How Lighting Boosts Productivity and Focus

Photo by Des Récits

Every Halloween, the ghosts and goblins come out when it turns dark. The darkness is part of the alure of the event.

However, working in the dark is ineffective. When we all worked in an office (remember those days), there was specific thought behind the lighting in the general office area (brighter), the conferences rooms (a bit softer to promote collaboration) and the break room had something different (I wish I could remember what it was when I read the article last year). This was all balanced with natural light from the outside.

Now, we all wish we could work outside (at least on the nice days) but often times the glare doesn't work well on our computer screens. As a result, most of us are hanging out in our virtual offices trying to be as productive as possible.

Side bar thought- I remember when I was a kid, I had my room so bright, I am sure the little electric meter dial was turning, and the bills were adding up for my parents.

Today, with the new lighting technology, we have energy efficient bulbs that are much more cost effective where you could replicate (as best as possible) being outside for not that much cost.

I would encourage you to do your research (and there is a lot of it out there) on what the best lighting is for you. To help you get started, I will share what I did. When I started working in my home office, I always tried to sit facing the window. Unfortunately, the way my basement is set up, my window is underneath my porch and doesn't provide a lot of natural light. Couple that with all of the trees in my backyard, it is not as bright as I would like it to be. As a result, I have to augment my office with my own lighting. I outfitted my 4 lights (2 overhead and 2 behind me on the wall) with the brightest "daylight" light I could find at the store.

This set up for me worked great up until I needed to go on video. The two lights behind me produced a big glare and I needed to shut them off, replacing it with a small desk lamp in front of me. I found this very frustrating as it was always dark and having a boss that wanted everyone on camera made it even more challenging. With the new computer my company issued earlier this year, I had a better camera and the virtual backgrounds worked much better for people to see me without that cardboard cutout look I had with my old computer. By moving to the virtual background, I was able to the lights on behind me and keep my office bright...thus keeping my productivity as high as possible.

Now, when you are ready to go to sleep, things are different with lighting. My recommendation is to have a softer bulb in your bedroom to help your body calm down from the day putting your body in the mode of going to sleep.

Lighting matters to your productivity and sleep!!!

Cover photo by Phil Desforges

Digital Detox and the Power of a 10-Minute Phone Free Walk

Photo by Markus Winkler

It's ironic that I am posting online about disconnecting. It is also becoming more difficult every day to not be attached to a device.

The struggle is real as the saying goes. While I am not a doctor, psychologist, or scientist, I know the brain sends signals that give a person a feeling of connection and sends other signals of enjoyment.

Why would a person want to give that up?

There are lots of reasons why we justify the need to be with our phones. For most of us, it started out as just to be social, but now it's an addiction. It also may be because of work, staying attached to communicate with a sick family member, being able to respond to your kids or parents, or just waiting for a friend to reach out.

The result of being attached to our phone so much is we feel trapped, often times not even realizing we are feeling being locked in a room with the walls starting to close in on us. We have all been in a situation where once you are removed from the event, you feel like there is a weight off of your shoulder. It could be a bad situation at work, a breakup from a bad relationship, or the stress of any situation. When the event ends, there is a sense of relief.

Recently, I just read that when you scroll on social media, your brain gets these small dopamine hits. What is really happening is your brain is getting flooded with artificial dopamine hits all day long. The long-term result is your real life starts to look boring. Things that used to be fun and exciting to you are now not very exciting. Pick up a book, nah. Go out and see people, why? Things seem more fun on your phone.

But how can disconnect? First, you have to make the mental shift that the world is not going to come to an end if you are not connected to your phone. I know this is really, really, really hard but I am sure you already disconnect and don't even know it, maybe when jumped in the pool or ocean this summer, or even the shower each day. We are all so protective of our phones, not just because of the need to be connected, but because they are so expensive and we don't want to get them ruined with water and thus, we break the connection with the phone to go into the water.

For me, when the pandemic started, I needed the mental break and decided that I was going to leave my phone in the house after lunch and take a 10-minute walk outside. I found this process liberating and came to realize that the world didn't come to an end (even with the global pandemic) and when I returned from my 10-minute walk, all was back to normal. I also found this short walk without my phone gave me a recharge for the second half of the day to keep me productive. I still do it today during every workday.

Try it for yourself, take 10 minutes and walk outside. When you return, I am sure everything will still be the same. And while you are there, maybe enjoy the fresh air!

Cover photo credit to Kelly Sikkema

Why Investing in Yourself is the Best Investment You Can Make

Photo credit by Wang Sheeran

Every day when we make a purchase, we make an investment. It may not be the traditional investment like buying a stock, but you are choosing to invest your time and dollars on that product or experience.

Even buying necessary products, like clothes are investments. For example, you may buy an outfit for work or for a night out. Technically, any piece of clothing would do but your decision to purchase that special outfit may make you feel good or at the very least, not feel out of place compared to everyone else.

We make these investment decisions every day. However, how many times do we make investments in the products we purchase, even if they are expensive, because it's worth it.

Let me give you an example. Once the pandemic came, I started to work from home all the time. I used to be out visiting customers a few days a week and my physical activity was a lot more including simple things like getting up more often, moving around, walking from meeting to meeting, etc. Now, and for the last few years, I have been stuck to my desk. While I try to walk around and move as much as I can, sometimes I am just beholden to my computer, desk, and chair.

As a result, my body just started to get tight. It wasn't necessary stress from the job, just a lack of inactivity (and change of routine) from what I was used to. Plus, I was getting older and things don't move as effortlessly as they did in my teens and 20's. I would try all sorts of things including yoga and stretching but no matter what I did, my body was tight.

I found myself on the couch at night watching TV and moving my legs up in the air to try to stretch out the muscles. No matter what I was doing, nothing was working, and more than that, I just assumed it was something I had to live with. Not because I was old or stressed, just part of who I was. It got to a point where I didn't know any different.

Then I met Louie. As mentioned in my post, The Olive Oil Conversation That Transformed My Kitchen, Louie started talking about how there was a specific olive oil had a significant amount of polyphenols (refer back to the link above to learn more), which help reduce inflammation (most good Italian olive oils have some level of polyphenols, but there are certain ones that provide more than others). By the way, there are other foods like honey and blueberries that also offer high quantities of polyphenols.

During the conversation, my first thought was this would be a great olive oil for Mary Beth to use as she has been complaining about tight muscles for years following her acoustic neuroma surgery and a few subsequent surgeries. Louie shared that a tablespoon a day was a good amount to see the benefits.

Mary Beth tried it. Now here is a fun fact. A really good olive oil will have a peppery aftertaste, especially if you try it straight. Because of this, it just wasn't something she could get down. She finished the bottle putting it on salads and other food items but for the sole purpose of helping with inflammation, she opted to pass due to the strong taste. At this point in time, I didn't try it yet.

About 2 months went by and I was on my ongoing quest to get better performance out of my daily activities. Much of that was focused on building a routine around eating better and exercise, all to get optimal performance out of my day.

My ultimate goal is to be at my 100% best all day long, all week long, all year long, for years.

I remembered during my initial conversation with Louie that this specific olive oil helped him with focus. One of the things that come naturally to me is good focus. For example, when the kids were little and would play "Star Wars" with lightsaber battles or LEGO and I wouldn't even hear them (with my office right there with a 1/2 wall and no door). I don't know how I do it, but I can just tune out the noise and distraction. However, if I could improve my focus even a bit more, that would be another advantage I could have.

So I decided to try the olive oil myself. After about a week of a tablespoon a day, I didn't see any improvement in my focus. But I figured I would give it one more week.

At the end of week 2, I still didn't notice any improvement in my focus. But I did notice something unexpected. I started to feel looser. My body wasn't stiff anymore (same job, same routine). My legs didn't need to be stretched at night, and I wasn't doing stretching exercises during the day either.

I was amazed at the results. I felt 10 years younger. The great thing about this olive oil is it is not some off the wall infomercial type product It is a genuine Italian olive oil that just has some specific nutritional properties to it.

For about 3 years now, I take a tablespoon a day straight and just chase it with water. Recently, I have been putting a little Himalayan salt to help cut down on the peppery taste. Mary Beth, and our son Matthew put it in their smoothies as a means of cutting the bite. They aren't as religious as I have been in doing it every day, but I stand by it personally (note, I am not a doctor or medical professional).

Long story to share that this olive oil costs about $48 a bottle and it lasts about a month. Even being out of work, which I currently am, the investment of the $48/month is an investment in myself.

Regardless if you drink olive oil or do something else, the idea is to take the time (and money) to invest in yourself. If you do, your performance will improve, and thus the other things you are focused on, whether it be a promotion, a new job, getting to the next performance level in a sport, etc, will be easier to achieve.

Investing in yourself should be necessary, not optional.

Cover photo by Micheile Henderson