Tag: Healthier Living and Working

If you work a ‘nine-to-five’ job, you are likely all too familiar with the mid-afternoon slump.

Your energy levels plummet, concentrating becomes harder and all you want is a nice nap.

Our bodies have a strong biological need to sleep between 1PM and 3PM, in order to recharge.

However, given that sleeping is not an option for most of us, here are a few tips for re-energizing quickly while at work.

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Make Your Environment Brighter

Light energizes us.

If nothing else, increasing the brightness in your area will distract you from dozing off.

If you don’t have a window with natural light in your work area, simply plugging in an extra lamp will do the trick.

In fact, Physiology and Behavior performed a recent study which showed that workers who had more light in their offices displayed significantly higher energy levels throughout the day.

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Laugh a Little

Humor is always good.

Whether it’s watching something on YouTube, reading humorous short stories/articles, or a reflection on something that you find funny, making yourself laugh is an excellent way to become re-energized.

According to a University of Nebraska study, people found themselves experiencing immediate energy boosts after watching funny cat videos on YouTube.

Their heart rate, blood pressure, and dopamine levels increased after laughing, which helped them become more aware and productive.

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Try Some Gum (Or some other chewy substitute)

Small physical tasks can help to get your brain moving again after it tries to zone out and distract you from work.

One such small task that anyone can do is to chew gum.

When you chew, the amount of blood and oxygen in your head (particularly your brain) increases. Due to this, chewing can help you become more aware and energized.

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Go for a Quick Walk

Do you find that you are sitting down for nearly the entire work day?

If so, that is likely one of the biggest reasons you are falling into a slump in the first place.

When your body’s muscles fail to have enough movement, the production of important chemicals such as insulin and glucose cease to occur, making you tired as a result.

To avoid this, you only need to take small breaks every few hours, to take quick walks. Simply find those five minutes, and give your brain and body a nice rest from sitting still.

According to one report published in Environmental Science and Technology, people who walk outside experience much better results than those who walked indoors. If you can walk outside during your work breaks, it is highly recommended.

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Listen to Upbeat Music

Have you ever used music to help you work out or become motivated?

If you do, you already know the benefit it can have toward helping you over your afternoon slump.

Not only does music get you excited, but it can up your energy levels and creativity, according to research from the University of Toronto.

One of the researchers had this to say on the subject: “Music effectively alters the speed of our brain waves. We can turn them up or calm them down depending on the genre of music we plug into.”

The study also suggests that listening to songs that you have used to become energized in the past increases the effect of this phenomenon.

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Hydrate

Becoming dehydrated is not only bad for your health, but it slows down the brain as well, and causes fatigue.

Even very low levels of dehydration (1%) can lead to these effects, according to a study performed by the U.S. Army Institute of Environmental Medicine.

So ensure that you drink enough water through the day and if you want to expedite the process of using water to help wake you up, drinking it cold can help.

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Stimulate Your Ears

If you rub both of your ears between your thumb and forefinger, this stimulates all of the energy meridians throughout your body and will give you a burst of energy.

Those who practice Traditional Chinese Medicine, will agree about these benefits. In fact, the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine recently published a study that showed those who experienced chronic fatigue were helped significantly by ear stimulation.

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Snack on Something

To remain aware and focused during those mid afternoon work hours, having a healthy, nutrient-filled snack can be extremely helpful.

One study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that healthy women were able to increase brain activity involved with decision making and stress relief after snacking on a yogurt product filled with probiotics.

If you want to increase your energy at work, your metabolism, and your overall happiness levels, having a healthy snack or two throughout the workday provides a perfect solution.

Are you one of many who finds yourself sitting frozen in the same position for extended periods of time?

Do you feel like you need a massage therapist on your personal staff, or that your eyes are always dry and tired?

You are not alone. We live in a world that revolves around computers.

Whether it’s for work, personal use or passion projects, we find ourselves glued to the screens and glued to our seats.

It’s for this reason that we are providing you with some tips to stay healthy and to feel better - even if you find yourself chained to your computer most days.

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Change Your Perspective

Depending on the angle that you’re looking at the monitor, you may be causing tension in your neck and shoulders.

As per Dr.Jim Sheedy (Pacific University), ideally, you want your eyes to be level with the top of the monitor allowing you to look about 10 degrees down at the screen.

Just slightly higher or lower and you’ll tilt your head to adjust to the angle.

Looking down all day is why people have neck and shoulder pain. Looking up causes the eyes to be dry.

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Straighten Up

Bad posture is bad news in any situation.

Sitting in front of a computer, leaning into the screen, causes stress on your neck and back.

Computer users tend to do this while focusing intently on the screen. It is as if you’re being captivated by this article and it’s slowly drawing you in.

Back up!

When you lean into the screen, you curve your spine and neck in an awkward position, causing discomfort as you support that big smart brain of yours.

Practice good posture and you’re on your way to less pain.

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Stand For Something

It doesn’t take a genius to know that always sitting on your butt all day is not good for you.

However, sometimes certain jobs force you to stay at your workstation for extended periods of time.

Many people are starting to have standing desks. It’s simply an elevated desk that allows someone to stand and do their work.

Another option, recommended by the University of Minnesota, is to have a sit-stand desk so you can alternate.

Or if none of the above options are possible, then try a DIY option. Just take a stack of books, or some sort of low table, that you can put on top of your existing desk.

Spending more time on your feet increases energy, decreases appetite and provides an overall better sense of health.

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I Like To Move It

Sometimes standing just doesn’t cut it.

Humans were not designed to sit or stand in one spot all day.

Try to get up and move around as often as possible. Take a stroll to the supply closet at work.

If you work from home, go for walks.

Some offices have offered treadmill desks as an option. The benefits are even better than a standing desk, and the extra calories burned are a bonus.

If you need reminders and proper monitoring of your activities, consider getting a fitness tracker like the ones offered by Fitbit and Garmin.

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Balance

Sitting in front of your computer does not just affect the body, it affects the mind.

Have a nice balance between work time and downtime.

You may find that you’re able to be more productive if you work intensely for short periods of time and then take breaks.

While you’re on a break, get up, move around and try and maximise it’s benefits.

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Do Some Desk-Based Exercises

Do some exercises while sitting at your desk, to get the blood flowing and to stretch a bit.

Even though a job that requires you to travel all over the country or the world, three to four times a month looks appealing, it can be very detrimental to your health.

Frequent business travelers should be concerned about their health as the job comes with a broad range of physiological, psychological, emotional, and social side-effects. This is confirmed by separate studies done at Columbia University, University of Surrey and several others.

So before giving up your office job and globe trotting on your company’s dime, you should consider the harmful health effects frequent business travelers face. Or if you’re already a heavy traveller, then think about how you can reduce the negative impact.

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Faster Ageing

The rate at which people age, is affected by specific genes.

Experiencing frequent jet lag disrupts genes, which when harmed, can cause memory impairment, heart attacks, or strokes.

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High Exposure to Radiation

Frequent business travelers have earned the term ‘radiation workers’ because they are exposed to more radiation than is considered healthy.

In fact, such travelers are exposed to more radiation than nuclear power workers.

The higher the altitude, the higher the radiation exposure.

It only takes seven round-trip flights a year from New York to Tokyo (about 85,000 miles) to exceed the limit for public exposure to radiation.

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Weaker Immune System

Frequent business travelers are exposed to more germs because they are inhaling the same recirculated air whether seated in the economy section or first class.

Often their overworked immune system cannot protect them from such exposure, since it is weakened from jet lag and general tiredness from running to and from airports.

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Out of Shape and at Risk for Obesity

When you are constantly on the go, as frequent business travelers are, you do not have time to prepare/eat a healthy meal.

You will have a fair amount of airline food which is packed with sodium and sugar to withstand higher altitudes during long distances.

Even though the salt and sugar retain the taste of airline food, they harm the body.

The poor diet along with poor choices such as alcohol and the lack of exercise can put frequent travelers at a higher risk of obesity.

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Risk of Mental Health Issues

As aforementioned, frequent flying can lead to chronic jet lag, which can disrupt the circadian rhythm linked to mood, judgment, and concentration for up to six days.

The stress of preparing for a trip combined with the jet lag from those trips can lead to “travel disorientation.”

Frequent business travelers are also prone to loneliness and isolation because they do not have time to meet new people or stay involved with family members that they leave behind.

Their time alone and tension that can occur between the traveler and his or her significant other, could lead to guilt, stress, and eventually mental health issues.

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How to Manage Harmful Effects of Business Travel

Before you totally ban business traveling, you should know that short business trips once or twice every few months, will be less risky

Studies show that those participating in heavy business travel such as 14 days or more of travel a month were the ones affected by the health risks listed above.

Since business travel is typically a job requirement, you need to find ways to overtake the harmful effects of excessive traveling.

Employers owe it to their employees to help them maintain their health when they travel for work. Ways in which companies can reduce the toll of business travel is by:

1. Offering stress reduction and relaxation training in the workplace, or sharing information about stress reduction techniques. If possible, assisting employees by modifying travel schedules to lessen the stress.
2. Providing information about food alternatives when traveling or sending their employees off with small care packages that include fresh, healthy snacks that they can munch on instead of that salty-sweet airline food.
3. Providing a prepaid meal card for restaurants with more nutritious menus or membership in a gym that has locations nationwide and internationally. Companies could also book rooms only with hotel chains that have gyms, and provide financial incentives to employees to exercise while traveling.
4. Researching the destination in advance and making sure employees are fully prepared to handle the increased risks, if travel includes significant health or safety hazards.

Employers need to understand the risk factors that come with excessive traveling and strive to pay more attention to employee health and well-being.

In the meantime, employees can also take an initiative in their health while traveling.

• Employees could consider teleconferencing (where it makes sense) as opposed to a face to face meeting.
• You should also consider other modes of transportation, such as taking the train or driving instead of flying.
• Employees should stand or walk as much as possible in the airport, avoid moving walkways and escalators, and have a quick walk while waiting for their scheduled flight to take off instead of sitting in a chair.
• In-flight try and avoid germs by minimising contact with objects in the restroom, as well as other people’s seats. Also use hand sanitizer at regular intervals and consider BYOP (bringing your own pillow).
• Stay hydrated while on a flight. Walk up and down the aisle every now and then, and do some stretching exercises.
• If a gym is not accessible, you can also bodyweight exercises, yoga and other types of workouts from the comfort of your hotel room. There are some great sites and apps you can use for DIY workouts, which are convenient and of high quality. Have a look at FitStar, Daily Burn and Yoga Studio.
• Employees can also make time to pack healthy snacks. Try to reduce the urge to let go of your diet, which often happens when we’re away from home. Keep it as healthy as possible.

Every New Year’s resolutions are made, and those resolutions are promptly broken within the week.

Maybe this year you decided to lose ten pounds, work more, quit smoking, work less, manage money better, or perhaps change the way to behave in the office.

All great goals.

However, the problem according to Timothy Pychyl (Psychology Professor at Carleton University), is that people try to reinvent and motivate themselves during the new year. This results in grandiose goals, even though they are not really ready to change their habits.

Most people also make classic mistakes, when setting and trying to achieve their goals .

And therefore they fail.

Rather than follow the yearly pattern of falling short of your goals, or not even attempting them at all, here are some ways to keep your resolutions this year.

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Keep your ambitions achievable

The excitement of a fresh start might tempt you to make resolutions that are outside the realms of reality for you to achieve.

The cycle of setting too high of expectations, not meeting them, then trying to change again is called “false hope syndrome” and was coined by psychologist Peter Herman (University of Toronto).

He found that most people are over ambitious/optimistic with their resolutions, and want to make a big new start.

Instead, it’s better to keep your resolutions realistic by setting goals that are easier for you to achieve, rather than a big goal that you expect to happen all at once.

For example, start with a goal of exercising for any amount of time three days a week, instead of a more rigid goal of an hour everyday.

Or, cut back on the number of cigarettes you smoke per day instead of trying to quit cold turkey.

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Focus on the positive

When it comes to making resolutions, it all of a sudden becomes an exercise in defining everything we don’t like about ourselves like our weight, finances, or appearance.

According to Amy Cuddy (Professor at HBS), instead of reinforcing these negative self-perceptions, set goals on positive things that you’ll enjoy.

Attempt to learn a new skill or vow to experiment with new/healthy recipes in the kitchen, just get the bests appliances from Zozanga, and start cooking and creating..

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Don’t be too hard on yourself

Try as we might to change, we have to remember that change is hard.

Clinical psychologist Joseph Luciani, says that “all change entails emotional friction,” and that friction causes us stress, which makes us more likely to break our resolutions.

Give yourself a bit of a break if you’re having trouble meeting your goals and keep pushing towards achieving them.

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Avoid outcome-based resolutions

Another mistake is that of making resolutions based on an outcome, rather than focusing on the process to get to that outcome.

We end up feeling like failures when we don’t reach the result/outcome quickly or if we have a small lapse. For example, if you decide to quit smoking, you fail even if you have one cigarette.

So a change in focus is needed. It’s better to pay attention to the process, break it down into smaller parts and have those as your goals.

For example, if you’re into yoga and want to be able to do a difficult pose, you might become disheartened if you can’t do the pose by the end of the month.

Instead, resolve to stretch and work on practising different elements involved in the pose each day, in order to gradually work your way up to entire difficult pose.

You can keep changing the process goals along the way, as you make progress and get better.

It also important that you make the process as enjoyable as possible.

People often think their brain works in a way that is in complete contrast with reality.

In the spirit of understanding our brains better, I decided to do some research into the way our brain works and the things that influence it.

Here are a few interesting factoids I came across.

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We Can’t Truly Multitask

When we think we’re successfully multitasking, we are actually just constantly switching the contexts of our thought process.

Simply put, our brain is switching between tasks, as it can never truly perform both task A and B simultaneously.

Single-tasking is much better than trying to work on different things at the same time.

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Tiredness = Creativity

Unlike most tasks, creativity is actually found to be boosted in those who are tired.

It turns out, when our brains aren’t functioning at full capacity, we tend to approach the reasoning and logic of things in different ways than we normally would. This helps us think of new concepts and connections.

We are also more susceptible to distractions and less focused when were’ re tired, which is good for creativity.

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Mistakes Can be Attractive

Strangely enough, we tend to like people who make mistakes.

This is due to the Pratfall Effect.

People who never make mistakes are seen as less likable than those who do so occasionally.

Mistakes makes you more human. Perfection creates distance and the projection of invincibility (which people don’t like).

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Trying New Things Slows Down Time

Maybe not literally, but trying new activities can make your brain perceive time as going by more slowly.

Our brain takes a lot of information and organizes it in different ways, which is where our perception comes from. To make the matter more complicated, our perception is not only handled by one part of our brain, but many different areas.

Due to this, when our brain has to process unfamiliar information/tasks, it takes longer to organize it and therefore that period of time feels longer.

Novelty can slow down time and make it seem like you are living longer.

 

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Naps Improve Daily Performance

Science shows us that many amazing benefits are to be had by short 40min-1 hour nap breaks, here and there.

Two of the biggest boosts the body experiences from frequent napping is increased learning capability and improved memory function.

This happens because when you take time to nap, your brain can process the temporary storage areas located in the right hemisphere and move things to long term storage, which locks in the memories.

This in turn gets the brain ready to take in new information and learn new things.

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Stress Changes the Size of Your Brain

Stress is the most common factor in changes to brain function.

Many recent studies show that are brain actually shrinks if we are constantly exposed to stressful situations.

Stress has always been known as an unhealthy factor when disproportionately experienced, but as we have come to understand the brain more thoroughly, the more we realize how truly toxic stress can become.

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Meditation is Healthy

Some may put aside meditation as new-age nonsense, but the truth is that the practice has many natural benefits for the brain.

Those who frequently meditate have been found to be less anxious, more creative, and able to maintain memories more effectively.

Additionally, meditation has been connected to creating more compassion in those who practice it.

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Vision is the Strongest Sense

Although we have five senses, studies suggest that our vision takes precedence over the other four.

Given the guesswork our brain actually does when building our vision, this fact is somewhat worrisome.

Professional wine tasters have even been known to be tricked by white wines that have simply been dyed red. In fact, the sheer amount of areas in the brain that are informed by vision alone is astounding.

The way you commute to work every day has an effect on your mental and physical health. Having to constantly deal with stress on the way to and back from work every day is not ideal.

Given that the average commuter spends an hour every day getting to and from work, managing your commuting habits will make a full 1/24th of your life better.

According to a recent study of over 4,000 participants by the McGill University,

• Driving is often the most stressful and least healthy option available to the average commuter.
• In second place is public transport.
• And the least stressful and healthiest way to commute is walking.

People who drive to work and back every day tend to have higher blood pressure, increased heart rates and a generally lowered tolerance to frustration.

In a study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the over 4,200 people surveyed helped back up these claims. Additionally, it showed that those who walked can decrease their body fat by a significant amount compared to those who drive every day. Metabolism and cholesterol levels are also able to be kept in check by cutting down on the frequency of your driving.

You are not the only one being negatively affected by your driving habits, however. Both your community and your relationship with others get some negative consequences from your habits. Social and economic affects of driving include an increase in carbon dioxide emissions, worse traffic, and higher community stress levels. Additionally, the more that people have to drive, the more areas that get taken up by roads.

In a recent study by the Environment and Behavior journal, excessive daily driving also harms the creation of what they refer to as “social capital.” This term refers to the ability for a community to build valuable social relationships and economical development. Simply put, the journal refers to social capital as “the glue that holds societies together and without which there can be no economic growth or human well-being.”

For those that have to remain driving at some points, it can be useful to find a way to do a community/shared commute. By having several people use one car to get back and forth every day, harmful emissions are cut down, and the ability for social capital to increase gets boosted.

The best way to benefit yourself and your community, however, is by switching to biking, walking, or public transportation for your daily commute. Doing so will increase your mood, boost your physical health, and benefit your community. Additionally, many studies suggest that your risk for cancer is significantly lowered by changing your commuting practices to these healthy alternatives.

Your body is designed to move, and by keeping that need out of your daily routine you are harming your ability to lead an excellent life.

Another benefit of cutting down on driving is the safety you gain in your day-to-day routine. Car accidents claim many lives every year. Those who commute by walking or biking or public transport, on the other hand, experience a much lower rate of accidents.