Challenge 16 - Anti-fragility

"Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better." 1

Today's challenge moves beyond simply being robust and learning to bounce back or bounce beyond.

The recent pandemics: SARS and COVID-19 have provided insights into how people cope with stress and uncertainty. Not surprisingly, they found that in 2020 mental health problems were twice as prevalent as in non-pandemic times. There is, however, cause for optimism as anxiety, isolation, sleep problems co-exist with social growth, personal growth, and gratitude.

So what is antifragility, and how might it help us in these uncertain times. Firstly, anti-fragility is not the same at post-traumatic growth, which involves some sort of trauma, whereas anti-fragility is the interplay of your perception of the level of disruption in your world right now and your perception of the capacity to thrive.

According to Dr Paige Williams, it is defined as being three things: the confidence of your ability, skills, and knowledge. There is sometimes a big gap between the perceived disruption you see in your world and your perceived capacity to thrive; the bigger that gap is, the more fragile you're going to feel.

So how might we build these principles into our everyday:

• Break the negative – let go of what you can't control and stop worrying about it. (I acknowledge this is not easy)

• Reframe the struggle from being a sign of failure to an opportunity to learn and grow.

• Learn forwards – use learning loops to accelerate your growth (what did you try, where did you struggle & what might you try next)

Want to find out about your fragility? Take the survey theantifragilesurvey.com

How might you build an antifragility mindset into your day? Tell us here Tell us here

Reference

1.     Nassim Nicholas Taleb in ‘Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder’ (2012)

Further reading

Long Read: becoming anti-fragile. Learning to thrive through disruption, challenge and change. Dr Paige Williams. 2020

Listen: Dr Paige Williams – How anti-fragile are you? how-anti-fragile-are-you

Short read: Prove your antifragility https://medium.com

** Disclaimer – Part of the Build Your Ideal Day Program – 30 Day challenge by Duncan Young. All content and media on the Build Your Ideal Day Website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

Challenge 17 - Unplug

The Average Australian spends almost 17 years of their life on their phone.1

Today's challenge is to become smarter with your smartphone.

Technology has many advantages, but it also has some downside and can absorb our time. We all can be too connected 24 hours a day, but this might not be best for us.

Increasingly, we are spending more time engaged with our screens, leading to a significant rise in the share of Australians who agree with this statement: "I find myself occupied on my mobile phone when I should be doing other things and it causes me problems". 2

Our always-available culture may have some of us thinking that it's more productive and less stressful to be connected, but recent research suggests otherwise—a randomized study of 124 busy professionals was assigned into two groups over two weeks. The first group of participants was required to switch off all alerts and notifications and check emails only three times a day for a week. The second group had free email checking up to fifteen times per day. Surprisingly, the restricted email group reported lower stress levels, more productivity, and better sleep. The experiment was repeated by flipping the group with the same participants, and the results were the same. Also noted is that both groups sent and received roughly the same number of emails. Still, the restricted email group reported doing so in 20 percent less time.3

So could you 'go dark' for a day given the perceived productivity and well-being benefits? No phones, screens or computers? What about scheduling technology-free day per week? The upsides of this are recorded in 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week by Tiffany Shlain. 4

Although a digital sabbath may not work for everyone, we can also look for opportunities to reduce our screen time during the day:

·         Morning – awake refreshed with an old school alarm clock. Resist the temptation to collect the phone and leave it in the charging station until after the morning routine is complete, i.e. teeth, toilet, shower, smoothie, and dog walk.

·         Focus time. Tackle the most critical task of the day while in deep focus. Activate the 'do not disturb' to switch off all incoming notifications allowing your best work to happen in flow-state. Remember that it can take 23 minutes to recover from disruptions.

·         Lunch time – Lunch breaks are critical recovery settling for employees in cognitively or emotionally demanding jobs. Detachment both physically and psychologically is key and even using ones phone for social media can intensify fatigue.5

·         Driving – Using your phone while driving a vehicle is illegal so another great opportunity to rack up tech-free minutes. Even talking on a phone (hands-free) draws nearly 40% of mental resources away from the task of driving. 6

·         Outside time – take some time outside to be present and allow your brain to engage its default mode network. Some of you best ideas may happen whilst dish-washing, showering or walking and it's because your mind is able to kind of make an unusual connection. But right now we're living in a way where we're stuffing so much new information into our minds all the time. If you want to take your phone for photography, then make sure it's in-flight mode to minimise distractions.

·         Mealtime – no phones at the table is an easy fix as the mere presence can make people feel more distracted and less socially engaged. If tech is present at the table, they should be face down, and the first person to glace at and or touch receives a penalty such as washing up. Phone checking for the benefit of the group may be permitted: checking google fact, etc, etc

·         Evening unwind - Great opportunity to calm the mind and positively reflect the day that has just passed. For many, this may be simply reading a book, taking a hot bath or watching TV (without checking your phone during the advertising breaks)

·         Bedtime – Bedrooms should be tech-free full stop (unless you have a kindle).

So what action might you take today to reduce your screentime? Tell us here

Reference

1.     Aussie screen time in a lifetime www.reviews.org

2.     Problematic use of mobile phones in Australia...Is it getting worse?2019. Frontiers in Psychiatry

3.     Checking email less frequently reduces stress. 2015. K.Kushlev & Elizabeth.W.Dunn

4.     24/6 the power of unplugging one day per week. Tiffany Shlain

5.     When the science of perfect timing. 2018. Daniel H Pink. pp65

6.     Road safety distractions www.rse.org.au

Further reading

·         Read:  8 reasons why you should unplug one day a week. www.forbes.com

• Listen: Why our screens make us less happy? www.ted.com

• Watch: Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg www.wired.com

** Disclaimer – Fresh start effect & 30 Day challenge by Duncan Young. All content and media on the Build Your Ideal Day Website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

Challenge 18 - Boost Immunity

“Sleep is perhaps the greatest legal performance-enhancing 'drug' that few people are taking advantage of”

– Matthew Walker

We all know that recovery during sleep is fundamental to wellness and performance. So why is it that rest is declining globally at the same time we need more of it, especially given its immune system benefits? 

World Health Organisation and National sleep Foundation’s guidance of 8 hours per night is not universally adopted. Countries like Finland, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, and Belgium all rank highly for sleep but not all developed economies rest well; South Korea and Japan are the world’s worst countries for getting a good night’s sleep. The issue has caught World Health Organisation's attention and has declared a sleep-loss epidemic through industrialised nations.

Researchers suggest that sleeping routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night impacts your physical and mental health, with sleep a likely lifestyle factor associated with cancer, coronary artery disease, diabetes & mental ill-health, but given the current circumstances, the most crucial element related to sleep loss is the impact on the immunity system. A 2002 experiment compared the immune response of two groups to the flu vaccine. The control group was allowed seven and a half to eight and a half hours sleep while sleep-restricted group allowed only four hours for the 6-day experiment. Even with this temporary restriction for just one week, the sleep-restricted group produces less than 50% of the immune reaction to the flu shot. Even after twelve months they never developed a full reaction to the vaccine. Similar consequences hepatitis A and B vaccines, could this also hold for COVID-19 vaccinations?

Not all sleep problems can be solved just by simply getting more sleep, as 10-20% of the population have sleep diseases requiring medical interventions. However, many others can benefit from investing in sleep hygiene and applying the tips for getting a good night sleep which includes: 

· Maintaining a sleep schedule – our body likes regularity

· Regular daily exercise – ideal in the mornings to optimize cardiovascular health.

· Exposure to daylight to reset our circadian rhythm

· Limiting caffeine after midday – caffeine has a half-life of 6 hours.

· Limiting alcohol intake before bed – alcohol is a sedative but doesn’t mimic a natural sleep cycle

· Understanding the power of napping to be employed if main sleep is not sufficient

· Create sleep environment that promotes sleep – think quiet, cold & dark!

My personal favourite for adequate recovery is my regular sleep schedule. Maintaining an early to bed philosophy (by 9.30 PM) allows me get up for a swim at 6.00 AM swim each day. 

So what might you try to improve your sleep and learning today? tell us here

Reference

1.     Dr. Thomas Roth, of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit

2.     Dramatic deficits in their ability to learn new information www.ncbi.nih.gov.

3.     https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/which-countries-get-the-most-sleep-and-how-much-do-we-really-need/

4.     Effect of sleep deprivation on response to immunization. K.Spiegel. 2002

Further reading

• Read: why are we so sleep deprived and why does it matter theconversation.com

• Watch: Sleep is your superpower. Matthew Walker. TED

** Disclaimer – Part of the Fresh Start Effect / Build Your Ideal Day Program by Duncan Young. All content and media on the Build Your Ideal Day Website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

Challenge 19 - You Feel What You Eat

Everyone knows the adage ‘you are what you eat‘ but did you know that diet quality impacts more than you’re your physical health?  Diet along with physical exercise and smoking are known as modifiable lifestyle factors and have a significant impact on your long-term wellbeing including, cardiovascular disease1 and other chronic physical health conditions, but also has an major influence on your mental wellbeing?2

The quality of the food we eat is linked with risk factors for the common mental disorders, such as, depression and anxiety with studies highlighting regions that follow traditional diets (vs western diets) have lower rates of mental illness. So, this means that dietary intervention hold promise as a novel intervention for reducing mental illness symptoms across the population.3

As with all successful change it is only works if you can maintain the change over the longer term, in other words a good diet is a sustainable diet. Below are some ideas to create a healthy diet rich in fruit, vegetables, fish and lean meats.

• Try and follow a dietary pattern based on wholefoods and enjoy a variety of plant food: fruits, vegetables, legumes, wholegrain cereals, nuts, and seeds

• Plan your meals – Plan five meals and take a written shopping list to the shops (avoid confectionary isle)

·         Shape your environment – stock pantry and fridge with healthy whole foods you like to eat

·         Prepare for hunger in advance – prep healthy snacks for when you are likely to be hungry (hummus & carrots or chia pudding fruit are great source of fibre and keep hunger at bay)

·         Increase fruit intake. Add fruit to existing meals (muesli, smoothies, sliced apples with yogurt)

·         Pro & pre-biotic foods. Add food with healthy bacteria (yogurt, kimchi, fermented food) plus food for your gut microbiota (oats, wholegrains, raw nuts and seeds)

·         Break bread together. Buddy up with a friend to either cook in bulk or share recipes.

·         Save money. Average western diet cost $134/week versus the modified Mediterranean diet $112/week

Everyone has different dietary and nutritional needs so make sure you see a registered dietitian before changing your diet.

So, has anyone else found ways to enhance the quality of their diet?

Reference

1.     Mediterranean Diet and Cardiovascular Health: Teachings of the PREDIMED Study. 2014 E.Ros.

2.     The Effects of Dietary Improvement on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety. 2019. J.Firth

3.     Traditional diets nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food

Further reading

• Read: Nutritional psychiatry: can you eat yourself happier? www.theguardian.com

• Watch: Diet as a Prevention Strategy in Mental Health PsychScene Hub

• Listen: Can food make you happier? Build Your Ideal Day podcast series

** Disclaimer – Part of the Fresh Start Effect / Build Your Ideal Day Program by Duncan Young. All content and media on the Build Your Ideal Day Website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

Challenge 20 - Planning Your Holidays

My main purpose for a vacation is to change pace and environment to refresh perspectives and energies. Getting things done. David Allen.

Today’s challenge is to plan a vacation.

Our lifespans are elongating, and so too our working careers, with recent predictions that 80,000-hour careers will not be uncommon. Our work is becoming more like a marathon with breaks and refueling needed for high performance over the long term.

Taking a vacations is good for your physical and mental health can boost productivity, allowing us to recharge and psychologically detach from work. However, the pandemic has prevented many of us from taking our usual breaks, and annual leave balances have increased more than 30 percent over last year. So maybe in 2022, we should revisit the upside of vacations (or time away from work), and here are some reasons why:

• Boost wellbeing. Even the simple act of planning a trip and its anticipation can positively impact people's well-being.

• Increase happiness by making the vacation into an experience. Experiential purchases, money spent on doing, tend to provide more enduring happiness than material purchases, money spent on having.

• Increase sleep quality. Air New Zealand study showed three times increase in regenerative sleep after a 10-day vacation.

• Live longer. Not taking any vacations increased the risk of dying early by 21% and reduced heart disease.

• Improve productivity. Detachment from work buffers us from stress, makes us more engaged at work. Burnout is associated with not being able to detach from work.

• Enhance creativity. A change of pace and exposure to new and different experiences can boost creativity.

Many of us delay holidays due to being busy or having an important deadline, but a new study shows that you have fun holidays no matter what, and we enjoy them just as much whether they come before or after hard work. 

I have always felt refreshed after time out on long-distance walking trails. However, supported by new research, hiking in nature disconnected from all devices for four days led to a 50 percent spike in creativity. I've known this intuitively and yet have not been walking recently, so maybe it's time to lace up the boots and enjoy a dose of creativity and inspiration.

So what might you do on your next break? Tell us here

Reference

1.     David Alllen. Author of getting things done

2.     Annual leave balances built up during the pandemic, 2021/12/17

3.     A study of the impact of the expectation of a holiday on an individual's sense of well-being. 2002. D.Gilbert & J.Abdullah

4.     Take a vacation, for your health's sake. 2008. New York Times

5.     Waiting for Merlot: Anticipatory Consumption of Experiential and Material Purchases.2014. Kumar, Killingsworth & Gilovich

6.     Sabine Sonnentag, Professor of organizational psychology at the University of Mannheim in Germany,

7.     Dr Mark Rosekind. Chief scientist at alertness solutions

Further reading

·         Read:  Lockdown leave why you should still take a holiday even if you cant go anywhere

·         www.theguardian.com

• Listen: Why we need to take more breaks than ever. hbr.org/podcast/2021

• Watch: Why we all need to become vacation superheros https://www.ted.com

** Disclaimer – Fresh start effect & 30 Day challenge by Duncan Young. All content and media on the Build Your Ideal Day Website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.