1% Better Every Day (part 5/6)

Life Hacks and Biohacks

One concept that lends itself particularly well to kaizen is the idea of the “life hack” or the “biohack.” This is the small lifestyle or health change that can potentially result in far bigger improvements in your life.
Some biohacks are nonsense – they promise the world and deliver very little. The same goes for lifehacks that look great on Instagram but don’t do much for us in real life. Our goal then is to look for the ones that really do work and to incorporate those into our lifestyles. When you feel better, you will perform better in every area.

Temperature May Be The Key To Good Sleep

We have always assumed that ambient light is one of the most important factors in determining the quality of our sleep. It follows then that by using lots of devices that emit blue light, we’re actually upsetting our ‘external zeitgebers’ (external cues) and ruining our body clocks. Indigenous tribes have no such issues, and thus they presumably would sleep much better – as nature intended.
In fact though, when recent research looked at the behavior of such indigenous humans, they found that they actually slept at entirely different times – often staying up long after dark and not necessarily allowing the daylight to set their biological clocks.
So, what did set those rhythms? Fascinatingly, the one thing that always remained entirely consistent was that they would start waking up as the temperature bottomed out and began to rise. In short, this may be a more important cue than light when it comes to sleep quality. And here we are using thermostats to completely remove that crucial element!
The take-home from this? Opening your window slightly might just be the best way you can possibly improve your sleep. That means you’ll wake up feeling fresher, and be able to get more done as a result.

How To Wake Up On Time Every Time

If you want to achieve more with your life, then one of the best and most important things you can do is to wake up at a reasonable time. Start getting up 30 minutes earlier and you will gain 3.5 hours a week to exercise, learn, read…
We need sleep of course. So the aim here is not to sleep 30 minutes less. Rather, it’s to get rid of that time we waste by hitting “snooze.
The advice I’m about to give you will go against a lot of what you might have read elsewhere. But stay with me.
Basically, the simple hack is to pick up your phone when the alarm goes and to spend some time looking at it. While many gurus will tell you that picking up your phone will negatively affect hormone levels and that it will put you in a “reactive state of mind,” this isn’t entirely true. Your phone won’t put you in a reactive state if you turn off notifications and don’t check email (just enjoy reading the news or a favorite blog) and the hormone effect is actually just what you want. The bright screen encourages the production of the neurotransmitter cortisol – which helps us wake up. More important though, is that it’s also a great way to get up.

Why? Because most of us enjoy looking at our phones – in fact, we’re a little addicted. Thus the emotional pull to reach for them is strong enough to override serious tiredness. Especially if you have something good lined up.
At the same time, looking at the phone is a small step toward getting up that is much easier than getting out of bed entirely. If you take just this small step, it will often be enough to bring you around, so that you can then go one step further.
Set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than you want to get up. When it goes off, reach for your phone or tablet and then enjoy reading some news. In 15 minutes, you’ll be ready to start the day.

The Best Supplements

Supplements can help to support health in important ways. Is it true that you can get everything you need from your diet? Of course! But most of us don’t. And so to be on the safe side, it’s often better to pop a pill.
The kinds of supplements I’m talking about are completely natural substances that should always have been a part of our diets. Substances that have been shown to increase alertness, energy levels, and overall health.

By taking these, you will find that you feel a bit more awake in the mornings, that you are less likely to pick up colds or flu, that your brain is a little sharper, and that you sleep better. By doing that, you’ll find that every other activity you engage in benefits. It’s a simple change that helps to make all subsequent changes easier and more effective.
Here is a simple supplement “stack” that can considerably elevate your mood, your brain health, and your energy levels. (always check with your health care professional)

• Vitamin D – Taken in the morning
• Omega 3
• Magnesium Threonate – Taken at night
• Ashwagandha (also known as Indian Ginseng)
• Inositol
• Creatine
• Lutein
• Turmeric

Inspiration Hacks

Do you ever find yourself lacking inspiration? Do you ever feel as though you don’t have the interest to focus on the thing you’re meant to be doing, rather than the thing you should be doing? Inspiration is a highly valuable and abstract commodity. Fortunately, you can get more of it in a few ways. One is to listen to audio books while you do chores or go for walks. This puts your brain in a more focused state, and if the book is something you find interesting, then you will be more focused and creative as a result afterward.

The mistake we make is to watch junk on TV or to browse Facebook. This meaningless content puts us in a far less
productive and useful state of mind. So choose carefully what it is you want to spend your time focussing on.

Dress to Impress

It’s a simple life hack, but just by changing the way you dress, you can have huge repercussions on the way you feel and the way others respond to you. If you wear clothes that you usually use to lie around the house in, you will feel less productive and be less likely to get lots of useful work done as a result. Moreover, you will find that others don’t
treat you like a professional.
Wear smart clothes, and you will feel more productive and focused. You will likewise find that others are more likely to want to work with you. This is an example of “wasting” a little time (by spending longer getting ready) that ultimately proves to be an investment in the long run. Kaizen isn’t only about pruning back time then, as you can see.

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Have a great day