As a parent or educator, do you ever feel that you are training for the marathon of life? Are you low on energy? Do you have trouble focusing? Time and time again, my team members and I are asked how we can work with so little sleep, why we don’t get sick, and how we are able to keep up with students on the basketball court. People that we work with are often surprised to hear that many of our team members are into our 50’s and 60’s. True – we have times when we are exhausted and days when a student may grate on our nerves – but, there are some steps that we have implemented that have helped us to perform at a high level.

1. Connection: The most important practice that we have is that we stay connected and we do it through uplifting one another. It could be that we share an accomplishment one of our students has achieved, send out a funny video to the group chat, or we post an uplifting song. We avoid complaining, blaming, or being negative – as this typically leaves all involved feeling fatigued. If we are in a situation where we do need to vent, we know that a teammate is going to offer a solution, or we ask our teammate to help us reframe the situation as an opportunity. This sometimes requires some creative thinking, but it helps us to remain in a problem solving mode, which reduces feelings of being overwhelmed. Those that find this difficult either increase this skill over time or end up finding that our team isn’t the right one for them, and they depart. We also connect in areas that support our health and wellness, by sharing fitness classes that we attended and enjoyed, meditating daily together on zoom, or sharing photos of meals that we have created.

2. Know your skill area: This is a big one for us and it really relies on understanding and utilizing our teammates strengths. We often delegate to each other so that we can have the highest output. This means that there are some team members that work in more physical roles, some that use their crafting skills, and some that are computer savvy. By knowing and understanding our individual skill sets, it helps us to delegate to each other whenever possible to ensure that we are each working within the areas that we are most skilled. Implementing this strengths-based approach is beneficial for each individual and for the team overall, as it helps to boost productivity, engagement and well-being (Rath & Conchie, 2009).

3. Sleep: Our team members periodically check in with each other to discuss sleep quality and to exchange tips on how to sleep better. Hacks that we have discussed and implemented among our team include magnesium, light blocking blinds, and lip taping. We also spend a lot of time on research in this area to help improve our sleep quality, as “sleep impacts many aspects of performance, including the ability to adequately respond to rapidly changing work demands and stress-inducing environments and interactions” (Pilcher & Morris, 2020).

4. Encourage each other to set boundaries and say NO: Because we have a unique skill our services are quite sought after, this can lead to requests to provide ‘more’. We are viewed as experts in our field, but oftentimes we receive very little support, and on occasion we may be led into unsafe situations. Because of this, it is critical that we encourage our team members to say no when asked to accomplish Superhuman feats. For those of us that experience guilt or shame, it is easy to want to say yes – and then feel over-scheduled, or to simply just feel bad for saying no. Both of these instances are energy suckers, and it is important to maintain healthy boundaries, find ways to let go of these negative feelings, and to stay focused on the top priorities as helping professionals.

5. Water: We often don’t drink enough of it, but working in environments where there are typically water bottle filling stations can make this easier! We often turn this into a game (as we do with most things) so that we are encouraged to consume more water.

6. Vitamins, Nutrients, and Supplements: This is often an overlooked area and many do not realize how much it can impact you daily. Our team members regularly look at ways to increase our Vitamin B, C, D and Omega 3’s as we are commonly dealing with crisis situations and these vitamins can help reduce stress. Nutrients that can assist with increasing these vitamins and nutrients include magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. These supplements not only help to increase our immune system but also help our energy levels daily. We also limit caffeine, gluten, sugar, and dairy. So sad – but many of us feel low on energy after the consumption of these things.

7. Movement: Since our roles are typically physical we tend to get a lot of movement, but we try to make this more fun by being involved in groups for physical activity, and by playing games with our students that help to encourage movement. It’s part of the lifestyle and important as it keeps us able to do functional movements.

8. Meditation/Prayer: There is a common denominator among our team members with those that seem to have an increased immune system, and those who rarely get sick! We have found that the members of our team who are healthier overall are those that are involved with meditation or prayer. We have also tracked recovery from illness/injury and these times are on average shorter for those who regularly engage in these practices. Neuroscience research further confirms what we’ve observed firsthand, that meditation and spiritual or religious practices can enhance brain function, support physical healing, and strengthen the immune system (Fenwick, 2003).

9. Intermittent fasting: This helps us to remain sharp, especially due to most of our highly cognitive work being required in the morning. In fact, research has shown that intermittent fasting may have positive effects on long-term brain health by promoting neuroplasticity, reducing inflammation, and enhancing cellular resilience in the brain (de Cabo & Mattson, 2019). It also reduces the need for us to use the restroom as much, which can interrupt those we are supporting.

10. Continuing Education: One of the greatest hacks for many of us is continuing education. As an organization we spend a significant amount of resources on this activity. Those of us in leadership roles spend on average 5-10 hours a week on continuing education. This not only provides us with techniques to improve our craft, but it also helps motivate us to continue to progress.

So what does a typical day look like for a Core Methods team member? We are awake by 4:00 am, where we meditate and/or exercise together through an app. We drink a lot of water, and we eat to perform. Whenever we eat something we first consider the question “How will this help my body perform?”. This encourages us to make healthy food choices that nourish and support our bodies best functioning. At times, after our morning meditation meeting, some of us may go back to sleep if we sense that is what our bodies need. Several days a week we also connect by sharing something uplifting or to ask a team member for help with a task.

We then work with our students or the staff members we are training and share our successes as well as obstacles for feedback that may be needed. When we have moments in which we are feeling stuck, we connect with our teammates to help brainstorm additional ideas and/or strategies that can be implemented. Assessing what we are working on and how that journey has gone has been instrumental as it has given us opportunities to connect with each other about our vulnerabilities, all with the goal of becoming a better version of ourselves.

References

de Cabo, R., & Mattson, M. P. (2019). Effects of intermittent fasting on health, aging, and disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 381(26), 2541–2551. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1905136

Fenwick, P. (2003). The Neuroscience of Spirituality. Retrieved from: https://cmapspublic.ihmc.us/rid=1091770156916_1833255600_1899/Neurospiritualit%C3%A4t.pdf

Pilcher, J. J., & Morris, D. M. (2020). Sleep and organizational behavior: Implications for workplace productivity and safety. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 45. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00045

Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2009). Strengths based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. Gallup Press.