How Health Affects Your Positivity and Productivity. Part 2
Did you know creating some small healthy habits can have a massive impact on your positivity and productivity? In my first post of this series “How Health Affects Your Positivity and Productivity. Part 1”, I gave you an idea of how health can play a great support role in your daily outlook. In Part 2, I am going to discuss daily habits that you can build upon to get you on the up and up. We are keeping this simple.
OH NO, IT’S CHRONIC
We hear the word “chronic” thrown around a bunch these days. Chronic sleep deprivation, high blood pressure, dehydration, stress and the list goes on and on. We tend to put so much work and effort into living a busy, meaningful and productive life that we let our foundation go haywire. I agree that when we hear sayings such as, “Fill your cup first”, it comes across sort of selfish and self-centered. The truth is, we are best able to serve when we are running on full and not the opposite. Need some suggestions? Let’s go.
GOOD HEALTH IS DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR HEALTH, SAID NO ONE
If you read any productivity / positive thinking books, the authors always have a section on health. I have heard my clients, friends and family discuss health and lose sight of the day to day possibilities while only focusing on the end game. Fitness and health are a lifelong journey. As soon as you get rid of putting time frames and start dates out into the future, you can begin to make changes. Just as you can develop habits to become more positive and productive, you can also build habits to affect the direction of your overall health.
GIVE US MORE SLEEP
Some of the “chronic” issues we can have as busy kids, adults, parents, and caregivers have similar underlying attributes that can make things better. We have a tendency to look beyond some of the most simple ways that we can begin to get on the right track. For example, did you know that getting enough sleep can help your ability to learn, decrease the release of stress hormones, support recovery, reduce anxiety, etc. With all that said, would you be willing to take a look at your sleep habits and try and make some small adjustments to it?
There is a large payoff attached to getting quality sleep. I know, it’s not as sexy of a topic as those infomercials trying to sell you fat melting jiggle machines. The science points to 7+ hours for most people as the sweet spot. Getting by on 5 or few hours of sleep increase your chances of developing dementia, and also more acute dangers like having a fatal car crash. Not good.
DEHYDRATION NATION
Hydration is another area that is severely overlooked. Does eliminating headaches, confusion and dizziness sound like a worthwhile cause? How about giving your muscles, which includes your heart, an opportunity to work more efficiently and with less strain? Also, dehydration is so often confused with hunger which leads to overeating.
You need approximately 6 to 8 cups of water a day depending on your size and lifestyle. Do you sweat profusely when exercising or working? You might need a little more. We are all grown ups here, so we should know that 3 cans of diet soda, though technically fluid, really hurts you more than it helps you.
A QUICK WRAP UP
Let’s take the 10000ft approach. If you are not getting a full night sleep, can you shoot for an extra 30 minutes tonight? If you never drink any water, can you replace one soda or over processed fruit juice with a glass of water today? It may seem useless to make such small changes. I can tell you right now though, you must go small first, so in time you can go big. It is what it is. There are no overnight solutions. Results come from small incremental changes that are applied with purpose and intention.
In our next post of this series, we are going to wrap this series up with a quick look at the psychology of being on a health journey and it’s benefits. I am intentionally keeping these short for our new and improved short attention spans. Who is with me?
If you haven’t read the first post, click here for an introduction to this series.
