Bonus: check your email for more easy ways to live healthy.
5 #’s You Need So You Can Work Better
You may be missing half of your staff’s potential – and not even know it.
In a workshop recently, a company owner was shocked. I had just shared the staff’s energy score – a 5.7 out of 10. She asked “How?”, expecting their score to be higher. Unknowingly many people, and therefore companies, are running on half of their ability.
Here’s the good news. You can increase mental and physical energy with some simple steps.
(More good news. Scroll to the end for your “Work by the Numbers” cheat sheet to print for you and your staff.)
ONE full night’s sleep
“We now know that 24 hours without sleep or a week of sleeping 4 or five hours a night, induces an impairment equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.1%. We would never say, ‘This person is a great worker – he’s drunk all the time,’ yet we continue to celebrate people who sacrifice sleep for work.” – Dr. Charles Czeisler, Harvard Medical School
When I discussed this with a business owner, he began tracking the relationship between his productivity and the time he went to sleep. Once he calculated that every 15 minutes of lost sleep cost him significant income, he quickly stopped his old habit of staying up late.
TWO maximum news updates
Stress management starts with thought management. The easiest way to begin controlling your mental energy is to catch the news – including your social media – no more than two times each day. Definitely a scenario where less is more.
THREE Mindful Meals
What you eat is critical to your mental energy. You know that. Did you realize that how you eat is just as important?
Imagine two competing companies, presenting proposals in an afternoon meeting. One company’s culture subtly honors “working through lunch.” Typically, staff members eat at their desks, hoping to finish projects while eating.
Food gets splattered on papers, colleagues popping in create distraction, email notifications amplify the mental chaos, the food is barely noticed and poorly digested, so by 1:00 energy is drained and scattered.
The second company encourages mindful meals. Staff members eat outside on tables under shade trees, food is savored, and employees’ minds are calm, refreshed, and focused.
Which company enters the afternoon’s presentations with confidence and negotiates with creative solutions?
FOUR cups
… of water by noon. FOUR cups of water by 6 p.m. Every activity in your body and brain goes on in a base of water. When you are even slightly dehydrated, your brain is slower.
SIX minutes of movement every 60 minutes
Staying physically active during the day does more than improve your health, though health is essential.
If you are looking for motivation to get up and move, consider that even short movement breaks increase your problem-solving ability and cognitive function.
In addition to moving every hour or so, schedule regular exercise time, which has additional productivity benefits.
For example, a study at Bristol University showed a 21% increase in concentration and a 22% increase in ability to meet deadlines when participants exercised.
Here are easy ways to get moving:
On the phone? Stand and walk around.
About to answer an email to someone on the floor above you? Take the stairs and answer it in person.
Waiting for the copier? Stretch. (Yes. I really do this.)
Brainstorming ideas in a virtual meeting? Grab your phone to walk and talk.
About to write or think through some issues?
Set a timer for 60 minutes and stay focused. Then reward yourself with a walk outside.
Speaking of walking outside, here’s a bonus tip: SUNSHINE. Every time you are outside, sunshine – even on a cloudy day – boosts your serotonin. This feel-good hormone then converts to melatonin in the evening, bringing you back to #ONE – a good night’s sleep.
