YOUR HEALTH IS A CURRENCY

Incessant visits to the doctors for those lower back pains, increased risks of heart diseases, diabetes, obesity or just general musculoskeletal pains are far from the kinds of expressions you would want to live out after contributing your quota to making corporations great while building yourself an amazing career and retirement haven. Indeed, it is all worth it to ensure that beyond fulfillment and passion, you make enough money to fund your dreams, raise and support family and live life to the fullest.

Yet my question is - Should this be at the detriment of your health?

How long would you live life to the fullest for if your health is a battle zone?

I am privileged to have parents who have invested an upwards of 20 years of their work-life working for present day top-tier banks and besides the fact that I have learnt that my kids deserve a balance of both currencies (the me and money), I have also learnt that these interesting careers - and the sedentary lifestyles they lavish us with, can have long-term effects on our health - now and in the future.

I try to own my current health status and that of my future by doing the following

1. Taking short 5-minute walks after every 2-hours of sitting (you should try walking to that colleague’s desk instead of using the phone or email). Set reminders to help you do this amidst your busy schedule. I actually walk around within my office when I have to make calls as well.
2. Taking lunch breaks. You need to build the habit of taking lunch breaks even if you are not eating, which should not even be the case. It helps a lot to get some time away from the work-screen-stare and possibly watch a video, play some music or speak to someone, talk to family over the phone etc.
3. Ensuring that I sit upright and constantly snap myself out of slouching.
4. Dimming the brightness of my laptop screen. Our eyes suffer from the prolonged flooding of bright light as I feel this while I try to shut my eyes from time to time while working.
5. Placing my laptop (keyboard) inwards on the desk to allow me at least rest my wrists on a platform – laptop or desk. This takes out the pressure of suspending my palms and hands.
6. I start out my day with a to-do list and nest my email reply times amidst my schedule to ensure that I maximize my work-time and avoid extensive unproductive hours.

Kindly add your tips in the comment section

You should do some research, yet for starters - May I quote some part of a doctor friend’s recent article on the effects of prolonged sitting?

Dr Chris wrote

“During protracted sitting, large muscles in the lower limbs are inactive and this reduces metabolism. Also, there is a decline in muscular utilization of blood glucose in the body. As a result, the excess body glucose is converted to fats which deposit in the blood vessels. The accumulation of fat in the blood causes a plethora of health risks if left unchecked”

It is also very crucial (that for those of us who are privileged to have some decision making responsibilities that influence the productivity of our teams) to ensure that we keenly focus on ergonomics while designing or improving the work spaces for our teams constantly. Remember, you are as strong as not just your team but your team’s weakest link.  

People say time is money. My teams must be tired of hearing me say this…

What you give your employer is your time. The time within which you use effort (skills, abilities, energy etc) to convert tasks into the deliverables that feed the bottom-line. Without good health, you would not have the time nor sanity to deliver the effort. This is besides the pains and travails that accompany ill health. Your time contains everything it carries – skills, ideas, solutions, good health etc. The money you earn is your time in your hands, your good health afforded you that time.

Are you intentional on how you spend the time (money) you can never recover?

YOUR HEALTH IS A CURRENCY. HOW DO YOU INVEST IT?

PS. I look forward to learn some of the ways you create a balance in your health as well. Kindly share in the comments section.

#Management #Future #HumanResources #Careers #HealthCare #Investing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Privileged to have worked across the high-capital construction, fast-paced e-commerce & the precision-driven outsourcing industries; 'Kayode KOLADE is a Business Strategist and Project Manager with experience in People, Process & Operations Optimization, a Soft Skills Trainer and Mentor with a creed to continuous improvement. A Fellow of both The Institute of Leadership & Management and The Learning & Performance Institute.