This time of year most of us are thinking about how to keep our weight under control while attending all the holiday functions in our personal and professional lives. As I continue to identify ways to accomplish my work and enjoy my life, and share them with you as I learn, it occurred to me that the seven keys, author Scott Conrad, MD., talks about in his book for weight control can be applied to your productivity. Listen as I share these 7 keys and how you can use them to improve your productivity and accomplish your work. Podcast Duration: 05:22 (MM:SS) - Transcript Available
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Podcast Transcript
Hello, I'm Barbara Hemphill. My passion is helping you eliminate physical, digital, emotional and spiritual clutter, so you can accomplish your work and enjoy your life. I'm so glad you've joined me again today!This time of year most of us are thinking about how to keep our weight under control while attending all the holiday functions in our personal and professional lives. One of my favorite books on weight control is called Weight Loss the Jabez Way: 7 Keys to Adding Years to Your Life by Scott Conrad, MD. He defines the seven keys as:
- Air
- Water
- Sleep
- Food
- Exercise
- Relationships
- Purpose
As I continue to identify ways to accomplish my work and enjoy my life, and share them with you as I learn, it occurred to me that the same seven factors outlined by Conrad for weight control apply to productivity. I also realized that I have, unconsciously, been applying them in my own life since I read the book, and I've seen a dramatic improvement in the way I feel and in my productivity. So this week, I thought I'd begin sharing some of my strategies for those seven keys.
1. Air
Several months ago I looked at a video of one of my presentations -- the first thing I noticed was my posture. My stooped shoulders reminded me of my grandmother who at the age of 90 looked like 90 degree angle. When I was in high school, my mother worked in an office which overlooked the main street where I often walked with my classmates. I remember her frequent admonition "Stand up straight!" She assumed I slouched because I was ashamed of my height. The reality was it was just too much trouble to stand up straight. One of the big outcomes of poor posture is not breathing effectively. My family history, compounded with lack of discipline, and excessive hours spent at my computer lend themselves to poor posture and shallow breathing. Recently I have been making a conscious effort to stand and sit correctly and breath deeply. It's amazing how improving my posture and my breathing also changes the way I feel emotionally, as well as physically!
2. Water
I went to school for the first nine years of my life in a one room school with an outhouse. I did whatever I could to avoid having to go there, so I developed a bad habit very early in life of not drinking water. As I got older I tried several methods of changing the habit. One of them was drinking a commercial bottled water called "Perfect Water" -- I don't know if it was the taste or the fancy silver bottle, but it triggered me to start drinking more water. Then I began feeling concerned about the environmental impact of so many plastic bottles, and I switched to tap water with a purifier. In spite of all my efforts, I still didn't consume the recommended amount, until recently when I discovered a new habit:
drinking one glass when I get up in the morning; two glasses before each meal, and one glass before I go to bed. I'm not suggesting that's the perfect solution for everyone -- except for one aspect -- it's a habit!
2. Sleep
I used to be a late night person, and was somewhat proud of the fact that I "didn't need much sleep." In fact in my early 20's I was doing an independent study to go overseas, and I studied until 5 or 6:00 in the morning, and then got up in time for lunch. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Studies show that the majority of the people in our society are sleep-deprived and overweight. They also show that lack of sleep causes weight gain and increased sleep gives our brains time to process and our bodies time to heal. Today, I'm quite the opposite. By 10:00 pm, I usually call it a day, and by 6:00 am, and often much earlier, I'm anxious to begin my day -- and I don't even need a cup of coffee to get started!
You may already have seen there is a pattern developing in my strategies for the first two keys -- replacing a bad habit with a better one. Stay tuned next week to learn more about the habits I'm developing to accomplish my work and enjoy my life.
So here's my question for you this week! Are there any new habits you want to consider relating to air, water, or sleep?
Post your comments or questions in the comments area of this episode at barbarahemphill.com.
If you like this podcast and think a friend or colleague can benefit from it please share it with them using the Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn buttons on the podcast page on my website." Until next week, I'm Barbara Hemphill. Thanks for listening!
