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Happy New Year to you! Have you thought about how you are going to be spending your time in 2013?  We believe that wellness is going to be a key priority for many healthcare consumers who are interested in staying competitive and productive in the workplace.  Here are four tips that may get your year off to a good start and keep your head in the game:

1.      Getting enough sleep

Employers are not the only ones looking at performance and productivity – the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers spent last summer looking into the relationship between sleep and performance.  It might be good time for you to revisit the importance of keeping your room cool and dark, as well.  Sleeping without your iPhone, iPad and laptop will keep you in sync with your body’s circadian rhythm.    

2.      Standing, not sitting

The need to exercise is very important to health and wellbeing.  New research shows that cutting back TV watching to less than two hours every day may extend life by 1.4 years.  According to WebMD studies suggest that people who sit for prolonged periods every day have a higher risk for diabetes, heart attack and even some cancers. All of us know how easy it is to spend several hours in front of a computer without taking a break - try to get up and move several times a day. 

3.      Recognizing peak creativity time

Start by asking yourself if you are a lark or an owl? If you are an owl, starting a project before 8 in the morning will most likely produce less than average results.  Think back over your work for the past few months – was there a time when ideas just seemed to flow?  Dr. Kay, Steve Kay, a professor of molecular and computational biology at the University of Southern California states that, “when it comes to doing cognitive work, for example, most adults perform best in the late morning - as body temperature starts to rise just before awakening in the morning and continues to increase through midday, working memory, alertness and concentration gradually improve. Taking a warm morning shower can jump-start the process.”

4.      Finding Flow

Flow is the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.  What is key to flow and enjoying an integrated work/life balance is placing as much emphasis on your downtime as your work time.

Ready for 2013! We are and looking forward to sharing tips on health, energy, creativity, and wellness with you! 

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