Over the last several months I have made a few small changes to my lifestyle that have resulted in dramatic improvement to my productivity. I can thank Cameron Diaz for that. The A-List Movie Star is well known for her films ‘There’s Something About Mary‘ [1998] and ‘Charlie’s Angels‘ [2000]. She recently came out with two health focused books ‘The Body Book’ and ‘The Longevity Book.’
The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body
I enjoyed reading both of these books by listening to them as ‘books on tape’ through the Audible smartphone application. Audible, an Amazon company, charges a $15.00 a month subscription for a credit towards any book you want or lets you purchase and listen to a book on occasion. Most books are available. I recommend taking at least a day a week to listen to books on topics that interest you and are not directly related to your field.
The Body Book gives an overall picture of the inner workings of the human body and how an out of balance body significantly impacts your life. Being health conscious, I assumed that I would know alot of the content already but I wanted to know what a movie star would do to keep glamorous. I learned that it was the small changes that mattered most. I learned in more detail about the importance of keeping my sleep, nutrition, and exercise in a proper balance and how just getting slightly off balance in one area can make a big difference. This theme repeats in the Longevity Book but with an extra insight into how our body’s change as we grow older. Both of these books are useful for everyone because they give a general picture of how aging and health impacts a human body and then give insight into how female and male bodies are different. Here are a few snippets of what I learned that you can easily apply to improve your productivity:
Sleep We all know its important but how can we get better sleep? Studies show we need on average at least 7 hours of sleep. I learned that circadian rhythms are impacted by sensors on our skin and just wearing a mask is not enough. It is important to buy blackout curtains to keep out the lights from outside which are keeping you awake. Also, remove all electronics with blinking lights from your room. I know this seems so simple that it’s almost stupid but I’m telling you that it made a 100% difference in my ability to fall asleep. Furthermore, many of us who run businesses are under a high amount of stress already, so it will help you sleep better if you cut out caffeine or at least downgrade the caffeine level to green tea instead of coffee. Also don’t eat late at night, your digestive tract needs a rest too. This made a big difference for me.
Water Water is the key to proper functioning of our bodies. It helps all our biological processes keep going and without it we die. It is important to drink a glass of water when you wake up in the morning so that you wake up. Make an effort to drink at least 8 glasses a day throughout the day and you will see an improvement in your ability to concentrate. You will also flush out any toxins that are in your system from not eating 100% healthy like we all should.
Nutrition Nutrition is important for our biochemical processes as well as concentration and mood. Having a depressed mood is actually linked to poor nutrition. The best diet is a mediterranean diet high in protein, vegitables and fruits with various natural oils like olive oil and Omega 3-available in salmon. It is best for you to meal prep your meals each week instead of eating out because you never know what your getting or how long its been sitting out. If you are feeling down, reach for a salad or make yourself a smoothie full of fruit and vegetables, not sugary yogurt. This has helped my mood alot and is a great pick me up when I feel like my concentration is waning in the middle of the day. When you make small changes in your habits each day you will see a world of difference not only in the way you look but how you feel as well. Women need to be cognizant that our natural monthly process drains nutrients from our bodies. We must be sure to eat calcium rich foods more than our male counterparts to supplement the loss of calcium from our bones.
Exercise If you don’t exercise your performance will suffer and I can promise that you will not age well. But, you’re never too old to start! As we age we lose muscle mass and our bodies are less able to bounce back from that pizza we ate last night. It is important to fight the effects of growing older by making it a priority to take a walk in the morning or better yet hit the gym for some cardio and weights. Don’t try to do a 5 hour routine or else you will never go back. I only spend an hour in the gym. Do weight bearing exercises to fight the effects of loss of calcium with aging which especially impacts women.
Many business people are so busy, they let themselves go, believing that it’s worth the sacrifice. In the end you end up being the biggest loser. You cannot help other people around you if you don’t make it a priority to take care of your health. If you make small changes in your habits, these will add up and you will see exponential improvement in you performance which will last a lifetime.