Ever heard of the term "sitting is the NEW smoking?" Well if you smoke, I certainly expect you to be giving the eye-roll right now. 🙄 But if you loathe the thought of toxic smoke surging into your precious lungs and bloodstream...then keep reading.
Brain management is the NEW time management. It is best to work when your brain is at its peak energy and attention. Then meditate or relax when it’s offline instead of forcing it to work. The prefrontal cortex is very “particular.” It’s like a “high maintenance” BFF who’s sensitive to how she spends her time, energy and ATTENTION. To quench its needs, the prefrontal cortex needs specific human activities that we often neglect (i.e. efficient sleep).
Sitting for long periods of time also makes you less smart and extremely unhealthy. Why?...blood flow. There's less of it moving around throughout your body and brain. You see...the brain depends on 8 gallons of "hand delivered" enriched blood EVERY hour. Blood contains its main source of energy, glucose, and oxygen needed for advanced cognitive functioning. Loooonnnnggg periods of being sedentary (ex. sitting at the desk, watching tv, etc.) means less blood flow causing:
✔️reduced focus & attention,
✔️poor decision-making & self-regulation (like going after those chips at your desk)
✔️more mistakes are made
✔️reduced blood flow to other organs leads to the break down of needed processes to keep you healthy (i.e. less blood flow to the heart can lead to heart disease).
So get up...move every 60-90 minutes. Listen to your body. Pay attention to your mental state...both may be nudging you to get up and circulate the flow of energy to your brain and body so it can serve you better throughout the day. Feel free to share with your clients or those you influence 😉.
The more we understand the brain... (aka neuroscience) the better managers of its potential we can be and the better we can allocate our mental resources to work smarter instead of burning out our neurons. Hope this helps out your productivity this week. ~The Neuroscientist🧠♥️