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No matter what your current work situation or role is, there are 4 essentials that you need to prioritise, to help you achieve sustainable success at work.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that these 4 always come first before work priorities.
Food. Sleep. Exercise. Relationships.
When you look after these 4 not only will you have more energy to focus on your work, but you will feel more motivated and be more innovative.
Here are some tips to get started if you haven’t already done so yet:
FOOD
- Eat real food – people enjoy different “ways of eating”, but the general consensus with all of the best diets and doctors is to eat more real food and less processed food.
- Eat what works best for you and your energy levels – you will know. Check in with yourself often to intentionally decide which foods should be cut from your diet and which should be added.
- Generally, your body will let you know when you don’t eat well, so take some time to listen and be aware of what works and what doesn’t.
SLEEP
- Not everyone needs 8 hours, but test yourself on various hours of sleep to find what works best for you.
- Most people need more than 6 hours.
- Sleep works well when sticking to a routine of the same sleep time and wake times every day.
EXERCISE
- If you haven’t prioritised this, start small, even 5 minutes of exercise a day is helpful.
- Exercise outside if you can, to get the benefits of clean air and the de-stressing and happiness-inducing properties of nature.
- Exercise even when you feel crappy – just adjust the effort and intensity – even people who are ill (even Cancer patients at various stages of their progress) gain benefits from gentle daily walks.
- Find ways to increase spontaneous exercise too (like walking up the stairs; parking further away from the shops etc.).
RELATIONSHIPS
- Relationships have been proven to be the most important determinant for health and happiness later in life (conducted by numerous studies).
- Focus on creating time where you can be 100% full present within that relationship (removing cell phones and other distractions).
- If you find you aren’t getting enough time for connection with a particular person or relationship then don’t be scared to schedule the time in your calendar for the relationship. If a spontaneous connection isn’t happening then plan it instead.
When planning my week every Friday, I allocate time for these 4 essentials first.
In fact, most are set as recurring items in my calendar.
I intentionally do this so that I can also intentionally be mindful during that activity.
For instance when I fetch my son from school every day I have scheduled 1 hour to spend with him. This time is all about him. And I am focused on being present and listening and enjoying my time with him.
TAKE ACTION:
- If you haven’t done so already, I would encourage you to deliberately schedule time for each of these essentials in your calendar. You may not need to block out time for sleep, but it’s worth deciding what time you plan to go to sleep and what time you plan to wake every morning.
- When it comes time to do the activity, practice being 100% conscious and mindful in that moment. Give all of your energy over to that single activity. For example: Practise mindful eating or mindful exercise or practise being 100% present with the person you are with.
- COACHING: If you need 1-to-1 support to prioritise more of these 4 essentials in your life for greater success and productivity at work, then book a free consultation with me here.
