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Here’s some of the activities that y’all must do and the average time per day it takes to do them (source: 2018 American Time Use Survey, BLS).

1. Cleaning the house and doing laundry, 94 minutes
2. Making meals, 61 minutes
3. Paying the bills, sorting mail and organizing the house, 44 minutes
4. Shopping for groceries or gifts, 50 minutes
5. Taking care of the kids – driving to school or activities, 121 minutes

You try to do it all.  You’re exhausted. There’s no time for you.  No time for your exercise.  Your reading.  Cuddling with your spouse.  Your friends.  Your Netflix binges.

But everyone lives this way, right?

I found a better way. Here’s how I did it.

I decided to start doing what I do best, and then outsource the rest. 

I figured out which of the things my husband and I did that either took the most time or that sucked the passion out of us.  Those were prime candidates to outsource.  For us… ding ding ding, cleaning the house and doing laundry!

We had a maid come in once a month but it didn’t feel like it was buying more than 5-6 hours a month. We thought not having to scrub a bathroom done would be enough relief. But nope.

So, we decided to outsource the cleaning and laundry tasks on a weekly basis. And essentially buy back time.

We asked around and found a woman that would clean our home and do our laundry, every week.  We pay her a set hourly rate.  We tell her that the house doesn’t need to be pristine. Do one floor one week while the laundry is going and switch floors the next week. If we’ve done the clothing laundry already because we needed to, then wash our towels and sheets instead.

Believe it or not, there’s people who would love to do your laundry. They need to make extra cash and they find it meditative.

We figured we’d try it for one quarter and if it didn’t feel like it was worth it, we could stop.

After a year, we can’t imagine life now without her.  We get a clean home every week and we only do laundry once a week (vs twice).  And honestly, it’s not that much more $.  Our stress level is significantly lower.  We have more time to exercise, play with the kids or come up with more creative menus for my husband’s personal chef / catering business.

What can you outsource?

Here’s some things you can outsource so you can do what you do best, be you!

1. Cleaning the house and doing laundry
   • Hire a stay at home mom for 5 hours a week @ $x per hour
2. Making meals
   • Meal delivery or meal prep like such as Home Chef, Sun Basket, Blue Apron, Green Chef
3. Taking care of the lawn
   • Hire a gardener
   • Hire a high school student
4. Taking care of the kids – driving to school or activities
   • Try rotating with other families
   • Hire a senior in high school or a stay-at-home mom
   • Hire a loving and local babysitter from friend referrals or background check online sites such as SitterCity, Urban Sitter, or Care

Sources to find one-time or ongoing help

TaskRabbit.com – choose from over 140,000 background checked Taskers for help without breaking the bank

FancyHands.com – a team of US-based assistants at your fingertips to tackle anything on your to-do list

Not ready to outsource yet?

You could still do those things for possibly less per hour than you make.  But you’d be stressed out and trading your time with your family, friends or yourself for what?

I’m ready to do what I do best!

If you have discretionary funds, you can buy time which promotes happiness.  If you don’t have discretionary funds, then you can either buy time occasionally or pare down your big vacations or reduce those expensive meals. Or just give it a whirl for 3 months and then re-assess the value.

The post More to-do’s than time? appeared first on Suzan Nascimento >> Inside-Out Leadership.

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Do you remember something you forgot to do as soon as you lay down? Or maybe you remember the next day when you had to tell someone you forgot.  And you’re like, Oh Crap!

“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them (source: David Allen).”  Human brains weren’t designed to remember short-term things.

There’s a better way

I’ll turn you on to a tool to clear yourself of these nagging memory hogs.

When you use this tool, your brains new free space will allow you to:

• Be 45% more efficient
• Be 74% more likely to hit your deadlines
• Increase your clarity by 82%
• If others are using this with you, be 87% more informed on what they’re doing and when
• No stats for this one, but I feel 50% more creative just because the RAM in my head is freed up

So, the winner of this tool category is… <drum roll please>, Asana.

In the past few years, this space has exploded. I recently looked around to determine if it was worth it to leave my current choice of Asana.  I found some potentials, but most were either costly or too hard to re-learn.  All of them have a bit of a learning curve.  But it’s well worth it for the productivity boost you’ll get after.

In general, this type of tool will help you stay on top of things whether you use it by yourself, as a family or even for small to mid-size companies.

You can set up tasks, to-do lists and reminders. If someone else besides you uses it, you’re able to also communicate directly within the app by sharing comments, images or any other attachment.

Asana was created by a Facebook co-founder. Other options are Wrike, Todoist, Wunderlist and a slew of others.  In my opinion, it’s important to pick one and stick with it.

Asana is free forever for up to 15 people. If you want advanced, premium features, it’s $375/year.  After a few years, I haven’t had the need to upgrade.

I don’t use Asana exactly the way they recommend. But, I tend to tweak or hack things for my own needs.

Asana

Platforms: PC, Mac, Android, iOS

Price: $0 (free and paid version – I do free)

It doesn’t have to be Asana to realize the benefits I spoke of earlier.  But doing nothing, is a recipe for more chaos.

Want to see it in action to see if it makes sense for you? Then watch my walk-through demo below.

The post A productivity tool to help you be 45% more efficient appeared first on Suzan Nascimento >> Inside-Out Leadership.

You’ve tried to break off the relationship but just keep going back.  Each time you think it’s over, something happens.  It calls or emails you, and before you know it, you’re right back where you started.

Your friends tell you that you just need more self-control or willpower.  You disagree because you’ve tried that.

You’re not giving up though.  You want to end the affair (aka work addiction).

7 signs you’re having an affair with your work

1. You feel guilty to leave work on the table.
2. You’re not able to be present at home – affairs in the head are as bad as in bed – or you reach for your phone to check work email as soon as you get the chance… just for a second.
3. You’re sacrificing time with your spouse, kids or weekends for your work – more often than you’d like to admit.
4. The stories told about you from your spouse or kids aren’t flattering.  For example, my 7-year-old daughter only shares the story of me saying, “All mom ever does is work and go boop, boop, boop on the keyboard” (imitating a two-finger typist).
5. Since you don’t have time for your family, there’s also no time for you.
6. You obsess about achievement, ambition and results – as soon as one achievement is checked, you have the next in your sights.
7. Health problems – headaches, muscle tension, chest pain, fatigue, low sex drive, upset stomach, insomnia, anxiety, irritability, anger, sadness, depression, overeating, drug/alcohol use.  Your body is trying to tell you that this dysfunctional work relationship is not a good influence on you.

I’ve been guilty of 6 out of 7 in the past.  How many sound like you?

Can you end this affair (work addiction)?

“Become aware of your beliefs, because what you believe, you become,” said Executive Coach Vance Caesar to a high-powered group of women leaders recently.  He went on to say that, “Your beliefs influence your thoughts which lead to your feelings which influence your actions.  If you want to change who you are, then change your beliefs.  You may not be aware of your beliefs, but you should because they can be challenged and modified.”

Thus, if you can figure out which life-limiting belief is causing you to “act” addicted to work, then you can change it.

How to end the affair (work addiction) in 3 steps

Step 1 – Identify your beliefs

There are a few ways to identify your beliefs.

One way is by looking back over the lows and highs of your life and determine what belief you took away from those events.

Another way is to identify your synonym of words such as Vulnerability, Discipline, Success, Forgiveness, Spirituality or Control.

“ Beliefs aren’t scary.  But not being aware of them is.

Here’s a few examples of my previous life-limiting beliefs and the age I acquired them.

Age 14

• An event produced this belief:  It could all go away tomorrow.
  
• Which influenced this thought:  How much longer do I have?
  
• Which lead to this feeling:  Fear, anxiety, sadness, passive aggression
  
• Which influenced this action:  I’m defensive or suspicious.  I plan for failure.  I live in the past or future, never in the present.
  

Age 44

• My synonym for success produced this belief:  Success = achievement.
  
• Which influenced this thought:  What should I work on next?
  
• Which lead to this feeling:  Fear, anxiety
  
• Which influenced this action:  Obsessive drive for achievement to prove my worth and fulfill my identity.
  

Step 2 – Challenge your beliefs

This is where the gold of transformation lives.

Once you’re aware of those shadow beliefs, you can consciously change them.  Beliefs are typically changed by events or deep introspection.  I’m doing the latter here.

First, breathe into the feeling you’ve associated with a belief.  Acknowledge it’s presence.  This will help to release the resistance to change.

Then challenge it by asking yourself if the belief is absolutely 100% true (source: Byron Katie).  Examine the story you’ve told yourself.  Examine it from all angles or others perspectives until a new life-enriching belief emerges.

Here’s the examples of my previous life-limiting beliefs, the challenge and my current life-enriching beliefs.

Age 14

• An event produced this life-limiting belief:  It could all go away tomorrow.
  
• Challenged the belief… is that 100% true?  Yes, it’s 100% true.  But I know that it’s never happened in the past 12,045 days.  So, it’s clearly not 100% true so far.
• My new life-enriching belief:  I believe sometimes I don’t have control – and that’s OK.

Age 44

• My synonym for success produced this life-limiting belief:  Success = achievement.
  
• Challenged the belief… is that 100% true?  When I die, do I want my achievements surrounding me?  No.  What do I want then?  The most important relationships.  OMG, I’ve defined success wrong.  I heard that people who retire start to decline towards end-of-life sooner because they defined themselves by their title.  When I die, I’m not a SVP of Cybersecurity.  I’m a wife, a mother, a daughter, a granddaughter, a cousin and a loyal friend.
• My new life-enriching belief:  Success = relationships.

These new life-enriching beliefs will influence new thoughts which will lead to different feelings which will influence positive actions.

Step 3 – Make the breakthrough stick

First, write down your new life-enriching beliefs on post it notes.  Post one on your bathroom mirror or wherever else you spend the beginning of your day.  Rotate them regularly.

Next, tell someone about your new realization.  Share with someone in your tribe about your previous belief and your new belief.  That will help to make it part of your DNA… making it more real for you.

The post Are you having an affair… with your work? appeared first on Suzan Nascimento >> Inside-Out Leadership.

I bet you have your own “life valley” memories.  And somehow you (or someone you know) survived it and found a way to rise above or pull yourself out of it.  You have the ability to do it.  Because you have before.  But you can adapt faster and with less stress if you intentionally build up your emotional energy.

In fact, it’s my advice that you should prepare yourself in advance emotionally for moments when you’re world is turned upside down.  Or at the very least, prepare for the moments when you feel like you were taken off guard.

“ In case you’re world is turned upside down, build emotional energy in advance.

Here are 5 ways you can improve your emotional energy

First, let’s define it.  Emotional energy is made up of four distinct areas, specifically:

• Self-awareness – the ability to understand how you feel at an emotional level and what triggers it
• Self-control – the ability to utilize your self-awareness is how you react to what triggered your emotion
• Empathy – the ability to understand the emotions in other people even if they’re not the same as yours
• Interpersonal relationships – the ability to utilize your self-awareness and empathy to manage relationships positively

Here’s tips for each of these distinct areas to help you improve your emotional energy stores.

Self-awareness

1.  Keep an emotional journal and notice your triggers or how you adapted to a shitty day

At the end of each day, ask yourself simple questions,

“If I could do the day over, what could I have done differently?  Do I need to forgive myself?  Is it a pattern or am I just adding too much meaning to it?”

“What did I do well?  What do I need to celebrate?”

“ The simple act of noticing immensely increases your self-awareness.

For example, I wanted to spend 15 min a day with my children 1:1 and I wanted to exercise more.  I hadn’t accomplished those habits consistently.  And a few times I did.  I asked myself why today and not other days.  Eventually, I started to notice a pattern of time of day.  If I did it early on, then it was very likely to happen.  This allowed me to find ways to help me set myself up for success by moving commitments around when I could.  Instead of being an emotional bully to myself, I simply noticed, forgave myself and the pattern of success became clear.

I also sometimes have a tendency to be hard on myself.  And I forget how much I’ve accomplished.  Therefore, every quarter I review my journal and simply reflect on how I answered.  Looking back is helpful for me to remember that I’ve had shitty days or years before.  And I can look back and see how I survived it or rose above it in later days/months/years.  That this unhappy or ungrateful moment is just temporary.

Self-control

2.  Remind yourself that you don’t have to react to respond

Responding doesn’t have to mean reacting.  Another way to respond could be taking a moment to reflect, to do a 16-second breath meditation or to go for walk around the block.  This will allow your amygdala (responsible for emotional reactions) to re-direct blood flow to other parts of your brain like your prefrontal cortex (responsible for creativity and executive, strategic decisions) to respond.

Empathy

3.  Create more Oxytocin (vs. Cortisol) conversations

Do you criticize, dictate or judge?  I was surprised at how much I did it when I intentionally tried to notice it.  Vegas bet that you do it more than you think.

I learned recently that when you’re doing it to someone else like an employee, a peer, a spouse or a child, you’re making that relationship’s chemistry based on Cortisol.  Yep, the same hormone that’s been associated with stress and fat-storage.  Cortisol also reduces blood flow to your prefrontal cortex (where we preform higher executive thinking) and amplifies blood flow to the anterior cingulate gyrus (where we get stuck, persistent and essentially mental inflexible).

You raise Cortisol in someone else as well when you’re focused on convincing them.  Could that be your boss at times?  That’s not the type of relationship chemistry you want to nurture with them.

Someone who’s conversation style raises cortisol is what some leaders are now calling low C-IQ (conversational IQ).

So, is there the opposite?  Like high C-IQ?  Yep!  That’s when a conversation creates Oxytocin.  The feel good hormone that helps us confidently communicate and having a trusting collaboration by directing blood flow to that prefrontal cortex (executive decisions).  It’s a conversation that appreciates, shows empathy, mutually develops success or celebrates.

Next time you have a meeting, a talk with your spouse or your children, ask yourself if you’re creating a Oxytocin (vs. Cortisol) conversation.

Interpersonal relationships

4.  The fastest way to trust is to be known

Be the first one to be vulnerable and share something about you.  Show that you’re real, relatable and humble.  For example, I might tell someone I’m not as technical as they are in X topic/skill but it’s an area I’m working on and value their expertise.

5.  Build intentional relationships to advance advocacy

I was taught in information security to make relationships with incident response before the crime happens.  And incident response should make relationships with law enforcement before the crime happens.  Not during.  So, I reach out to introduce myself before.

Same thing in life.  Make relationships in advance.  Understand what roles could be a benefit to you in the event of a small issue or a big disaster.  It might be a mentor, a recruiter, a doctor, a lawyer, a therapist, a pastor or whatever else makes sense for the things that you fear.  Then intentionally work on nurturing the relationship by serving their needs or showing appreciation.

Summarized, short version

1. Keep an emotional journal and notice your triggers or how you adapted to a shitty day
2. Remind yourself that you don’t have to react to respond
3. Create more Oxytocin (vs. Cortisol) conversations
4. The fastest way to trust is to be known
5. Build intentional relationships to advance advocacy

Do you lead others?  4 ways you can increase your team’s emotional energy

If you have the privilege of leading others and looking for higher employee engagement scores, first role model the behaviors above.  Next, here’s four other ways you can influence your team’s emotional energy scores.

1.  Recognize, honor and appreciate your employees on a regular basis

Employees who feel their leaders acknowledge their positive behavior or action are…

• 63% more satisfied with their jobs
• 55% more happy
• 58% more focused and
• 110% more likely to stay with their organization – Yep 110% lower turnover!

2.  Leaders seen as positive and optimistic are infectious

Employees with positive leaders reported…

• 54% higher happiness
• 71% more enjoyment at work
• 105% higher likelihood to stay at the organization – lower turnover again
• 220% higher level of meaning and significance at work, and
• 55% more focus

Here’s how you can appear to be more positive and optimistic:

• Substitute the word problem for challenge
• Begin communications on a positive note

3.  Give real-time feedback and often (not just as part of the formal performance review)

Employees who felt they didn’t receive useful, digestible feedback reported…

• 34% lower happiness
• 33% less focus

Only 21% reported receiving feedback in a way they can hear.  Therefore, see if your organization has a course on giving feedback effectively.

4.  Regularly ask how you’re doing – if there’s anything you should stop or start

Only 25% of employees feel they can give their leader honest feedback.  When you ask for feedback, they may not tell you the first, second or third time.  But they will once they feel safe and can trust you.  So, don’t stop asking!  And when they do, don’t react.  Respond by saying, “Thank you for sharing that with me.”  It doesn’t mean you agree.  But if you react about the reasons you do X, Y & Z or how their perception isn’t accurate, then they’ll be scared to share next time.  If their perception is wrong, it’s great you know that you need to re-brand yourself.

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If I do that occasionally, no big deal.  But there’s been times I’ve been guilty of making the work choice way more often than I should.  Instead I needed to realize that cultivating those 30 minutes on sleep will ultimately save me time because I’ll have more effective and efficient productivity that day and the next day I “stole sleep from.”  Which means I can get more things done in the time I have.

Read on to learn how to improve your physical energy source.

Physical energy is the most basic energy source out of the four sources (i.e., spiritual, mental, physical, emotional).  And it’s the third most important to balance.  The critical need in this energy source, and yet least valued, is renewal.  Unlike machines, people are made to move rhythmically between work and rest.

Three critical behaviors serve this energy source the best: sleep, fitness and nutrition.

14 ways to improve your sleep and your physical energy

Other than eating & breathing, sleeping is the most significant source of recovery we can get.  So, let’s start there.

According to Gallup, 40% of people in the United States get less than the advocated 7 to 9 hours nightly.  When you get less sleep than you need, your brain’s prefrontal cortex gets less blood flow (less blood flow = less brain activity).  That’s important because your prefrontal cortex is where your ability to pay attention and make good judgements come from.  Less sleep also means less blood flow (=less brain activity) to your brain’s temporal lobes which impacts your memory, learning and temper.

In the end, you’ll be less efficient.  Which is a double whammy because you have even less time for sleep the next night if it takes you longer because you’re physically exhausted.

That’s us office folks.  Sleep is even more important if you have a job where someone’s life in your hands.  According to a 1994 study by the National Academy of Sciences, they studied the effects of sleep deprivation on their performance during continuous combat operations.   It determined that the lack of sleep negatively impacted their shooting accuracy significantly.  Here’s the summary of the hours of sleep vs. % of accuracy on the shooting range:

So while you may not be expected to have rifle accuracy on your job, the effects of accuracy and our productivity in our personal and professional life get the same impact.  If you add a poor diet and barely any exercise into the recipe, your energy and productivity are likely descending out of control rapidly.

Time to pick one or more of the following tips.

1. Take a magnesium supplement to sleep like a baby.

Due to soil depletion in our farming practices and higher consumption of processed foods, it’s estimated 80% of adults are magnesium deficient.  Key symptoms to know you’re deficient if you have constipation, leg cramps, insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, fatigue and migraines.

To counteract, each night, take 300-450mg of magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate.

2. Get musician quality earplugs if you want to sleep with your snoring spouse

This is embarrassing to say, but here goes.  I used to snore sometimes so loud that my husband can’t sleep.  My husband and I tried everything and weren’t willing to sleep apart like Kings and Queens (maybe that’s why they sleep apart?).  Then my ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor recommended my husband get custom made ear plugs, like musicians do.  It deadens the sound for certain snoring decibels but still allows you to hear a crying baby.  They cost about $100 but it’s well worth it since my husband and I like sleeping together.  If you or our partner have the same issue, call a local ENT or hearing doctor and ask for a referral.

Fast forward, once I was treated holistically for allergies, my snoring miraculously went away.  But for the 10 years before then, my husband needed earplugs for us to sleep together.

3. Expose yourself to sunlight early to set your circadian rhythm

Expose your skin and eyes to sunlight between 6am – 8:30am for at least 30 minutes, even on a cloudy day, to set your circadian rhythm.

4. Use a blue light blocker so you produce melatonin naturally to fall asleep and stay asleep

Smartphones and computer monitors emit a blue light so you can seem them even in the sunniest times of day.  However, the blue light confuses your brain that’s it’s nighttime and the body stops producing melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, which sets you up for a horrible array of symptoms the next day.  Instead utilize software that reduces the blue light.

For your iPhone, go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Night Shift and automate it for Sunset to Sunrise.

For your computer, download the free software called f.lux and configure it also for Sunset to Sunrise.  I love this because it slowly adjusts based on your location as the sun sets vs. a sudden change.

5. Stop drinking caffeine 8 – 14 hours before you sleep

Caffeine metabolizes faster in some people than others.  Experiment what hour to cut yourself off to see what works best for you.

6. Take a warm bath or shower 1 – 2 hours before you go to bed

Not right before you lay down.  You want to make sure though you give your body enough time to cool off and trigger sleep.

7. Think of your bedroom as a cave

Think of your bedroom as a cave, quiet, cool.  Set the A/C to 70F and wear warm socks if you need to.  Buy blackout hotel curtains (not room darkening ones).

8. Get an alarm clock with warm colored digits and preferably with a dimmer

Avoid alarm clocks with white, blue or green (cool colors) digits.  And keep the clock away from arms distance so you must get up instead of hitting snooze each time.

And, if you’ve been using your phone, stop! And if you aren’t but you kept it in your room, it’s time to let your phone grow up and get its own room for your sanity.  Go for a one week trial run and if you didn’t miss an emergency and you sleep better, great.

9. Eat sleep inducing foods 90 minutes before bed

Eat melatonin-rich foods like cherry juice or walnuts.

Have a warm drink.  Hot caffeine-free tea or warm milk because rich in in tryptophan, calcium & Vitamin D which are linked to improved sleep.  Also chamomile with lavender tea is recommended by my integrative/functional DR.

Eat high-casein dairy.  Casein is a slow-to-digest form of protein giving your muscles food to build at night and dairy has the amino acid tryptophan; eat up some organic cottage cheese or Greek yogurt.

10. Avoid sleep discouraging foods 3-hours before bed

Alcohol because it decreases the amount of time in your deepest sleep stage.  If you do drink, drink 1 cup of water for every serving of alcohol since dehydration is the key cause of a hangover.

Chocolate because of the caffeine.

Fried, fatty or spicy foods because it triggers indigestion & reflux.

11. Roll on a foam roller, tennis balls or other firm balls to de-stress your muscles nightly

12. Strategically nap (unless you suffer from insomnia)

I found a lot of studies that said napping was good and other’s that didn’t.  However, one study said that only those that suffer from insomnia shouldn’t nap.

NASA’s Fatigue Counter Measures Program found that a short nap of just 40-minutes improved performance by an average of 34% and alertness by 100%.  Anything longer than 40-minutes makes you feel tired than if they hadn’t napped at all and disrupts the nighttime sleep cycle.

13. Fall asleep to lullabies

Get a digital sound machine, play a white noise sound app or play soundscapes or lullabies. I’ve made a 1-hour playlist on Amazon Prime Music and have a Pandora station called Soundscapes & Lullabies that shuts off on a timer.

14. Aromatherapy your way to sleep

Use a sleeping essential oil (buy or make your own blend from oils on this page vs a single oil like lavender) in a diffuser.

p.s. Buy a high-quality oil.  Many our fake.  Oils I have found to be legit are Young Living, Rocky Mountain Oils, Plant Therapy and Edens Garden.

p.p.s. Make sure you clean your diffuser weekly with a microfiber then monthly with a touch of diluted rubbing alcohol or white vinegar.  Sounds laborious but it’s worth it to me for the benefits.

2 ways to improve your fitness and your physical energy

1. Exercise efficiently while being more effective

Start doing Circuit Training with HIIT (high intensity interval training) over steady-state cardio. Why?  Because with Circuit/HIIT, you can do an all-out heart-pumping and strength training exercise in 30 min a day vs. 60 of steady-state aerobics and get better results.

Circuit/HIIT also doesn’t forget your muscles.  Strength training is just as important as heart pumping workouts, especially after you turn 40.  Why?  Because every year after that you lose on average ½ pounds of muscle.  When you lose muscle, you age less gracefully and lose energy.

2. Forget exercising for good looks, do it for better memory, mood, focus and learning

All that said, I don’t exercise anymore regarding body weight or because it’s making my heart or lungs strong.  Those reasons never seemed to be motivating enough for me until I learned about the benefits to my brain that are too good to pass up such as:

• Increases the blood flow to your brain’s hippocampus, the part of your brain which makes memory
• Increases the blood flow to your brain’s temporal lobes, the part of your brain which helps you focus and learn
• Increases blood flow to your brain’s limbic system, the part of your brain which determines mood and bonding, which is why working out can reduce or prevent depression

Getting more energy and less fat is just icing on the cake now.  I like to think of exercise as preventive medicine that will help me age gracefully and keep me sharp as a tack.

8 ways to improve your nutrition and your physical energy

1. Drink half your body’s weight in water to maintain strength and speed

Dehydration significantly impacts your brain since your brain is 80% water.  If you’re dehydrated (urine is darker than lemonade), you’ll lose strength and speed.  Just 3% of dehydration will lose 10% of your muscles strength and 8% of it’s speed.

This is possibly the simplest and yet the most unappreciated source of physical energy renewal.  How much water?  Half of your body weight per day.

Carry a large insulated stainless steel water bottle so you’re more likely to drink your goal.

If you’re not a raving fan or just want a change it up occasionally, then add a little Peach Lemonade powder sweetened with Stevia.

2. Supercharge your water

Add ½ fresh lemon juice to your water.  If you do it only in the morning, it’ll help to alkalize your body so it can absorb more nutrients.

This also helps digestion and constipation because it tricks the liver into creating bile to help keep things moving smoothly.  It re-hydrates the body after a long night of sleeping.  Lastly, it gives you a healthy dose of vitamin C which stimulates your white blood cells.

3. Limit coffee to 3 cups (or 300mg caffeine) of organic brew to reduce dehydration and brain blood flow (brain activity)

Limit coffee to 3 cups of organic brew. If you drink more than 3 cups of coffee, it dehydrates you.  So, either reduce your consumption or replace with green tea (which has many benefits).

In addition, too much caffeine decreases blood flow to the brain, which is never good.

4. Step away from the diet soda to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, fat storing insulin, corrosive teeth and depression

I beg you to stop!  I don’t care if it’s caffeine free or colorless.  There’s not one single benefit to it – only consequences.

Daily diet soda drinking:

• Increases your risk of metabolic syndrome by 36%
• Increases type 2 diabetes by 67%
• Triggers insulin sending your body into fat storage mode
• Nearly as corrosive to your teeth enamel as battery acid

Drinking 4+ cans a day:

• Increases depression by 30%

Step away from the diet soda and switch to La Croix sparkling water instead.  They have a lot of different flavors. It’s available at most grocery stores.  If it’s not sweet enough for you, then add Stevia liquid drops.

5. Feed your command center (aka brain) foods that make you smarter and happier

Feeding your command center (aka brain) chemical, processed food vs. real food is like working for the enemy and setting yourself up for failure.  Did you know that your brain consumes 20-25% of your calories?  You are what you eat AND you’re also what the animals you eat ate.

When you eat food that’s chemical and processed, then your body (intestines, liver, nasal passages) think it’s being harmed and inflame itself like an allergy response.  Your body is trying to heal but you’re putting your body into a persistent condition of emergency trying to restore your health.  Not the best use of your body’s energy.

Ideally eat 70% plant-based foods and 30% high-quality protein with healthy fats (e.g., avocados, coconut butter, nuts, olives, seeds) added in to restore your gut health, increase your energy and focus, reduce illness with weight loss as an added benefit.

The easiest way to start is to replace or supplement a meal with a green smoothie every day. I know you hear green and thick yuck.  I thought the same thing but learned over time there’s ways to make it taste great.  The trick is adding an overripe pear, banana, fresh lemon juice and almond or coconut butter.  I also add the Stevia liquid drops.  I blend this with kale, spinach and water or coconut milk.

Another easy option is to switch to organic when eating any of the dirty dozen fruits/veges that contain the most pesticides or don’t eat them. For example, strawberries showed 17 different pesticides.  More than 98% of strawberry samples, peaches, nectarines, and apples tested positive for at least one pesticide residue.

6. Feed your 2nd brain (aka gut) depending on your brain chemistry

If you feel depressed, have brain fog or feel lazy, it may not be just mental.  Food can affect many key brain neurotransmitters.  Here are two:

• Need serotonin?  You’ll feel happy/good when it’s up and irritable or even depressed when down. Did you know that 90% of the serotonin in your body is made in your gut and certain food help you create it?
  • Eat foods that make serotonin in your gut, so you’ll feel happy/good when it’s up and less irritable or depressed when it’s down. For example, sweet potatoes, hummus, apples, pears, peaches, blueberries, bananas, oranges, tangerines, grapes, figs, mangoes, pineapples and sugar-free dark chocolate.  Yum, I’m hungry just writing that!
• Need dopamine?  You’ll feel like a Type A high-achiever when it’s up and unfocused and unmotivated when it’s down. Again, did you know that certain foods help you create it?
  • Eat foods that make dopamine, so you’ll feel more energetic, focused (ideal if you have ADD/ADHD) and motivated. For example, beans, meat, eggs, nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, broccoli, spinach and protein powders.

7. Supplement your way to success when necessary

• If you have leaky gut syndrome, food intolerances/allergies, poor joints, cellulite or a lowered immune system, drink 1-2 cups of high-quality bone broth per day with an added pinch of Himalayan salt.
• If you’re not eating > 5 fruit/vege servings a day, then take a high-quality multi-vitamin.
• Limit probiotics and expose yourself to eco-atmospheres, which is free!
  • There’s new studies coming out saying that probiotics may not be good since long-term use creates a mono-culture in the bacterial biome.  Use of probiotics or a digestive enzyme for a couple of weeks is reasonable after taking a round of antibiotics.
  • Are you living in a closed house, office or car every day?  Better to expose yourself to eco atmospheres.  Open your windows at home.  Or breath in as you garden, pet your animal or take a walk in nature.
• If you’re not eating fatty fish like salmon >3 times a week or <1 cup of walnuts or 4 TBSP of chia seeds per week, then take a high-quality omega 3 to reduce overall inflammation, about 1-2 grams per day balanced in EPA and DHA.
• Take Vitamin D, a steroid hormone, to naturally slow the aging of your bones, boost your immune system, reduce moodiness/depression and help you focus.  Adults should take 2,000-5,000 IU a day.  However, it’s best to ask your doctor to test so you know your baseline and what dosage you need.  For example, my husband needs 10,000 IU to maintain sufficient levels, whereas I only need 5,000 IU and yet I’m indoors way more than him.  Go figure.

8. Take supplements customized to your brain

Read Brain Warrior’s Way: Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose or take the free Brain Health Assessment.  The author’s (Dr. Daniel Amen) states that you’re not stuck with the brain you have; you can make it better by using the program outlined in this book and they’ve proven it on thousands of patients.

Some of my family members have had brain scans at the Amen Clinics and some of us have self-diagnosed based on his books.  I can tell you that we’ve significantly improved conditions such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Anxiety, Depression and ADHD with the use of supplements and zero medications.

Summarized, short version

1. Take a magnesium supplement to sleep like a baby
2. Get musician quality earplugs if you want to sleep with your snoring spouse
3. Expose yourself to sunlight early to set your circadian rhythm
4. Use a blue light blocker so you produce melatonin naturally to fall asleep and stay asleep
5. Stop drinking caffeine 8-14 hours before you sleep
6. Take a warm bath or shower 1-2 hours before you go to bed
7. Think of your bedroom as a cave
8. Get an alarm clock with warm colored digits and preferably with a dimmer
9. Eat sleep inducing foods 90 minutes before bed
10. Avoid sleep discouraging foods 3-hours before bed
11. Roll on a foam roller, tennis balls, baseballs or softballs to de-stress your muscles nightly
12. Unless you suffer from insomnia, don’t be afraid to strategically nap
13. Fall asleep to lullabies
14. Aromatherapy your way to sleep
15. Exercise efficiently while being more effective
16. Forget exercising for good looks, do it for better memory, mood, focus and learning
17. Drink half your body’s weight in water to maintain strength and speed
18. Supercharge your water
19. Limit coffee to 3 cups (or 300mg caffeine) of organic brew to reduce dehydration and brain blood flow (brain activity)
20. Step away from the diet soda to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, fat storing insulin, corrosive teeth and depression
21. Feed your command center (aka brain) foods that make you smarter and happier
22. Feed your 2nd brain (aka gut) depending on your brain’s chemistry
23. Supplement your way to success when necessary
24. Take supplements customized to your brain

Do you lead others?  3 ways to increase your team’s physical energy

If you have the privilege of leading others and looking for higher employee engagement scores, first role model the behaviors above.  Next, here’s three other ways you can influence your team’s physical energy scores.

1. Have walking meetings to increase blood flow to the brain

2. Serve real food at meetings

Skip the donuts and other simple carbs.  Instead, bring healthy fat bombs or plant-based protein candy bars.

3. Assume your employees have an energizing personal life most nights and weekends

Studies show that working > 55 hours a week reduces focus by 27% and happiness by 21%.  Set your team up for success by allowing them to have time off during most nights and weekends.

The post 24 ways to increase your sleep, fitness & nutrition appeared first on Suzan Nascimento >> Inside-Out Leadership.

And, if you’re performance review mentions that one reason you’re getting a better than average rating because they see you putting in hours above and beyond, then that’s unfortunately unspoken encouragement to”keep it up, if you want to move up or if you want to continue to see these great ratings.”

But if you’re trying to achieve life or work-life balance, then your “mental energy” is the second most valuable energy source, out of the four sources (i.e., spiritual, mental, physical, emotional).  And there’s many ways to help you keep your brain happy.

7 ways to increase your Mental energy

1. Exercise your brain by doing the opposite of what feels natural to stimulate both hemispheres

Try brushing your teeth with your other hand or learn a new dance move once a day.  Or if you journal, change the way you do it each day.  For example, one day do linear, traditional journaling to exercise the left brain.  The next day do mind-mapping journaling to exercise the right brain.

“ The point is that making your brain feel uncomfortable and awkward exercises it.

2. Work in sprints vs. marathons to increase creativity and focus

Rest, intentionally and periodically. In other words, work in sprints, not marathons.  Successful people take 5-minute breaks around every 90-min.  Unfortunately, a little over half (51% to be exact) of people take only 1 break each day.  However, employees who take a break every 90-minutes report:

• 40% greater ability to think creatively
• 30% higher level of health and well-being
• 28% better focus

Start taking breaks.  Even better if they’re out of the office space.

3. Meditate to give your brain’s executive functioning and focus muscle a workout

When you meditate, if you here you’re inner voice saying…

This is boring!

My God, I can’t focus and feel restless; this is frustrating.

I feel guilty for doing nothing.

That means your limbic system is fighting your prefrontal cortex.  And you’ll probably give in to your limbic system a lot or occasionally when you first start meditating.  Or it will wander into the future or the past and then to something weird like a crazy story with Taylor Swift or Brad Pitt.  Don’t judge.  Just simply be aware and notice your brain’s regular pace.  Then be happy because that’s when the muscle is made.

“ Every time you bring your mind back to the present moment in meditation, you’ve performed 1 rep of your focus muscle.

That’s why when you meditate you can start to go longer.  That’s because your focus muscle gets stronger with each workout just like your muscles do with strength-training.

How?  Grey matter thickens in several areas of the brain and there are multiple studies that show that the blood volume is increased to prefrontal cortex (where logic lives) even after mediation has stopped.  Oh and by the way, it also helps memory.

Hopefully I’ve convinced you to give it a try.

Here my two personal favorites.  Headspace (try the 10 free ones to see if ya like before upgrading to the pain version) or Insight Timer (all free – I love the Zen guitar option on this one!)

4. Smell your way to focus and concentration

Use a focus/concentration essential oil blend (rosemary and peppermint) in a diffuser.  Make sure you clean it weekly with mild soap and a microfiber and monthly with a touch of diluted rubbing alcohol or white vinegar.  Sounds laborious but it’s worth it to me for the way it makes me feel.

Or use a mini glass roll-on bottle on your pressure points such as temples, behind your ears, wrists, bottom of feet and anywhere else that makes you feel good.  I find though that this doesn’t last very long.

5. Do a digital detox, starting with bathroom breaks to increase your IQ by 10 points

According to a British study, being addicted to your gadgets and “chronic” infomania, lowers your IQ by 10 points over a year, which is worse than smoking pot.  Take a moment to step away from technology and feel what it’s like to connect with life around you.  Break the dopamine hit of needing to check your phone for email, social media or mindless scrolling.

“ Let your brain take a rest from being an infomaniac.

Give up digital items like your phone, tablet or TV for an hour.  Can’t do an hour?  Then commit to not taking it in the bathroom.  Once you’ve built up to a bathroom break detox, then slowly build up with the goal of a digital detox one day a month or <gasp!> once a week.

6. Perform a brain pattern interrupt with a 16-second breath technique to increase logic

To do this, take a deep breath for 4 counts thru your nostrils, hold for 4 counts in your belly, slowly exhale for 4 counts and pause a final 4 counts.  I like to do this when I’m at a red light, in the bathroom or if I’m in a meeting and getting frustrated.

This tiny gap allows your brain’s prefrontal cortex, where logic lives, to reduce control over your instinctively reactive and emotional amygdala.

7. Boost your IQ, memory, learning and reduce temper with Mozart

There’s study after study that shows that music has a significant impact on different parts of the brain.  A general 2006 study showed that spatial IQ went up 8-9 points after listening to specific Mozart songs.

Another study, showed that again certain Mozart songs stimulated the brain’s temporal lobes which functions your memory, learning and temper.

In theory, it’s believed that music warms up the brain and some songs produce better results than others.

Try creating a creativity/focus playlist.  I created a Mozart Pandora station.  I also have an Amazon Prime Music and here’s just a few of my choices from songs listed in the studies:

• Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos
• Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3
• Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4

Summarized, short version

1. Exercise your brain by doing the opposite of what feels natural to stimulate both hemispheres.
2. Work in sprints vs. marathons to increase creativity and focus.
3. Meditate to give your brain’s executive functioning and focus muscle a workout.
4. Smell your way to focus and concentration.
5. Do a digital detox, starting with bathroom breaks to increase your IQ by 10 points.
6. Perform a brain pattern interrupt with a 16-second breath technique to increase logic.
7. Boost your IQ, memory, learning and reduce temper with Mozart.

Do you lead others?  2 ways to increase your team’s mental energy

If you have the privilege of leading others and looking for higher employee engagement scores, first role model the behaviors above.  Next, here’s two other ways you can influence your team’s mental energy scores.

1. Schedule email time only during traditional working hours

If you frequently send emails in the evenings and the weekends, your direct reports will feel obliged to read and reply.  Even when leaders say they don’t expect replies on the weekends, their actions won’t match their words.  And people notice the actions more than the words.

Here’s what you can do. If you like to get your work done during flex hours, then use your mail send option to deliver it during typical working hours (unless of course those 1% times where it’s red hot urgent).

2. Schedule email time only during a few hours a day -and/or- have the team pick a NO email day

A similar problem occurs if you check your email yourself all during the workday and forward/send email to your direct reports all during the workday.  The effect is that your direct reports are frequently sidetracked from their work in progress.  Your directs already have a hard time focusing on one thing at a time because of constant distractions and disruptions.

Here’s what you can do.  Schedule appointments with yourself to check and respond to email once or twice a day. Personally, I do it every work day between 1pm – 3pm which is my personal time preference.

Better yet, tell your direct reports that you’re more interested in the energy they bring to their work vs. how much time they give to their jobs.  Then let your team know about your email practice and suggest they consider adopting the same habit OR perhaps decide as a group on picking one “no email day” a week.  This way everyone gets a break from the never ending onslaught and gets sacred time to have strategic thinking (vs. reactive thinking) and be creative.

The post 7 ways to increase your brain’s IQ, focus, creativity and logic + 2 for the leader appeared first on Suzan Nascimento >> Inside-Out Leadership.

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It’s called “spiritual energy.”  Spiritual is the most valuable source of energy out of the four sources (i.e., spiritual, mental, physical, emotional).  It isn’t just religion if that’s what you’re thinking.  It can be, if that’s what drives you.  It’s one thing that drives me.  But what also drives me when I say the word spiritual is…

• The passion or the purpose that you have for your life
• Your why to live
• The legacy you’re trying to leave behind for your children or your family
• Attempting to make the world a better place

Unfortunately, most people don’t even think that you can increase your spiritual energy.  If they do, then out of the four sources they’d typically prioritize it in last place.  But when this source is full, it has the strongest power of all to uplift the other three sources.  So, you’re return on your energy investment (ROeI), would be better served to start working on improving your spiritual energy first.

Here are my 8 ways to increase your spiritual energy

1. Counteract negative “got to do” thinking by mentally listing what you “get to do” today

I find that I can have automatic negative thoughts in the morning which is sad and depressing.  Like, ugh, I got to go to these meetings or I got to go to the dentist or I got to have a hard conversation with someone.

But gratefulness is the antidote for sadness.  Therefore, the first thing I’ve learned to do is mentally list what I get to do today.  For example…

I get to have lunch with two girlfriends today.

I get to watch a new episode of Mr. Robot.

I get to read by myself on the train today.

It immediately counteracts the “I got to” syndrome.

If you can’t think of anything or need to be guided, then I recommend this 5-minute Gratefulness Meditation.

2. Listen to motivating or inspiring music

Before a speaking engagement, a job interview or needing a creative boost, I listen to my “Motivation Playlist.”  I’ll put on my headphones in the bathroom stall and silently lip sync while I rock out – no peeking under the stall!

I’ve created a motivation playlist on Amazon Prime Music.  Here’s just a few of my choices as of this writing:

• Adventure of a Lifetime – Coldplay
• Can’t Stop the Feeling! – Justin Timberlake
• Brave – Sara Bareilles
• Try – Pink
• Hero – Foo Fighters
• Heroes – David Bowie
• Girl on Fire – Alicia Keys

3. Schedule quiet, uninterrupted time to review, reflect and recommit

After reading The High Achiever’s Guide to Happiness, I learned to set aside time every week to review, reflect and recommit.  Every Friday after lunch, I schedule 1 hour to review where I’ve spent my time over the past week.

Next, I reflect if there were barriers to my goals or if I was more successful than I anticipated.  If so, why?  Simple reflection in my head, not on paper.  I then reflect on what future goals I’d like to accomplish next week.

Lastly, I recommit by scheduling time in my calendar to get those future goals accomplished.  For me what gets scheduled, gets done.

In addition, quarterly, I do the same method but for a whole day to ensure I’m in alignment with my life plan and leadership purpose.  This is a whole other blog post!  In short, I review which goals I accomplished, reflect on what I did or didn’t do well, and recommit to new quarterly goals.

4. Show appreciation for someone else

I love to give gifts more than I like to get them!  I love when I pick out the right gift and make their day.  Or I like to randomly pay for a stranger’s coffee.  The rush of seeing someone get a welcome surprise gives me more joy I think than they get.

And I get that same feeling when someone notices and appreciates me.  Maybe that’s because Words of Affirmation is my Love Language.  I like to treat others the way I like to be treated as well.

So, find a way to appreciate, compliment or celebrate someone with your words.  Write a sentence, a paragraph or a full-blown letter on a card, in an email, in person or in a public group setting.  Or give a business a 5-star rating.

Filling someone’s else “happiness bucket” will also fill yours.

5. Serve others

Serving others has so many benefits.  Serving others teaches compassion and understanding.  Serving also provides a sense of belonging and significance.

You can serve formally by volunteering in your community, a church or a cause that has personally affected you or those you love.

You can also serve informally by doing something for a friend.  For example, my husband was out of town for a long time internationally during the Christmas holiday season.  I had neighbor teens ask if they could remove the Christmas lights.  My God, I was floored and impressed they asked and the quality of the work.  You could also take food to a neighbor that’s sick or just delivered a baby.

Lastly, you can also serve at home by doing a chore you normally don’t do around the house, especially one that you’ve been nagged to do.  And if you have more money than time, then hire someone to do it.

6. If you know your purpose, find time to work in it

If you know what your purpose is, then working in it is definitely a great source of spiritual energy.  For example, my life purpose is to bless others with my strongest talents, which are currently self-awareness, leadership & productivity.  So occasionally at night, I write blogs like these, have a webinar or record on Facebook Live.  I get to learn more about something I love and get to teach it back to others.  I get really motivated during these moments!

7. Walk in nature

About a year ago, I was invited to a leadership retreat in the mountains for 2 nights and 3 days.  Honestly, I was worried about lack of cell coverage.  By the 2nd day I had digital detoxed enough.  And on the 3rd day, I had a spiritual awakening.  After breakfast in town and a reflective conversation, we were asked to do a 10-minute meditation.  I had been meditating off/on for about a year so no biggie I thought.  But all of a sudden, my inner 7-year-old child was having a discussion with me.  Within moments a tear fell down my cheek.

We were then told that once the meditation ended, to do a silent walk in the woods.  As I walked, a large rock called to me.  I perched on the top and the cheek tear soon rolled into sobs.  I’ve never forgotten that moment or able to reproduce it – but I haven’t gone back to the mountains or forest either.

That said, there’s articles that talk about forest bathing (aka shinrin-yoku).  If you can’t get to a forest or mountain, try a tree-lined park or get some Vitamin G – G for ground by walking barefoot on grass, sand or dirt (aka earthing).

8. Praying/talking with God

I bet you thought this one would be first!  But as I said at the beginning, spiritual isn’t only religion.

I’m a newbie Christian.  About 1 1/2 years now.  I used to feel very weird praying out loud with other people around.  But now I realize everyone else (except pastors) feel probably the same way.  And all prayer is, is a conversation with God.  Sometimes I pray while I’m meditating, in the dentist chair or while driving to work.  It’s a few minutes here and there.  I speak.  He speaks.  I speak.  He speaks.  Nothing fancy.  I only need to be consistent to make it feel more like a conversation with my daddy.  Listening to the way my 6-year-old children talk to me in their bed at nights is exactly how I try to talk with God.

And speaking/praying/conversing with someone who loves me so much and wants the best for me, is a great feeling.  Enough to make a big dent in my spiritual energy account.

Summarized, short version

1. Counteract negative “got to do” thinking by mentally listing what you “get to do” today.
2. Listen to motivating or inspiring music.
3. Schedule quiet, uninterrupted time to review, reflect and recommit.
4. Show appreciation for someone else.
5. Serve others.
6. If you know your purpose, find time to work in it.
7. Walk in nature.
8. Pray/talk with God.

Do you lead others?

If I’m here writing about filling up your spiritual energy, you better believe I better be living this on the job and helping my team to do the same.

It’s not hard for me to do this.  Employees with life balance (high energy scores in all four sources), will also create higher employee engagement scores.  High employee engagement scores is a leading indicator of that all-important trailing indicator… financial results.  So, if I want profits, then I start with people first.

Here’s two ways how you can role model and influence your team’s spiritual energy scores.

Here are my 2 ways to increase your team’s spiritual energy

1. Communicate the vision and mission in a clear, consistent and inspiring way

Most organizations don’t have a compelling vision or mission.  It’s typically paragraphs of words that no one can remember, let alone how it makes them feel.  But if your company has a one-sentence vision and/or mission (e.g., TED’s mission is two-words… “Spread ideas”), start repeating it frequently in a clear way.  The clarity of it being one-sentence is already in your favor.

Then talk about it in a compelling way.  How does it translate to what you do?  How does it resonate with you oh wise leader?

Employees that feel a connection to the vision and/or mission, will be:

70% more satisfied with their jobs

56% more happy

100% more likely to stay with you or the organization (yep 100%!)

2. Double-down on strengths and avoid weaknesses

We all have natural strengths.  My natural strengths are in strategy and execution.  I’m good at developing/presenting business plans and driving them to completion.  Whereas my husband’s natural strengths are in relationship-building and influencing.  He’s good at selling and socializing with clients.  Flip our jobs and we’d both be horrible at them, and worst hate them.

Just like kids we focus on the C at school than on the natural A’s.  And job reviews show that we want people to become masters of everything.  But getting people to focus MOST of their day on creating a development plan to improve their C grade will make them uncomfortable, totally sad… totally unengaged!  And like I said before… poor engagement leads to poor profitability.

Only 30% of employees say they are doing what they enjoy most at work, and those who didn’t reported being 38% less focused and 49% less happy.

Let’s turn this mindset around.  I do it by having my team take a StrengthFinders 2.0 test to find out their five natural strengths.

Then I use this as a discussion to see which strength is being utilized the most and the least.  And, brainstorm how to improve the least used strength to work in their passion.  Lastly, I swap out tasks that are weak for that person to the person that has that natural strength.

The post 8 ways to increase your passion in work and life appeared first on Suzan Nascimento >> Inside-Out Leadership.