Start Small, Prioritize Sleep, and Start Teaching What You Want to Learn
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
We often think that we have to make big changes in our lives in order to be successful with our goals. Forget that, get specific, and start small.
Rethink how you think about work. Become aware of when you are busy because you have to be versus being busy for the sake of being busy. Learn how to rest, how to slow down, and be realistic about your work goals.
Do you want to learn something new? Teach it to somebody else, that could just be the best way to learn.
Starter Mindset Tip: Get Specific, Start Small
This mindset tip is specific, and small. Instead of making your goal “I want to eat healthier,” start by writing down a few ways you want to eat healthier. Focus on just one, such as stopping the afternoon sugary snack, celebrate that small victory, and then go from there. Rome was not built in a day, start small, celebrate the small victories, and then see where that takes you. (Tiny Habits, 205)
Health Recipe to Try Out: Erase This Saying From Your Speech “My Work is Too Busy, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”
Timing: Check in with yourself during busy times, rest when needed
Level of Difficulty: Hard to do when you are caught up in a busy stretch
Serving Size: Find a schedule that works best for you. Check in every day, every week, every month. Whatever works, but make sure to be realistic, and rest when you have to.
Spice Level: Can lead to mildness during the spicy times
INGREDIENTS
Just yourself and your awareness of… yourself.
REASONING AND BENEFITS
The newest badge of honour in the workplace is never sleeping, always working, and being proud of it. Newest is a relative term, in the last few decades, this saying has become more and more common. What would your great grandparents think of you if you said that to them? Maybe laughter, maybe a “come on man,” maybe a question about the importance of your family and community, and maybe just down right bafflement. We aren’t going to sit here and tell you that you can never be busy with work. Both of us have had, and have our busy stretches when we work more than we want to. What we don’t do is brag about it like it is how we should all be living our lives. We recognize that we are working more than we would like, we still prioritize as much self care as possible, we prioritize quality family time when we can, and we set our sights on the end of the busy stretch to get back to normal as fast as possible. Life gets busy, the key thing is to ride the busy stretches like waves. Ride them out as best as you can with focus, foresight, self awareness, and an eye on the end. When the ride is over, swim back out and dodge those waves that come crashing at you, swim under them, keep an eye on the wave break and the peace that the calm waters will bring. When you reach the calm waters, sit on your board, look around, reflect on the busy stage you just got out of, and be ready to enjoy the quieter time when you can focus on yourself, your family, and your interests. Now some facts: shorter sleep will lower your work rate and make you less efficient. Productivity goes down, leading to longer working hours, leading to less sleep. Sleep more, become more productive, work less, feel better, sleep better, and repeat.
INSTRUCTIONS
Rip that “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” badge of honour right off your shirt, and stop reinforcing it. Especially if you are a senior member on your team, if you stop, this mindset will go extinct like the parasaurolophus.
Remember that productivity goes down when you are tired, stop those late night work emails, and that last minute work. Have a proper shut down ritual before you go to bed and write down what you want to get done tomorrow, and SAVE IT FOR TOMORROW.
Lean into the busy times at work, get through them as fast as you can. Take care of yourself as best as you can, stay away from bad habits as this is the time when we can spiral, and that will just keep having a negative impact on your sleep.
Rest your mind at some point during your work day. Do this by napping, meditating, or resting with a Non Sleep Deep Rest or Yoga Nidra script.
PRO TIP: We all get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, becoming aware of this is the first step to bringing you back to some balance in your life.
*After 22 hours of being awake, you are impaired to the same level as someone legally drunk.
** If you are in a management role, or heck, at the bottom of the totem pole. Start bringing in some awareness to the negative impacts of poor sleep. The culture will not change unless you start changing it.
*** Awareness is a big theme in this book. Become aware of your busy times, evaluate them, make a plan to take care of yourself, and a plan for when it is over or slowed down.
Dessert Quote:
“You teach best what you most need to learn” - Richard Bach (Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman, Pg. 33)
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources:
Learn more about intentional living and learning:
Burkeman, O. (2021). Four thousand weeks: The smash-hit Sunday Times bestseller that will change your life. Random House.
Learn more about habit forming:
Fogg, B. J. (2019). Tiny habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Eamon Dolan Books.
