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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Categories: Time and Energy | 

My guess is that being "stuck" is a consequence of mindlessness - the very opposite of openness to novelty or thinking about possibilities.  In this video, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer talks about mindfulness and noticing new things.  Her studies also indicate that mindfulness results in:

1.    Greater competence

2.    Health

3.    Longevity

4.    Positive affect

5.    Creativity

6.    Charisma

7.    Reduced burnout

Here is an exercise that teaches basic mindfulness medication from Harvard Health Publications:

1. Sit on a straight-backed chair or cross-legged on the floor.
2. Focus on an aspect of your breathing, such as the sensations of air flowing into your nostrils and out of your mouth, your belly rising and falling as you inhale and exhale.
3. Once you've narrowed your concentration in this way, begin to widen your focus.  Become aware of sounds, sensations, and your ideas.
4. Embrace and consider each thought or sensation without judging it good or bad.  If your mind starts to race, return your focus to your breathing. Then expand your awareness again.

The good news is that "flow" guru, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990) shared that mindfulness can be increased to foster positive experiences - including business.  Are you in the present, now? Right now? Good.  

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Robin Sharma says that, “better awareness leads to better decisions, which leads to better results.”  Not too many would argue with Sharma because success speaks for itself and he is absolutely right.  Let me ask you - are you aware of your room temperature right now? Is it too warm, too cold? The temperature of your work place as an impact on your productivity, according to Fast Company, in reporting a study conducted by researchers at Cornell University. 

The research discovered that employees who worked in cold temperatures were less productive and more likely to make errors in their work.  Researchers adjusted an office thermostat and found that when the temperature was set to 68 degrees, employees committed 44 percent more errors and were less than half as productive as when it was set to a warmer 77 degrees. The theory behind the decline in productivity that when your body's temperature drops, more energy is expended trying to keep warm; energy that is diverted from concentration, creativity and insight.  

The opposite in temperature settings is true for achieving a good nights sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation.  In their survey, they asked what makes for a good nights sleep and six in ten, rated on a 5 point scale, indicated that the following elements were important:

·         Quiet room (74%)

·         Dark room (73%)

·         Cool room temperature (67%)

·         Fresh air, free of allergens (63%), and/or

·         Clean bedroom (62%).

Your productivity can be impacted before you even get into the office from a too warm thermostat setting the previous night.   You get enough curve balls thrown at you daily, but temperature awareness is something that can be controlled. 

Categories: Sleep Improvement | Health and Vitality | 

Thanks to the good work of Yale and Jackie at Better Tymes Project, you can get a beautiful visual sync-up with your local solar and lunar time using their cool (free) screensaver, TrueTyme.  I find myself drawn to checking in with the TrueTyme screensaver every few hours throughout the day and evening.  It’s hard to put into words why this visualization of solar time is so alluring – it feels like a positive addiction. 

Because I’m an iPhone user, I haven’t been able to check out their Android application, but I’m hoping that will change soon.  Better Tymes Project is in the process of crowdsourcing funds so they can port True Tyme to the iOS platform.  Please join AuraViva to support Better Tymes Project bringing their wonderful approach to visualizing sun and moon time to iPhone users everywhere!

Categories: Time and Energy | Health and Vitality | 

"...we need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own 'to-do' list," Michelle Obama.  

A woman executive whom I have known for years informed me last week that she was stepping away from her work world for a few months in order to gain some balance and perspective.  She said it was time to think differently on how she wanted to look back on her accomplishments; in other words, she did not want to sum it all up only with professional milestones.  Without a vision that integrates the two, careers headed in the right direction can leave personal success in its wake.  Why is that?  Overwork and brutal hours may be the new demand, but they are also a ticket to becoming a member of the working wounded club, and nothing will gain you membership like random planning.  My question is, how much time are you devoting to planning your personal best?

Here are three questions to jump start your best quest:

1. Where do your passions lie? Are you be able to identify activities or topics that you find energizing apart from your career ecosystem?  Another way to think about this question is to ask what you like to accomplish while you are young and healthy?   
2. Are you addicted to work?  Medical oncologist, Edward T. Creagan, says in his blog "It's been my experience that an 'out of office' response means nothing anymore, we're driving ourselves wacko with no time to power down."  If you suspect that you may be a workaholic, take this quiz ...then turn your iphone off.   
3. Do your lifestyle decisions support your goals?  Our master body clock is the link between our physical health and well-being.  For example, lack of sleep directly impacts your creativity, ability to learn, and even control and prevent chronic disease.  Your personal best requires good decisions. 

I am well aware that innovators and entrepreneurs believe that the new currency is information - but, I think the new currency is leveraging time.  It is easy to forget about personal fulfillment these days - take some time to remember what you want in life outside of the office. 

"If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full-speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race." Oprah Winfrey

Categories: Time and Energy | Vitality and Performance | 

Here are a few clues that you are being too permissive with your time:

• Take a look at your schedule these past two weeks - how much of that time went to  helping others fulfill their goals with your time?  The time demand of others can rob you of precious time to think about what's next for you, or recognize and respond to signals that will keep you healthy competitive, and confident.  For example, in a survey by Perlow and Porter, posted in Harvard Business Review reviewed that professionals believed that the, “always on” ethic is essential if they and their firms are to succeed in the global marketplace. Just look at the numbers: According to a survey we conducted last year, 94% of 1,000 such professionals said they put in 50 or more hours a week, with nearly half that group turning in more than 65 hours a week. That doesn’t include the 20 to 25 hours a week most of them spend monitoring their BlackBerrys while outside the office.  One of their observations was that responsiveness breeds the need for more responsiveness without considering how to work more effectively without considering how they could work better.  
• How much television are you watching?  A study that appeared in The Journal of the American Medical Association*, researchers combined data from eight such studies and found that for every additional two hours people spend glued to the tube on a typical day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 20% and their risk of heart disease increases by 15%.*  Will you even remember that show anyway in two weeks?
• How much time did you spend on planning your downtime compared to your work time?  If your time orientation is directed only toward working hours this will eventually impact your productivity - but more importantly, you are missing out - we are all subject to the same 24 hours and giving equal importance to your non work hours will keep you healthy.    

Consider that we have a continuum of choices related to our schedules everyday as to what we permit to derail us.  The time demands are not going away any time soon!

*Television Viewing and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, and All-Cause Mortality” by Anders Grøntved and Frank B. Hu that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 2011;305(23):2448-2455

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What are the benefits of a good nights sleep?

• Everyday we take in a multitude of information, some of it important and meaningful, some not so meaningful.  When we have a good nights sleep, cognitive processing takes place, so that meaningful information is filtered. (1) 
• According to Psychologist Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the brain 'resets' itself during sleep, so that the brain wakes up 'fresh' and ready to learn and process more information. 
• Sleep has a direct affect on our health and well-being.  In an interview focused on the benefits of sleep, Susan Redline explains that, "the rise of our chronic health problems, like diabetes and obesity have happened in parallel with changes in the amount of sleep that we as a society are getting.
• Sleep has a direct affect on your work productivity.  Entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan says that,  "Working overtime doesn't increase your output.  It makes you stupid...lose just one night's sleep and your cognitive capacity is roughly the same as being over the alcohol limit."
• Getting the right amount of sleep impacts both declarative memory (what we know) and procedural memory (remembering how to do something).  "When we are sleep deprived, our focus, attention, and vigilance drift, making it more difficult to receive information. Without adequate sleep and rest, over-worked neurons can no longer function to coordinate information properly, and we lose our ability to access previously learned information." (2)

Looks like many successful people have figured out that sleep is instrumental in their success journey - it begins with thinking and thinking begins with sleeping.  What time are you going to bed tonight? 

(1) Cognitive Processing and Sleep: Implications for Enhancing Job Performance. James K. Wyatt and Richard R. Bootzin http://www.w3.arizona.edu/~vas/478/cognitive.pdf

(2)Ellenbogen JM, Payne JD, Stickgold R. The role of sleep in declarative memory consolidation: passive, permissive, active or none? Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2006 Dec;16(6):716-22. Epub 2006 Nov 7. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory

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For entrepreneurs, productivity is a priority.  Therefore, understanding the importance of syncing personal schedules with the body’s cyclic rhythms to increase energy levels is insight (and science) that will probably not frustrate the entrepreneur.  Our daily ability to  renew our energy levels is dependent on syncing light, food, temperature and activity cycles.  While the majority of us fall back on familiar routines, the entrepreneur may not be aware that they are out of sync, have missed a meal, or have worked through the night to solve a problem.  To realize their potential, entrepreneurs need to strategize personally and professionally on how not to run out of steam.  Let's examine how we can renew our daily energy:

·         Light.  Think about how the built environment and the fast paced workday works against us with electrical lighting and spending hours inside buildings.  Our bodies respond to the rhythms of night and day.  For example, the release of  melatonin is critical to rest...which is critical to energy.  Take the time to go outside during the day for an energy blast.  

·         Food.  Yes, we know - entrepreneurs eat on the run, but did you know that with one night of poor sleep, more calories (up to 500) will be consumed the next day?   Start the day with a decent breakfast which syncs up with cortisol release to help transition to wakefulness. 

·         Temperature.  Where do bats sleep for 16 hours of the day? A cool dark cave, I'll let you connect the dots.

·         Activity.  You need a plan to work out just as much as your business needs a plan.  Your schedule is never going to open up for you to exercise; so let me ask you, how long have you been sitting at your desk today or how long has it been since you have taken a sip of water? Remember that research shows that regular exercise increases energy and reduces fatigue. While we all have the same 24 hours, entrepreneurs tend to overestimate what they can squeeze into their day.       

Like all of us, entrepreneurs are on a journey, the difference with entrepreneurs is that  they know they will regret not using every spare minute to follow their dreams - that's why they need energy.  

Categories: Time and Energy | 

It is important to believe that you can master how you approach stress.  In Albert Bandura's book, Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control, he states that, "people's beliefs in their capabilities to produce desired effects by their own actions," points to his theory that our beliefs are an important determination of how we persevere in the face of challenges or under certain conditions.  Learning and applying skills on how to approach stress intentionally is a habit that is developed over time and a result of how knowledge plays a key role in not limiting our own internal resources.    

Begin by assessing what your normal reaction is when you are thrown a curve ball - be honest, do you fall into negative thinking?  This is a learned behavior that can be replaced with more positive and healthy thinking.  Dr. Virginia Gurley explains that, "contrary to the myth that your brain stops developing after childhood, your brain continues to grow, change and develop throughout life.  This is called neural plasticity, and brain researchers are finding that neural plasticity can change how we react to pain, stressful events and unhealthy coping habits."   

To tackle the next stress curve ball head on, Dr. Dexter Shurney recommends the following tips, what he refers to as the Perfect 7 to help overcoming stress:

1. Don't ignore the stressor - instead take action.
2. Plan appropriately, but do not worry about things you cannot change.
3. Strive for purposeful fulfilling life.  Find an avocation, or volunteer at something that provides greater purpose in life.
4. Spend time (not money) on relationships and experiences.
5. Adopt an attitude of giving.
6. Adopt an attitude of forgiveness.
7. Adopt an attitude of gratitude. 

Daniel Goleman, reasons that temperament is not destiny.  So, try this exercise that Dr. Shurney throws out as a challenge - to master negative feelings set aside any negative thoughts for anyone for an entire week! Go for it!  

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Dr. Virginia Gurley, MD in our BlogTalkRadio broadcast last week guided us through a What Do We Really Know About Stress refresher.  She reminded us that stress can help us accomplish goals, but long-term stress can make us feel overwhelmed and is harmful to our mental and physical health.  Why?  Our bodies need to replace worn out cells and long-term stress actually makes our body cells age more quickly; stress can:

1. Shrink the part of your brain that helps learn and remember new things, and also increase the size of the part of the brain that triggers fear and anxiety.   
2. Throws hormones out of sync, especially the control of blood sugar.
3. Makes heart and blood vessels less able to adapt to physical work.
4. Throw off the balance of the immune system, making it more likely to catch colds, infection and inflammation.  

Since we cannot remove all the sources of stress from our lives or ignore the stressors, it is equally important to not rely on unhealthy stress relievers:

1. TV or other online media
2. Gaming or gambling
3. Shopping
4. Eating
5. Alcohol
6. Tobacco
7. Drugs

When creativity does not come naturally to me, I know that my stress barometer is heading the wrong way and I should not go to the grocery store; my struggle with chocolate cake is well known.  Hopefully, this information on stress will nudge you into reflecting on your priorities, or examining the gaps between what you want for your life and where you really are.  In order to ask the right questions, you will need to walk away from your computer for longer than 5 minutes…I’m just saying.  Please tune in for Part 2 as we share some healthy adaptations and connect more understanding on stress.

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