data on the anticipated job growth for most industries and specific jobs within the construction industry. This means that you can do a little research to see where the jobs that you’re interested in doing are likely to go within the next 5 to 10 years. You’ll need to have this information to determine what your competition will be like and how much demand there will be for your services.

Select Ideal Working Locations
As you’re starting to browse through the careers you could have within your chosen fields, you’ll want to select locations that will be the most likely to meet your needs. As a licensed contractor, you will be able to work within the state where you get your license. This means that if you’re planning on moving out-of-state, you may need to consider how getting a license in that state will affect your plans. If you’re planning to stay in California, the good news is that you’ve got a lot of options, from the most rural to extremely urban.

Research On-the-Job and Educational Opportunities
Many people get their start in construction by working under a licensed contractor. You don’t necessarily need to take an educational route, but that’s also an option. Some fields have lengthy apprenticeship programs that you might apply for. Selected candidates can receive an income while they get a thorough, high-quality education within the field. These types of experiences can qualify for at least some of the experience you need in order to take the contractor licensing exam. Research what’s available to you in the area, and don’t hesitate to aim high. You don’t know what you may be able to achieve until you try.

Explore Different Fields
If you’re brand-new to construction, the choices you would make might be quite different then they would be for someone who’s been working in construction for several years. In either case, it’s important to explore different fields and careers you can have within those fields. Research what you can expect from various jobs, including:

• Income
• Demand
• Work environment
• Clientele

This will help you to make a choice you’re more likely to be content with by the time you get your license.

Keep Learning as You Grow
For most people, becoming a licensed contractor is a step they take on a career path that will continue to change for decades. This means that once you get started, you’ll keep adding onto your knowledge and experience. That can make you a better business owner and someone who is more likely to be able to meet the changing needs of clients in the future. Taking an ambitious, positive attitude about career development is an excellent way to start.

If you’re just starting out on your construction career path, you’ve got a few years to ensure that you do it right. To find out the benefits of becoming a licensed contractor, visit CSLS today!

Year after year of record-breaking hot weather might make you wonder if you’ll ever be able to stay cool on the construction site. If you spend most of your time outdoors, particularly if you live in hotter parts of California, lowering the temperature can be a matter of life and death. Try these tips to help you chill out and avoid the risk of heat-related sickness or injury.

Set Up Shades
The difference between working out in the hot sun and working in the shade is noticeable. If you were to measure the temperature of shaded concrete and compare it to the temperature of concrete after hours of baking sun, you would have a better understanding of what that heat can do to you. The good news is that there are lots of ways to set up a canopy or shade to provide you with a break from the sun. Pay attention to the shading that each option provides, as some shades and umbrellas offer little more than a sheer curtain’s worth of protection. If you’re working for hours outside, you may need something that can more effectively block the sun versus merely filtering it.

Use a Portable Mister
A mister can be an effective way to make the airfield cooler even while it’s hot. It’s a simple principle of evaporative cooling. If you spray cool water across the surface, the surface itself will cool as it evaporates. It won’t work as well in an area with high humidity, but if it’s somewhat dry outside, you’ll notice a beneficial difference. You can attach a mister to a hose if you have one. Otherwise, there are a variety of products on the market that use battery operated fans and a short hose that connects to a bucket full of water. That way, you could take the mister practically anywhere. Just make sure it won’t make your walking surface or handles slippery.

Stay Hydrated
When you start to get hot from the day or the work you’re doing, you’ll probably start to sweat. Sweat is the body‘s way of decreasing the temperature of the skin surface. You’re going to need to replace the liquid that you lose. Think about it a little like going to the gym. When you go to the gym, most experts recommend that you drink at least 8 ounces of water per 15 to 20 minutes of high-intensity activity. You should be drinking a similar amount if you’re doing heavy or hard work. And don’t forget about electrolytes. If you’re losing a lot of water, you may need to balance out your liquid intake with something that has some carbs and salt.

Take Cool Breaks
It would be nice if you could do all your work inside an air-conditioned space, or during the cooler hours of the day or night. Unfortunately, that’s not always a possibility. If you can, try to set up a space that has access to cooler temperatures. You might need to purchase a portable air conditioner, or plan to use your vehicle if necessary. The ability to take a snack or lunch break in a conditioned space might make the difference between a healthy workday and the risk of heat exhaustion.

Wear Protective Clothing
When you’re working outside in high heat, it’s tempting to try to thin out your clothing and protective gear to help keep you cooler. But if you take a tip from people who live in parts of the world that are consistently hot, you’ll notice that they often wear more clothing than most Californians do in summer. There’s a good reason for it. Wearing light-colored, lightweight fabrics can protect you from excessive sunburn, thereby lowering your risk of developing cancer. Choose a material that can wick moisture away, so you feel drier even though you’re wearing a hat, long-sleeved shirt, and pants. Invest in a few good pairs of socks that will do the same. You’ll feel better throughout the day that way.

The best way to stay cool on the construction site involves having a plan in advance. For more information about what you’ll need to run a contracting business, visit CSLS today!

When you’re working on the construction site, you might be burning a lot of energy that you’ll need to replace throughout the day. Eating the right snacks can mean the difference between having the momentum to finish the task, and needing to stop early. When you bring these five foods to the table, you’ll be better prepared to get through the day.

Nuts
In the past several years, nutrition experts have come around to the benefits of eating nuts as a snack. As a general rule, a serving of nuts may be higher in calories and fat than other types of snacks. However, when you’re working long hours and burning a lot of calories, you need to replenish your reserves without having to eat constantly. Nuts are nutrient dense and full of protein, which can help you keep up your energy throughout the day. If you find that you’re starting to feel sluggish a couple of hours after lunch, a handful of nuts might be just what you need to keep going.

Cheese
Like nuts, cheese has occasionally been maligned as a high-calorie, high-fat food. On the other hand, it’s rich in calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients. It’s also got a ton of protein and can help bulk up a snack that feels too light. Cheese is great to add to your breakfast, or in a midmorning snack. Some cheeses can stay good outside the fridge for periods of time, so you don’t have to worry about bringing a cooler. If you find that softer cheeses don’t always sit as well with you, which is common for a lot of adults, look for an aged cheese like Gouda or Parmesan.

Fruit and Vegetables
These days, it seems like everybody is looking for ways to cut out the carbs. But without access to some necessary sugars and starches, you might find that you don’t get the energy boost to help you keep up momentum. Fruit and vegetables can be an excellent way to work toward your vitamin requirements and add a little extra brightness and flavor to your snack. The good thing about fruit is that you can often bring a serving without having to prepare it. Apples, oranges, bananas or berries may only need a quick wash before you eat them. Just make sure that you don’t overload yourself with fiber all at once, or you’ll be feeling it later.

Whole Grains
When people talk about carbohydrates, they’re usually talking about simple carbs and how they can cause you to burn out too quickly. Whole grains are a completely different thing. Foods like oatmeal contain complex carbohydrates, which take longer to digest and can make you feel full longer. If you’re noticing that you’re ready for lunch only an hour or two into your day, you might try adding a bowl of oatmeal or a couple of slices of whole-grain toast to your breakfast. They can provide a longer stream of energy for you without making you feel empty shortly after.

Eggs
Eggs are a great addition to any meal. They pack a lot of fat and protein into a small package. You can eat several at once, or add one or two boiled eggs to a snack of nuts and some fruit. If you’re trying to find a way to fit more protein into your diet, eggs are great because they don’t make you feel too full for the rest of the meal. But their nutritional makeup means that they take longer to digest, so you’ll be more likely to feel satisfied longer. Boiled eggs are incredibly handy, but you’ll have to store them in a cooler and protect them from getting smashed.

Finding the right snacks to take to the construction site can help you have a better day as the owner of a contracting business. To learn more about what you need to do well in construction, visit CSLS today!