The two most important aspects are awareness and time management, the third, rest!
It’s essential to be aware of your schedule but not let it run your life; instead, manage your schedule to successfully look after your health and complete your work. It sounds simple and straight-forward, but unfortunately, most prioritize their work schedule as a “must-do” and neglect their health routine as “a has to wait.” This approach will inadvertently end up in declining health and eventual burnout.
I decided to write this article as I’ve just gone through a pretty tough work period myself, where I neglected all my own rules and ended up having work run my life, to the point where I had to take a break. This was the moment I realized my body was telling me to wake up, be careful, change my approach… or suffer.
Here’s what happened and how I fixed it.
I recently became a partner in a beautiful restaurant in Bali called Beachgarden, Organic Kitchen, in Canggu, with my new business partner, Founder, and Co-Owner, Mark Baker. I saw this as a fantastic opportunity to introduce keto foods and promote the keto lifestyle in Bali.
What did I know about the restaurant business? Nada! Oh boy, maybe I should have researched that one before joining? LOL, but I didn’t, and I threw myself in the deep end.
Before I knew it, I worked 12 to 14 hours a day, with very little sleep, next to no health routine, too much entertaining, and late nights. And voilà, after two weeks, the shakes and shivers paid me a visit, a collapse very narrowly averted!
Being Aware of Your Actions.
Awareness about your behavior is key to managing your health. If you keep on churning out the hours at work, eat poorly, and neglect your health routine, you are in denial and not aware. In that case, as it happened to me, the “boogie man” will soon pay you a visit, and possibly a little tase!
Making a conscious effort to be aware of your actions, workload, and time management is an absolute must. Awareness comes down to one of my favorite subjects — “mindfulness.” Being mindful of everything you do and making mindfulness part of your mental health routine will keep you in a better and safer place!
Manage Your Time – Mindfully!
Now that we’ve gone over the importance of awareness let’s look at time management so we avoid driving ourselves into the ground. In reality, everything is manageable, as long as you manage your time appropriately and MAKE TIME for your health routine! In other words, now that we are aware of the importance of awareness, we are also mindful that keeping maintaining our health routine is critical to staying healthy and leading a balanced, productive, and positive life!
Let’s start by setting up a schedule in your calendar, both for work, your health routine, adequate quality-food intake at regular hours, at least eight hours of sleep a night, and rest periods throughout the day. That’s it, and that’s the golden key, as well as making appointments not only for your work but with yourself for these essential elements!
Rest Your Way to Good Health!
That’s why I included a photo of me resting by the pool as the title photo for this post. Resting is such an undervalued yet vital thing to do. Pushing ahead all day without mental or physical rest is dangerous and can lead to frustration, or even heart disease, and more!
There are many forms of resting —
here’s a list of 10 ways to rest and recover, that work
1. Power nap for a few minutes
2. Going for a relaxing 15-minute walk
3. Closing your eyes while sitting at your desk and clearing your mind for 5-minutes
4. Taking 5-minutes for breathing work — deep, slow breathing
5. Stand on your head!
6. Do a short body-stretching session
7. Head & neck massage
8. Foot Massage
9. Go for a quiet coffee or tea and treat yourself to a healthy snack!
10. Cuddle your loved ones!
And, please take a minute to read my article about the Power of Walking – 15000 Steps a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!
In Summary.
Being aware of your actions and what you are doing to yourself, both physically and mentally, is the most critical aspect of living a balanced work/personal life, which will support longevity.
Taking time to manage work and your “you time” comes right after that, making sure you rest as much as possible and respect your need for rest and recovery. The body and mind can recover surprisingly quickly if you give them both the love they deserve!
Thank you for reading. More to follow shortly, as I’m making time to write again, in my personal calendar!
Rob Hourmont
