For Business Owners Who Are Physically Active
Have you ever done something athletic in your adult life? Done a triathlon, a marathon, climbed Everest, or anything similar? A weightlifting competition? Anything that you’ve trained for - maybe a 5K run or walk?
If so, then you know not every day is a day to go as hard as you can. Training plans for most of these events include recovery days, where you might do some easy yoga or go for a walk. For its best performance, your body requires some rest and recovery, both during training and afterward.
March 30 is National Fitness Recovery Day… and don’t forget about your mental fitness as a business owner.
Fitness and productivity in the workplace go hand in hand
Humans tend to think about the brain in terms of the latest scientific technologies. So the American workplace is all about computers, and many people think about their brains like they’re computers.
The problem comes when you try to treat your brain like a computer: as if there’s only one input it needs and trying to make it run complex “programs” (like responding to emails and listening to a webinar presenter) simultaneously. A computer can run programs 24/7, though even computers benefit from being shut down and restarted from time to time.
The human brain is less like a computer and more like the human body – which makes total sense if you think about it! It needs more than just electricity to function, and it operates better when it’s continually learning and doing new things, not sitting on the shelf or constantly running the same tasks over and over again.
And of course, the brain can’t go hard (in terms of complex thought processes) all day. True, parts of your brain run 24/7: controlling breathing, heart rate, muscle movements, and the like. A lot’s happening while you sleep: waste products are removed from cells including brain cells, small muscle tears are repaired, making muscles stronger, and so on.
There’s a physical reason for all this. Humans and human-like ancestors have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, and much of the brain has been adapted from other animal ancestors along the way. These kinds of unconscious processes are hundreds of thousands and even millions of years old, so in terms of the brain, they’re fast and don’t take up a lot of energy.
But the kind of thinking that the workplace requires from business owners, whether you’re working on finances, planning a marketing campaign, crunching numbers, manipulating spreadsheets, or providing legal or financial services – uses the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the brain.
The PFC is newer and not as efficient. That means it’s an energy hog, even more so than other regions of the brain. You don’t get as much time during the day for PFC work, because it’s never been needed for eight or more hours of the workday until probably the middle of the last century. And if it hasn’t received all the necessary inputs, you won’t even get four hours of good work out of it.
Improve your productivity through fitness principles
The more I think about it, the more it seems that fitness is the right allegory for being able to get more $hit done at work so you can have more time for fun… and fitness. Yep, an upward spiral instead of a downward one.
So what do you do if you’re training for something physical?
Prioritize the actions that get you closer to your goal: an emphasis on weight training if you’re trying to be stronger, and less cardio work than if you’re running a marathon
Have a training system, which often includes schedules like activity X M/W/F, activity Y T/Th, activity Z on Saturday and rest/recovery on Sunday
Make sure you’re getting enough sleep (Olympic athletes can sleep 9/10 hours when training) and nutritious food in addition to the physical activity, plus probably some mindfulness/stretching
Periodically give your body a break from the work so you don’t overtrain or burn out
Know you can achieve your goal, and look for ways around or through barriers to it
To move your business forward without working longer hours or working harder, it’s important to:
Prioritize so you’re doing the right work at the right time
Have the right processes and systems in place
Include the right inputs
Build in recovery/rest time
Work from a growth/abundance mindset
The same inputs that keep your body strong also help your mind stay strong. Though your mind also needs a couple of additional items to be as productive as possible, including socializing and believe it or not, playtime.
Recap (tl;dr):
Your mind is more like your body than your computer. Treating it the way you would treat your body for an upcoming athletic event will help you improve productivity in the workplace.
Want more hours in the day for family, friends, and fun? Click here to set up your free consultation to see how we can work together for a streamlined and thriving business.
Photo by Kenny Kennethh on Unsplash.