Fully Charged

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Here are some tips so as to have that energy all day, work fully charged so as to get more things done, have a healthier body, a sharper mind and better relationships.  Tips taken from best-selling author Tom Rath’s book “Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life”.

The 3 Keys to energizing your work and life according to Mr. Rath is to have meaning in your work which is making the connection between what you do and how it benefits another person.  Second, to have warm interactions with others and third, taking care of our physical health which is to make choices that improve our mental and physical well-being.

Meaning

The author says, “Until you understand how your efforts contribute to the world, you are simply going through the motions each day.”  We should make our regular work have meaning and purpose to our life by seeing our job as a service to others and contributing to society’s progress.  Whether you are a janitor or a president of a company, your job makes life better for others, because it really does.  Armed with that sense of purpose, we get energized and makes us work better.

Interactions

When we go to work, we are not there just for the company or the firm, but because of the company (friends at work).  In other words, because of our good relationships with our co-workers, we look forward to working each day because of the lively and warm interactions we have with them.  Its energy derived from friendships.  In order to have many friends at work, we have to be friendly.  Being friendly means having the interest for others of wanting to hear their life story because we can learn from them and try to assist them in their needs.  Warm workplace interactions would not only refer to workmates but to customers as well.  The book says if you have three to five positive interactions in a day, it will outweigh even one negative interaction.  At times, its unavoidable that some friction happens, but just make sure you are not the problem. But if you think you are at fault, there is a thing called apologizing. Often times a relationship can become stronger if it has undergone some testing.

Physical Health

Tom Rath is an author of another best-selling book entitled “Eat, Move, Sleep”.  Thus, he recommends the same ideas taken from that book but this time in relation to not easily getting tired.   With food, here’s what Tom Rath says in avoiding that energy zapping artificial sugar, “There is absolutely no dietary need for any added sugar – a toxin that fuels diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Eliminate as much added sugar as possible…Drink more water, tea, and coffee instead of soda or other sweetened drinks.”  We ought to look at the label of everything you are about to purchase and eat. If it contains more than 10 grams of sugar,

don’t buy it. Aim for zero added sugar (naturally sweetened foods only such as fruits) throughout the day to keep you blood sugar stable and remain fully charged. At a minimum, avoid these sugary foods: soda, candy, pastries, fruit juice, and most dressings.  I applied this advice personally of eliminating artificial sugar intake and it really did wonders to my health such as less acne (sugar causes inflammation), more energy, better mood, sharper mind and improved weight management.

Furthermore, be active all day by walking or standing up instead of sitting for long hours, here’s what the author says, “Being active throughout the day is the key to staying energized. Even 30–60 minutes of exercise a day will not cut it if you spend the rest of your day sitting around. Moving around and getting more activity every hour is what will keep you fully charged.  When you sit down, the electrical activity in your leg muscles shuts off quickly. Your rate of burning calories drops to just one per minute. The enzymes that help break down fat fall by 90 percent. After sitting for two hours, your good cholesterol drops by 20 percent.”  We should set hourly reminders to move around and make standing the default position while working (get a stand-up desk if you work in an office).

And lastly on getting enough sleep, the author says, “The best performers in these studies slept for 8 hours and 36 minutes per night on average. The average American, in contrast, gets just 6 hours and 51 minutes of sleep on weeknights…One study suggests that losing 90 minutes of sleep can reduce daytime alertness by nearly one-third.”  His three tips to sleeping well are:

(1) Reduce your exposure to light at night (turn off electronic devices 1 hour before a scheduled bed time). (2) Lower the room temperature (reduced temperature or a cooler room prevents your natural body clock from waking you up in the middle of the night). (3) Reduce exposure to noise while sleeping by wearing ear plugs or playing a white-noise soundtrack while sleeping (use an app on your smartphone).