Wellness & Personal Performance Made Easy: Part 2

I wrote this article for HR Zone...

We continue our journey towards great personal energy, efficiency, productivity and enjoyment of both our personal and professional lives, by examining more simple lifestyle changes that are tried and tested and proven to result in people feeling great and performing to the best of their abilities.

Prepare yourself for a good night’s sleep every evening

Let your mind and body know that a restful night is approaching with rituals and routines that calm you and prepare you for good recovery. For most people, this means a period of winding down, leading carefully towards falling asleep. Listening to relaxing music and reading are popular strategies. Deep breathing or meditation is becoming very popular. Whatever you choose, make sure you set aside sufficient time for sleep preparation.

Close off the day

Unfinished business is something that keeps many people awake – things can pop into your head to prevent you from dropping off or, if you’re unlucky enough to wake up in the night, these thoughts can come flooding into your head and prevent you from falling asleep again. Each evening, put your concerns to bed before you put yourself to bed. Take a few moments to note down anything that’s on your mind and either write a practical action to resolve it, or schedule a time to tackle it the next day. Ideally, do this in the early part of the evening so you can spend the latter part of the evening on things that you enjoy and that you find relaxing.

Give personal meaning to healthy eating by setting clear objectives

Much time is wasted by people deliberating over every choice they’re faced with throughout the day. Things like, ‘should I have another coffee?’ or 'will I have chips with my lunch today?’  Whether you eat for health, energy, mood or weight management, this decision-making is made far easier if you stay focused on your overall healthy eating objectives at all times. Then, simply ask yourself if what you are about to choose will get you closer to your objectives quickly, or will it get in the way of you achieving your goals sooner rather than later.

Create habits that work for you

Be very clear when it comes to the quantity and timing of your meals, snacks and drinks. If you decide to have two coffees per day, choose the time at which you’ll have them. If you’re planning to moderate your alcohol intake, select specific days off and decide how much you’ll be drinking on your ‘on’ days. Pick optimum times for your AM and PM snacks and use them to ensure good fuel and great energy for the morning and the afternoon.

Watch the clock

Remember that you should never let four hours pass without eating or drinking something to boost your energy. Past this point you feel physically sluggish and mentally you might have trouble focusing. This is why being prepared with snacks is so important.

The secret to exercise success

If you’re not clear on why you really want exercise to be in your life, you’ll come up with some great ways to fill your days to the point where there’s no time left for getting active. On the other hand, those who make exercise work for them identify specific, personal and compelling exercise goals. These goals may relate to completing particular events, fundraising initiatives for charity, team commitments, weight management targets, social interaction, increasing energy levels and maximising enjoyment of life.

By giving some careful thought to the purpose of exercise within your routine, you’ll be able to plan and execute your ideal solution, boost energy, increase effectiveness and save time. Welcome to the world of wanting to exercise rather than feeling as though you ought to.

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Wellness & Personal Performance Made Easy: Part 1

I wrote this series of articles for HR Zone.

During the last 15 years of delivering wellness solutions to businesses, two things have become very clear. 

1. The improvements that people would like to make to their wellbeing are usually very simple; the most popular including the desire to get fitter, increase energy levels, lose weight, sleep better and experience an improved sense of balance in life. 
2. There’s an endless array of challenges, issues and reasons why people struggle to achieve these seemingly simple wellness objectives.

So to help individuals navigate their way around daily challenges to peak wellbeing and reach a healthy, happy lifestyle quickly and effectively, this three-part series will highlight fast and easy success strategies relating to personal fitness, excellent energy levels, healthy eating and great sleep.

By the end of the sequence of articles, you’ll be able to fast-track any wellbeing changes you’re considering personally and you’ll also be in a position to share the information with colleagues, family and friends. 

So, here's the first installment of targeted tips for quality sleep, fantastic fitness and creating a food routine that works for you, all directed towards optimum personal performance and a calming sense of balance and control in life.

Good sleep enhances the quality and enjoyment of everything you do

It’s tempting to steal time from sleep in order to pack more into the day, but one should always be mindful of the quality of what you do as well as the quantity of things on your list.  At some point, skipping sleep can create a situation where although we do more, we might end up achieving less. The ideal situation is to establish a sleep routine that leaves you rested, recharged and refreshed ready for a day of being effective and productive. You’re far more likely to enjoy a busy routine of work, family, friends and hobbies if you’re well rested. Plus, if you enjoy life more, you’ll sleep better and so the virtuous circle continues.

Routine is key: choose a bedtime and a wake time

You probably have a rough idea of how much sleep leaves you feeling refreshed so set yourself a time by which you’d like to be asleep in the evening, and a time to wake up in the morning based on leaving yourself the right number of sleep hours between the two times. Experiment over a few nights until you establish the optimum times for you.

Establish what’s going on with your food routine

In the midst of a busy life, making progressive improvements to your current approach to healthy eating is likely to be easier than attempting to change everything about your food routine all in one go. For best results, target your efforts carefully. Begin by keeping a food diary for at least three days. Simple notes will be fine – the content, timing and quantity of what you eat and drink – and this will help you identify and make the most effective changes right away.

Decide what to stop, start or continue

Clearly identify what meals, snacks or food products you will be removing from your current routine, what you’ll be adding to your routine that’s not currently there, and what you’ll continue with. For the latter group, be specific about which of these things you’ll be having more of, what you’ll have less of, and what will continue at their current level of consumption. For example, you may identify that you’d like to drink more water, drink less coffee, eat more fruit or vegetables and decrease your portion sizes. Some elements of your food routine will be fine for content and quantity so you can continue with these, although you may wish to experiment with the timing of various meals or snacks and see what routine provides you with the most consistent energy and focus.

Be very clear on how much time you need for exercise

Time is precious so decide how much of it you'd like to spend on exercise each week. You might be pleasantly surprised by how little time staying fit will require. Most people need just two to four hours a week but many are put off exercise completely by the idea that they need much more. Don’t stress about carving out loads of time for exercise that you might not actually need.

Think quality, not quantity, and refine your approach based on results

Remember the most important thing is to maintain regularity with activity and make the best use of the exercise time you do have available. The easiest way to establish how much time you’ll need is by being clear on your objectives and identifying how long you’d like to take to realise them. Based on this information, devise a plan of what exercise you’ll do each week and schedule specific days and times for your activities. Roll out your plan and then review the time you require based on your weekly progress. If you’re looking for faster results, modify your plan slightly, changing either the number of workouts per week, the duration of your workouts or the intensity of your activity. 

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