Each one of these habits may seem insignificant on its own, but tackle one of them at a time and try to keep all of them going. Once you’ve put them all into practice and they begin to gain momentum, you’ll want to make more wholesome habits stick.
The foundation recommends that you “pay attention to your individual needs by assessing how you feel on different amounts of sleep”.
- Are you productive, healthy and happy on seven hours of sleep? Or does it take nine hours of quality ZZZs to get you into high gear?
- Do you have health issues, such as being overweight? Are you at risk of any disease?
- Are you experiencing sleep problems?
- Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day?
- Do you feel sleepy when driving?
Try adjusting the number of hours of sleep you get until you feel you’re operating at your best.
2. CUT DOWN ON SUGAR: If you have several cups of tea and/or coffee a day and you take two spoons of sugar in each one, you’re adding 10 or more teaspoons of the sweet stuff to your diet. Cut the amount of sugar you add to your beverages gradually and then try to cut it out altogether. You’ll notice that your tastebuds will change – you’ll begin to taste the natural sweetness in fruit, dairy and even vegetables.
TIP: If you feel yourself “crashing” at work, instead of the instant gratification of a sugar or caffeine high, keep a packet of unsalted, high-protein nuts in your desk drawer. Have a handful and a large glass of water. You’ll get a long-lasting energy boost, without sugar- and caffeine-fuelled highs and lows.
3. CLEAR CLUTTER: It’s hard to destress and relax when your physical or mental space is filled with clutter. Author of Ditch Your Glitch (Metz Press), Kate Emmerson defines clutter as “anything that no longer serves you, for whatever reason”. She explains: “Living with any form of clutter wastes your energy, leaving you feeling dull, lethargic and clogged up (often in the literal sense of the word), without any vital energy.”A great place to begin is your office desk. Clear out one drawer and before you know it, you will have moved onto the rest. The key is to start somewhere and not procrastinate.
4. CLEANSE YOUR OUTLOOK:
Make it a daily habit to detox your brain of negative thoughts. “The main reason our brains need to detox is that normal thoughts can be toxic," says Jason Selk, author of Executive Toughness (McGraw-Hill). We tend to focus on problems and negativity, rather than the positivity in our lives, he explains. “Read the newspapers, watch the news or listen to the conversation around the office. Everyone's talking about problems, rather than the solutions.”
Selk says we usually focus on the things we’ve done incorrectly. He advises that we take just one minute each day to focus on three things we’ve done well. “You don't have to cure cancer for it to qualify. As the great American basketball coach John Wooden says, little things done well create excellence.” Note your small successes.
