1. Diet & Exercise
Diet
The benefits of eating healthy are endless. Eating a healthy breakfast every morning will help jumpstart your day, and many professionals swear by it. Healthy eating at work can actually increase your productivity. Certain foods will help boost your immune system, energy, and brain activity (memory, concentration, etc.). Some brain foods include blueberries, oranges, nuts, broccoli, eggs, and salmon, to name a few. Many of the brain foods listed are also considered superfoods, rich in nutrients that offer several other health benefits. Some experts don’t care for the term superfood, as it’s considered a marketing ploy, but no one can deny the nutritional value in these dietary staples.
The importance of eating healthily is to keep your body and mind operating at maximum capacity. Ensure that you have three balanced meals every day. Here are some tips:
- Eat more plants
- Decrease red meats
- Lower salt intake
- Lower sugar intake
- Healthy fats (unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids like olives, avocados, nuts, tofu, fatty fish, etc.)
- Healthy carbs (veggies, starchy veggies, whole grains, and fruits)
- Avoid processed foods.
- Natural fibers (beans, brown rice, whole grains, quinoa, nuts, bran, berries, etc.)
It’s also important to learn about yourself and create a personalized nutrition plan adhering to your dietary restrictions, food allergies, and individual needs.
Exercise
Fitness and nutrition are equally important. Regular exercise is essential for the body, mind, and spirit. As a suggestion, try yoga. Yoga is a good thing to add to your diet and exercise plan. Yoga provides a great full-body workout with the added beneficial practices of stretching, controlled breathing exercises, and meditation.
Try walking, running, biking, hiking, or swimming; not only do these activities provide a great cardio workout while targeting various muscle groups, but being outside can help improve mindfulness, gratitude, and strategic or creative thinking. Mental health and nature have a strong link. Spending time in nature or just being outdoors can boost your mood and energy while relieving stress. The sun can add a healthy dose of vitamin D to your day, too; just remember to wear your sunscreen!
It’s important to tailor a balanced, personalized workout plan with healthy activities that you enjoy. From strength training to cardio, yoga, and everything in between, a healthy body leads to a more productive mind and a motivated soul.
2. Note-taking & Journaling
Note-taking and journaling are great personal and professional exercises. Writing down your goals is a crucial manifestation technique that will help you advance your life and career.
Keeping a gratitude journal will remind you what you have accomplished so far, what’s most important, and assist in practicing mindfulness (being in the now).
Many successful people start their days by writing out a to-do list. Note-taking is also vital for strategizing your tasks.
Often, people feel more uninhibited when taking notes versus typing them. Writing out your thoughts requires deeper cognitive processing; it can help improve recall and conceptual understanding of the material while blocking out other distractions associated with digital tools like a computer. Keeping separate personal and professional journals can help you to come to a deeper understanding of these sides of yourself.
3. Sleep Care & Morning Routines
Creating a positive morning routine is a celebrated practice among almost all highly successful people.
Here are some things to try for your morning routine:
- Waking up early: Early to bed, early to rise. Keep a consistent wake and sleep time that involves going to bed at a reasonable hour so you can wake up early. Many successful professionals get up before sunrise to start their morning routine.
- Stretches: Stretches increase blood flow and relieve tension or pain.
- Making your bed: Cleanliness increases creativity, focus, and often happiness. Doesn’t a made bed look more inviting? Waking up early and making your bed will be one of the first tasks you complete every day, so it starts the day off will a small accomplishment and ends the day with a small enjoyment.
- Exercising: Consistent exercise has many physical and mental benefits, and it’s a great way to jumpstart your day. Try yoga; as we discussed before, yoga has several physical, mental, and even spiritual benefits. It’s a calm and positive way to start your day while also being a great workout. Also try a brisk walk for a nice cardio workout that boosts mindfulness, mental clarity, creativity, and calmness.
- Meditation: Use deep breathing, positive mantras, your five senses, and visualization exercises to increase gratitude, calmness, clarity, happiness, and motivation.
- Reading: What’s your pleasure? Read the newspaper, professional articles, a fictional story, or a self-help book. No matter what you’re reading, doing it regularly will exercise your mind and expand your thinking.
- Journaling: Journaling is an introspective exercise that will help improve many aspects of your professional and personal life.
- Listening to music: Music can be highly motivational. Create a morning soundtrack to wake up to.
- Find inspiration: Pull inspiration from quotes, motivational speakers, music, books, images, and yourself. Continually feeding yourself with inspirational tidbits, especially first thing in the morning, can be highly motivating.
- Taking “me” time: Me time is important. What are some of the things that you enjoy most? See if you can incorporate some of them into your morning routine.
- Family time: Try to spend a little quality time with your partner, children, and pets; it should provide a better start to everyone’s day. Incorporating family time into your morning routine can be highly rewarding; creating a more fulfilling life for yourself and others.
- Strategizing & to-do lists: Strategize your plans for the day and create a to-do list, starting with your most intensive tasks first. You will stay organized and have your daily goals lined up in front of you. Tackling your most intensive tasks first, when your mind is sharpest, will help you accomplish more at your peak performance levels.
- Self-care & beauty routines: Shower, brush your teeth, and look presentable; even if you’re working from home, this helps you to improve self-worth and be more motivated.
Sleep care is also essential to your success. Try:
- Shutting off electronic screens at least one hour before bed: Blue light and digital distractions can affect healthy sleep.
- Don’t drink alcohol right before bed: Alcohol may initially put you to sleep, but it won’t be restful, as it disrupts restorative REM sleep; you also have a higher tendency to wake up anxious.
- Avoid other altering substances: Avoid other substances like caffeine and nicotine before sleep.
- Bath time: Take a warm bath to relax.
- Calm scents: Use calming scents to aid with sleep, such as chamomile or lavender.
- Sleep sounds: Some people find music, white noise, or nature sounds helpful for sleep.
- Keep a journal by your bed to jot down thoughts, dreams, and more.
- Get seven to eight hours of sleep: Please do not count getting ready for bed and falling asleep as part of these seven to eight hours.
- Keep your room cooler, but not cold: Experts recommend approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit, but you can adjust the temperature to what works best for you.
There are also sleep monitoring apps from companies like Sleep Number, Apple, and more to keep track of your heart rate, breathing, hours of restful sleep, and restless sleep hours.
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