Staying Healthy – Tips for Managers

Managing takes up a physical and an emotional toll.

How to stay healthy?

“The first wealth is health”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

All the hard work that you put in will be of no use if the process costs your health. So it’s important to stay healthy.

The first tip to stay healthy is to exercise regularly.

From longevity to happiness, exercise can be the key. It is useful for both physical and mental health. Experiment with what type of movement & exercise works better for you. It could be weight training, dancing, running, or yoga. Make sure that you give some space for exercise in your calendar.

The second tip is to provide your body with adequate nutrition.

Nutrition is not just about dieting or losing weight. Your body needs to be given everything that it requires to perform optimally. One must be aware of which food gives energy & which food makes the person feel heavy.

If you find that the diet patterns are not serving you, consult a nutritionist who could guide you to better eating habits.

The third tip is to sleep properly.

We may make excuses to ourselves and put off investing in sleep. But sleep deprivation will adversely affect health and happiness. So do not deprive yourselves of sleeping properly.

To get good sleep, you require a calm mind. Listening to music or podcasts is effective. Also, reduce the screen time in your bedroom.

The development of good habits is the key to health. Getting into habits of regular exercise, meditation, and therapy will give you daily incremental improvements that over time will result in complete transformations.

Just like physical health, it is important for managers to take care of mental health.

All days may not be easy for a manager. There could be some days where you need to face difficult situations and it would be tough as well.
But holding on to those circumstances will not serve any good and it would adversely affect mental health.

What should be done to have a healthy mind?

Let’s discuss.

1. Meditation

Evidence shows that meditation is good for a healthy mind. It helps a person to calm his/her mind and improve focus. Studies reveal that meditation can lower anxiety,reduce blood pressure and improve the outlook on life.

To mediate you don’t require any kind of equipment.

Then, what are the requirements?

It’s simple. A quiet space and a few minutes each day. Start with ten minutes at the same time each day and you will find improvements in your mood and stress levels within two weeks.

Meditation is of various forms. You need to explore them to find the right one that works for you. You can take help for this purpose.

As humans we may forget to meditate on some days due to our busy schedule.

What’s the solution?

Put meditation as an event in your calendar to remind you to meditate. Also make it public to the organization to lead by example.

2. Therapy

Is therapy only for the unhappy people?

No, this is not the case. A good therapist will hold a mirror up to you and will help you to attain emotional maturity.

You need to consider the therapist as a personal trainer for your emotions rather than a doctor for your sickness. When you are able to understand yourselves, your emotions, your mental habits, it would help you to become a better communicator, a better teammate and a better human being.

Leadership and Therapy

A person who takes up a leadership role should be emotionally strong and stable.

Why is it so?

It’s because they are responsible for the wellbeing and growth of a lot of people.

Time for a change

There is a misconception that therapy is only for the ill/ depressed people and this needs to be corrected.

Therapy is a tool for self discovery,finding out why you feel what you feel, what is behind your behaviors and behind your actions. A therapist will prompt you to face fears which you were afraid to do earlier.

Finding time for therapy

We all have the same number of hours in a day. Some people say that they do not have enough time to avoid therapy. But that’s just an excuse. You need to prioritize and organize your time to stay healthy -physically and emotionally.

Like how the mediation is, therapy is also time well spent. You will save time when you are less stressed, emotionally stable and understand yourself deeply. This would help you to work with better efficiency.

Wrap up

As a manager, the growth of the business is connected with you. It is you who determine the direction of your team’s work and the quality of services.
So taking care of your health should not be secondary. It needs to be given much importance and attention.

You need not have to pressurize on reading these words. This is only a reminder to stop looking around for a moment and look at yourself.