Tag Archives: productivity

Try Fasting Occasionally for Your Brain

tantanmen

Tantanmen, Japanese noodles

Today, I woke up at noon. Yesterday, I went out on a date with my husband. As rewards for completing my One Thing for Me a Day project for a week, I had Tantan noodles for lunch at a Japanese ramen restaurant and a cheese enchilada, a shrimp taco, corn, and tortilla chips for dinner at a Tex-Mex restaurant. After I started this personal project, I began to think about what food or snacks are worth the carbs and sugar that switch my body to fat storage mode. So, I carefully choose what will most satisfy my taste buds on my weekly reward days. My lunch and dinner made me happy.

A heavy load of carbs and sugar makes organs work harder to digest, which seems to explain why I felt more tired and overslept. However, the sleep recharged my energy. I didn’t feel hungry so I decided to try a 36-hour fast. It has been 24 hours since I ate. Drinking water is important to brain function during fasting. Dehydration affects attention and cognitive function, damaging productivity. So, I have been drinking happy tea, a black tea infused with St. John’s Wort, an herb known for lifting mood.

Despite late rising and the fasting, I was pretty productive. Only a few hours after I awoke, I managed a client’s social media page, finished translating another client’s video script, and finished reading a book. My attention level was high. In his book the Complete Guide to Fasting, Dr. Jason Fung suggests that intermittent fasting helps us lose weight, slow down aging, prevent cancer, and increase brain function.

The process of fat-burning makes sense when we think about the brain’s priority: protecting our survival. Think about our ancestors who hunted and gathered to survive. Unlike today, food wasn’t always available. But, they still needed muscle to move their bodies and clear heads to search for food and escape from dangerous predators. Our body has evolved to store fat to use it when food is scarce.

Dr. Fung explains that the body burns fat, not muscle, until body fat goes down to under 4%. By burning fat, the body also creates ketones, which feed the brain. Ketones can meet up to 75% of the brain’s energy need, and the rest is met by gluconeogenesis, the creation of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources in the liver. During fasting, brain connectivity is increased and new brain cells are generated. Heightened brain function was critical to increase the chances of survival in the hunting and gathering days.

Dr. Fung says that an easy 12-hour fasting also helps to prevent weight gain. A 12-hour fast can be achieved by not snacking after dinner. However, to lose weight, a fasting period needs to be extended. Although I haven’t been eating for an entire day, I don’t feel too hungry. I rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes during the fasting. My energy level is just fine. But I have a slight headache. According to Dr. Fung, headaches are common during the first few times of fasting. Headaches are due to a lack of salt in the body, so drinking water with some salt may help. Drinking coffee or herbal tea with some fat (e.g., butter, coconut oil) during fasting is okay.

It’s my first time trying a 36-hour fast. I realized it wasn’t as difficult as I thought. I may try this again occasionally. Hopefully, my brain will be sharper tomorrow.

Please like my page and find your own inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/onethingformeaday/

 

Standard

Choose and Develop One Habit to Reach your Goal!

Today, I felt a bit antsy about getting a result. I have been riding the stationary bike and walking regularly for a month. I felt like I deserved a hot body already. In his famous TED talk speech, “Inside the mind of a master procrastinator” Tim Urban talks about the Instant Gratification Monkey and the Rational-Decision maker in the brain. The monkey often prevails over the rational guy. When we are not getting quick results, we tend to quickly get discouraged. This is the primary reason why many people fail to stick to their New Year’s Resolutions.

I want to focus on my actions, rather than the results, because I can only control my actions. However, sometimes, I can’t help but think about results. How can I re-orient my mind? I found a clue from Gary Keller’s book, “The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth behind Extraordinary Results.” He emphasizes choosing ONE most important thing and doing ONE thing to move toward that goal.

one thing

My Reward Day!

To reorient our minds from the trap of instant gratification, we need to focus on the ONE thing we want the most. What is the ONE thing that is the most important to me right now? I want to grow as a writer. My focus should also be on my progress as a writer. I have been writing every day in Korean and in English. And I have cut my per-post writing time down to under two hours. What pushed me to exercise and eat healthy was to get smarter, not to get a slim body.

Gary Keller suggests that the key to extraordinary results is to choose and develop one habit, based on our priorities. He also emphasizes the importance of time blocking, securing time each day to perform that habit. The ONE thing I should do to grow as a writer is to write regularly. My One Thing for Me a Day project helped me rediscover the joy of writing. I want to write and use my writing to empower myself and other people. I want to be an interpreter and disseminator of wisdom and knowledge to help people live happily by doing what they want to do.

I believe in the power of knowledge. Learning about neuroplasticity empowered me to pursue continuing growth and take on new challenges. I never imagined that I would pursue a dream of publishing a book in English. The first time I wrote in English was in my mid-20s when I studied for the TOEFL and GRE tests. My first English essay was no more than a block of jumbled words. Then, in 2004, I went overseas for the first time in my life to attend graduate school in the United States.

In 2006, I obtained my master’s degree in communication. After graduating, I worked as the editor-in-chief of the English-language magazine of a prominent Korean NGO. Two years later, my book on English writing was published by a major publisher in Korea. I have had an over-10-year career as a global communication consultant. My writing in English has helped many Koreans get accepted into graduate schools and get hired for global jobs. Now, I also do social marketing and market research for global organizations.

Although my confidence in my communication skills has grown over the years, publishing something in my second language of English didn’t enter my mind until I learned about neuroplasticity and Dr. Carol Dweck’s idea of the growth mindset. Knowledge has the power to change our minds, our habits, and eventually our lives.

Please like my page and find your own inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/onethingformeaday/

Standard

Do the 3Es + One Thing for You a Day!

Before I go to sleep each night, my One Thing for Me a Day project nudges me to think about what I will do the next day. So far, I have focused on meditation, exercise, and healthy eating because I want to optimize my brain and body for whatever it is that I want to do. Although I made this project public on January 1, 2019, I actually started it last December. After about a month, the three activities have become a regular part of my day. Now, I am ready to add new things. Today, I thought about what I want the most at this moment. I want to publish something for international audiences outside of my home country of Korea. What will help me achieve that goal?

My One Thing for Me a Day project gets me writing every day. Over the last ten days, I have been able to cut my per-post writing time down to under two hours. I want to bring it down to an hour because I am now getting busier with paid client projects. I usually stop my own writing, as I get busier writing for my clients. It is critical to think about what keeps us from sticking to our New Year’s Resolutions and find a way to fix it. How can I continue to write, while busy with my job? I found a clue in Kevin Kruse’s book, 15 Secrets Successful People Know about Time Management.

As Kruse emphasizes, we all have 1,440 minutes a day and need to use them productively to meet our goals. When we don’t use our time for our goals, we end up using it only for other people’s goals. The ideal situation is of course that we work for clients whose goals suit ours. I actually love what I do professionally: promoting tourism to the United States through social marketing and conducting market research for global companies. I want to do more of it! At the same time, I want to write what I personally want to write and use my writing to connect people across cultures.

An idea in Kruse’s book that appealed to me the most is to set a theme for each day of the week. I set Saturday as a writing day for a specific topic: intercultural relationships. I have been blogging about intercultural relationships for Korean audiences for over 11 years, since January of 2008. I also built the first and largest online community for Korean women who are in romantic intercultural relationships all over the world.

As the most prominent opinion leader on this topic, I have been interviewed numerous times by reporters, writers, university students, and government entities. I meet women on the street who come up to me and say things like “You saved my relationship and many other Korean women’s relationships!” I have been told many times from these women that they wish they could show what I have written to their foreign husbands or boyfriends. So, I will finally do it!

I will continue to write about One Thing for Me a Day on other days. This personal project has helped me tremendously to set priorities and make the most of my time. I have become much more attentive to how I spend my 1,440 minutes of each day. For maximum productivity, do the 3Es every day: Exercise, Eat Right, and Educate Yourself. Plus, Do One Thing for You a Day!

Please like my page and find your own inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/onethingformeaday/

Standard

Focus on the Basic to Live Healthy and Happy!

Since I started One Thing for Me a Day, I have become more attentive to changes in my physical and emotional state. The morning routine of meditation, a high protein breakfast, and 30-minute exercise has boosted my mood, energy, and productivity. Last Sunday, I started the day at 6 a.m., a few hours earlier than my usual wake-up time, because I needed to be at a drama shooting location. My husband and I are lovers and partners who support each other in pursuing our interests. He is an actor and commercial model and I am his manager and interpreter. Due to the unusual wake-up time, I felt groggy. To change how I felt, I meditated for 20 minutes.

At the drama location, we both performed with high energy levels. Once the job was over, I felt a lack of energy and motivation to carry out my One Thing for Me a Day. Well, I still meditated and walked for 10 minutes. So, I ordered a pizza as a reward. The pizza didn’t help change my mood. I was frustrated at myself. My husband comforted me and we watched Project Runway together and went to sleep. Today, I feel refreshed and motivated again!

Dr. Josh Davis, the author of Two Awesome Hours, emphasizes the importance to productivity of sleep, exercise, and food. Neuroscience research reveals that we have limited mental energy, and every activity spends this energy. The brain is reasonably stingy with energy and resists any change because change demands more energy. Habits on the other hand operate on autopilot mode, spending less energy. For the strategic use of our energy, we need to prioritize the most important activities, such as activities that we want to turn into new habits.

Here is the gist of the productivity tips I learned from Josh Davis’s book, Two Awesome Hours:

  1. Sleep 7~9 hours. If tired, nap for 10 minutes.
  2. Drink a medium-sized coffee to enhance your concentration. A proper amount of caffeine improves mood and attention whereas too much caffeine causes anxiety and nervousness. Note that caffeine takes 30 minutes to kick in. Add fat (e.g., cream) to extend the effect of caffeine.
  3. Do a 10~40-minute cardio exercise two hours before your most important work. By stabilizing blood sugar, exercise optimizes brain function.
  4. Prioritize the most important work.
  5. Eat more protein and fat and less carbs (e.g., potatoes, white bread, whole wheat bread, white rice, instant oat porridge). Carbs are effective in quickly boosting mood and attention. However, the effect lasts for only about 15 minutes. Protein and fat increase attention and memory for a much longer time.

kittyGetting enough sleep is critical to our mental and physical health. Sleep recharges our energy. A lack of sleep makes us start the day on low energy. The time of sleep also seems to matter. When I get up before 8 a.m., regardless of how many hours I slept, I still feel out of it. Our biological clock is difficult to change.

Further, a lack of proper sleep triggers a vicious cycle of unhealthy habits. When we are tired, we turn to high-carb food and sweets. The brain wants a quick energy boost. The body digests carbs and sugar quicker than protein and fat. Carbs raise blood sugar, which in turn raises serotonin and dopamine levels, quickly lifting mood and energy. However, this effect is brief. To manage blood sugar levels, the pancreas produces insulin. Blood sugar drops rapidly. Then, we feel tired and crave more food. After I changed my breakfast to a high protein meal, I stay full until dinner and experience no drowsiness after eating.

Please like my page and find your own inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/pg/onethingformeaday/

Standard