Tag: Wellbeing

Healthy Habits in the Workplace

4 HEALTHY BREAK HABITS WHILE WORKING REMOTELY

Posted on by nrg2perform in Article

By Craig Johns

How often have you found yourself so focused on work while working remotely that you forget to take healthy breaks? In the previous article “Undisputed Benefits of Taking a Smoko Break” we looked at the benefits of taking regular, short and frequent breaks, and the importance of detachment from something we are focused on. This article bring you some useful strategies and habits you can form to improve your performance and productivity while working remotely.

Healthy Break Habits

Don’t tell your boss, but taking a power nap has a major impact on your alertness and cognitive function. It can alleviate sleep deficits; improve creative problem solving, verbal memory, perceptual, object and statistical learning, logical reasoning, reaction times and symbol recognition; and improve our mood, fatigue and feeling of sleepiness. They should last between 10 to 30minutes long. If you nap any longer you risk developing ‘sleep inertia’, which is the unpleasant groggy feeling that can take some time to shake off.

Quite often we get caught up in ‘the grind’ or the finer details of what we are doing. Having a break allows you to step back and taking a birds-eye-view of the task or work you are focused on. It allows to you see the big picture and stay mindful of your objectives.

Enjoyment is the number one retention tool in the world. Completing a fun activity by yourself or with your friends and colleagues produces positive emotions. These emotions reverse negative effects of work tasks and increase blood flow to the areas in the brain that we use to focus.

Daydreaming allows us to release and switch on our creative modes. Our brains have a focused mode (learning, writing, working) and a diffuse mode (relaxed, day-dreaming). Our brain activity increases when our mind wanders. We sometimes solve some of our toughest puzzles or problems while daydreaming.

“Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets…It is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.”

TIM KREIDER

The 4 healthy break habits while working remotely:

  1. Power nap
  2. Birds-eye-view
  3. Fun activity
  4. Day dreaming

PRODUCTIVITY-BOOSTING ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR BREAK

Let’s take a look at some more healthy break habits activities that you can use to boost your productivity while working remotely:

  • Take a walk – 20min walk can increase blood-flow to the brain, which can boost creative thought, enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat age-related declines in brain function, and improve memory and cognitive performance
  • Daydreaming – leads to creativity. Creative activities teach us agency, the ability to change the world, mould it to our liking and to have a positive effect on our environment
  • Eat – replenish the brain with productivity nourishing foods
  • Read – a non-work book. Reading fiction books can lead to better understanding other people, emphasize with them and see the world from their perspective
  • Coffee – morning and afternoon break time is the perfect time for coffee
  • Aesthetically pleasing photos – photos that spark positive emotions like babies, baby animals and funny cartoons
  • Listen to music – can significantly improve our motor and reasoning skills
  • Nap it out – 10-30min naps can improve cognitive function, decreases sleepiness and fatigue, improves reaction time.
  • Exercise – makes you happier, increase energy and helps gain focus. Less than 10minutes is all you need.
  • Have a chat – with co-workers or friends
  • Meditate – your brain’s beta waves can be dramatically reduced during meditation. It lowers stress levels, improves overall health and enhances creativity
  • Make it fun – plan a future trip or vacation. The anticipation of a trip can make people happier that the actual trip itself
  • See the nature – Spending time in nature is good for your immune system, improve focus and relieve stress
  • 20min Eye Exercise Rule – 20-20-20 rule – Every 20min, take at least a 20sec break, looking at objects 20 feet away.
  • Goofing Around online – the distractive nature of checking text messages and surfing social media can assist with refreshing the brain

“To maximize gains from long-term practice,” Dr. Ericsson concluded, “individuals must avoid exhaustion and must limit practice to an amount from which they can completely recover on a daily or weekly basis.”

Professor K. ANDERS ERICSSON

BREAK METHODS

Here are a few methods that can help you implement a successful healthy break habits strategy in your day.

  1. Pomodoro Method – alternate 25mins on, 5mins off. After 4 cycles take a 30min break. Helps you get rid of distractions and focus more intently. Finite beginning and end of small chunks increases urgency in finishing tasks quickly and making decisions faster
  2. 90minute work blocks – works with our body’s natural rhythm (ultradian rhythm) of 90minutes of activity and 20minutes of rest. We do this during sleep and during the day. When Professor K. Anders Ericsson studied elite performers like violinists, athletes, actors and chess players, he found that the best performers practiced in focused sessions of no more than 90 minutes.
  3. 52-17 method – split between the Pomodoro Method and 90min Blocks. Research suggests that it could be the most productive schedule. Working with purpose.
  4. 2x 15min breaks per day – a good starting point for those who have less flexibility in their work day or mentally cant get their heads around taking breaks.

“The reason the most productive 10% of our users are able to get the most done during the comparatively short periods of working time is that their working times are treated as sprints. They make the most of those 52 minutes by working with intense purpose, but then rest up to be ready for the next burst. In other words, they work with purpose.”

COURTNEY SEITER

What are the healthy break habits strategies you are going to choose?

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Craig Johns Flatline Break The CEO Code ATOMIC PRESSURE High Performance Leadership

OVER TIRED OF OVERWORK?

Posted on by nrg2perform in Article

Do you find yourself over tired, exhausted or underperforming during a day, week, month, year or even over your career? 

As humans, many of us work or perform back-to-back tasks until we are exhausted. If it’s physical we notice the fatigue and generally stop earlier for a break, however if it’s mental fatigue we tend to go a lot longer allowing our performance to drop to quite low levels. 

For example with the world turning more to online meetings with the advance of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are finding themselves in more back-to-back meetings and periods of focused work without breaks. Previously we would get a break walking or driving between meetings, going somewhere to each lunch or would find ourselves in conversation with others. Now, it’s more common for people to remain at there computer and switch from one piece of focused work to another, while eating (if they remember) in the go.

Have you noticed how, as humans, we are very good at adapting to a gradual change in state and we don’t realize that our performance has dropped until it’s too late (sick, exhausted or react negatively)? 

I will be first to put my hand up and say, I pushed too hard and over did it as an Athlete, employee and CEO. I even flatlined in hospital when thinking I was invincible and could keep working harder and longer in the false hope that I was being a high performer. 

“Have you ever over done it in your life, for all the right reasons?”

CRAIG JOHNS

To perform at our best we need to proactively balance periods of focused work with rest or recovery. In Break The CEO Code we focus on energy management, starting with a 3:1 Work to Recovery ratio and modifying the ratio depending on the intensity of work. Called CEO Periodization, we use the ratio of 3:1, which is consistent with recent research conducted by the Microsoft Human Factors Lab, athlete performance literature, military protocols and a number of other work performance related studies. 

The research shows that after 45-60min of sustained focused work, our performance starts to decline. It will be less time if the physical or mental intensity of the work is greater than normal and the recovery time needed will be much greater. What is interesting is that it takes approximately 15-20min of recovery or rest to return the energy and performance back to high levels. 

Example if you have a meeting or focused work for 45min then you need 15min recovery or rest to return to a high performance state. 

So, what is the difference between rest and recovery?

REST is the absence of activity or movement.

Sleep, mindfulness, meditation and even exercise are great examples of rest that can reduce the mind activity. However if you want to rest the body as well, then you would exclude exercise or activity that is physical in nature. 

RECOVERY is a proactive restorative approach to bring the mind and body back to balance or lift to a better state. 

Meditation, hobbies, exercise, massage, yoga, comedy, change of location, getting fresh air, walking in nature, eating healthy food, staying hydrated and many other activities can increase the restorative  process of recovery. 

How can we proactively incorporate breaks in our day?

It’s important that we define what a break is to us. It could still be doing work, however it would need to be low cognitive in nature to help with the restoratative process. 

Any recovery or rest approach is beneficial when applied effectively. You just need to find what works for you and implement it proactively. If you are finding yourself feeling depleted as the week goes on, then you haven’t got the balance right. 

The mind and body will partake in restorative processes while still working or doing some form of activity. The higher the workload, stress load and intense focus, the less restoration that can occur and the result is lower performance as the breakdown exceeds restoration in our mind and body. 

This happens when athletes breakdown due to physical/mental stress overload. In workers they can experience burnout or other mental/physical health issues if the long term loading is excessive. For parents, it could be “snapping” at our children as the pressure boils over. 

High Performance or sustaining a high level of performance throughout a day, week, month, year or career requires energy management. 

It’s important that we manage our energy proactively rather than reactively. 

Scheduling your recovery and energy in your diary before scheduling meetings and periods of focused work, is a great proactive approach. 

How can you structure your meetings and work so that you can sustain a high level of energy and performance?

READ MORE ARTICLES

People Are Our Greatest Assets Link
It’s All About Trust Link
Have We Got The Hiring Process Totally Wrong? Link
Are You Leading A High Performing Culture? Link
Are Leaders Born? Link
It’s Your Story Link
Be A Rookie Link

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SECRET TO SUCCESS – PEOPLE ARE OUR GREATEST ASSET

PEOPLE ARE OUR GREATEST ASSETS – SECRET TO LEADERSHIP

Posted on by nrg2perform in Article
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Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash

People Are Our Greatest Assets

By Craig Johns

There is nothing more beautiful than teaching and coaching people. The immense pride and enjoyment you get out of seeing someone grow is supported by the benefits you receive by teaching and coaching. You learn more about yourself, you tend to reflect on your own habits and routines, and you provide an opportunity to learn new ways of doing things.

“People learn the most when teaching others.”

PETER DRUCKER

As a CEO or leader you have a huge responsibility to not only prepare your people for their work, but also prepare them for life. More than just teaching skills, you have an obligation to teach them to find and understand their purpose. Once people understand their purpose, you then have to work with them to connect it with the purpose of the company and the work they are completing.

People Are Our Greatest Assets

People are the only sustainable thing in an organization or a team. The New Zealand All Black Rugby Team’s win-rate over the last 100 years is over 75 per cent. It’s a phenomenal record, and an achievement matched by no other elite team, in any code, around the globe. However, in 2004 the All Blacks weren’t in a great place with team culture issues, low morale, disjointed purpose and declining performance.

“Better people make better All Blacks – but they also make better doctors and lawyers, bankers and businessmen, fathers, brothers, and friends.”

JAMES KERR

The team management and senior players came together and decided that they needed a fresh culture, where individual character and personal leadership were emphasized. They developed a new mantra, ‘Better People Make Better All Blacks’. This resulted in a remarkable turnaround with the team achieving a win-rate of just over 90%, and two Rugby World Cup’s, since 2004. They literally ‘swept the sheds’ and turned the focus to ‘leaving the jersey in a better place’.

There is nothing more rewarding than teaching people to become better than ourselves. Many CEO’s and leaders are afraid of the people they work with becoming better skilled, better leaders and better people than they are. It’s all about ego, and they need to realize that way of thinking is hindering the progress of both the company and themselves. As a CEO and leader, you need to learn how to create a mindset where you are proud of people growing above you, rather than being afraid of it.

“Understanding this responsibility creates a compelling sense of higher purpose. It’s a good lesson for us all: if we play a bigger game, we play a more effective game.”

JAMES KERR

When people are buying a product, they are looking for an emotional connection, rather than a material connection. Your people are at the heart of creating the emotional connection the buyers crave. It is important that you create an environment where your people are passionate about selling an experience, a new way of doing something, a feeling or a dream. As they say, ‘people sell, not products’.

People Are Our Greatest Assets

People are more interested in the ‘why you are doing’ rather than ‘what you are doing’ when it comes to joining your community, purchasing a product or doing a deal with you. Why did the company begin, why does it act and interact in the way it does, and why do your people turn up every day? Your people need to be aligned in the collective purpose of the company, be passionate about the purpose, and live and breathe it every day.

“Give a man a fish; feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish; feed him for a lifetime.”

LAO TZU

Enjoyment and happiness are the number one retention tools in the world. For people to enjoy their work and be happy in the workplace, they need positive relationships, purposeful work, opportunities to learn and grow, and have some ‘skin in the game’. Forget a tunnel-vision focus on the bottom line and profit aligned productivity, and begin focusing on creating an enjoyable and happy place, that people love turning up to every day.

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Appreciation and recognition drive the human spirit. Confidence and self-esteem are some of the most vulnerable human characteristics. We often look for the negative things, those that aren’t going right and focus on them, rather than emphasizing the great things people are doing. If you are always focusing on the negative aspects of your companies or peoples work, you are not going to develop trust and the loyalty of your people.

“Tell me and I forget,
teach me and I will remember,
involve me and I will learn.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Look at ways you can reward and recognize the efforts of your people, more often. This helps to build confidence and self-esteem, especially if you can create an environment where people feel appreciated for their work, while also learning how to improve in areas that need attention. Remember, without confidence it is impossible for people to perform at their best. Just watch a tennis tournament.

Your people are your greatest asset. Take the time to communicate with your people, listen to them, and ask questions that improve their understanding, and bring them closer to the purpose of the company and what they want to achieve in life. Find ways to reflect on how you interact with your people and seek new ways to communicate more effectively. You have a great responsibility!

“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed;
If in terms of ten years, plant trees;
If in terms of 100 years, teach the people.”

CONFUSCIOUS

Remember, people are our greatest assets.

READ MORE ARTICLES

It’s All About Trust Link
Have We Got The Hiring Process Totally Wrong? Link
Are You Leading A High Performing Culture? Link
Are Leaders Born? Link
It’s Your Story Link
Be A Rookie Link

LEARN MORE

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active CEO CORPORATE
active CEO PODCAST
Craig Johns SPEAKER
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