Welcome to Personal Optimization!
KEY POINTS:
1. Before you can learn to focus in other areas of your life, you need to learn how to focus on a daily basis - that’s Personal Optimization.
2. Social media and internet use can lead to the same destructive neural pathways as drug addictions.
3. Constantly checking notifications can also activate the body’s fight-or-flight stress response system, making it more difficult to focus and to perform to your potential.
4. Over the next while we’ll discuss the keys to optimizing your morning, and then get into how to optimize your days and evenings.
“The point is to think about ‘What is the unique mojo that I bring, and how can I amplify that?’ Amplify your strengths rather than fix your weaknesses.”
Welcome to Personal Optimization!
Do you feel stressed to be away from your phone, or feel a need to check it all the time? Are you waiting for the notification to pop-up on your phone? You aren’t the only one. It is not unusual to feel anxious and stressed when away from your phone.
Social media has been designed to provide immediate pleasure and reduce negative feelings; it has the same effects as alcohol or eating your favourite food. In fact, social media targets the same part of your brain as addiction.
The addiction pathway in the brain includes the “feel better” pathway that reinforces the experience you are having, the “must do” pathway that makes your behaviour compulsive, and the “stop now” pathway that allows you to use self-control and stop. People with addiction have an imbalance between the driving paths and self-control. Structural and functional brain and behaviour abnormalities suggests that this addiction pathway is the same for problematic internet usage, gambling, and drugs. At first you will experience a desire to use your phone because it produces feelings of happiness and entertainment. These feelings reinforce the behaviour so it becomes compulsive and you feel the need to be on your phone all the time. Eventually you lose self-control and can’t stop checking your phone. Essentially - we’re addicted to that immediate dopamine burst. We get immediate pleasure from a notification or a like on social, but the longterm consequences are harmful.
If you think that you’re immune to this distraction and addiction epidemic, think again. The effects of our mobile devices are so powerful that just putting them away isn’t enough to stop their detrimental effects. Research has shown that even when employees avoided the temptation to check their phones and focused on a task, just having their device on their desk was enough to significantly decrease their cognitive capacity. Having their device in their pocket or bag led to slight improvements, and having it in another room had the greatest improvement in cognitive capacity.
There are other reasons to be cautious with screen time beyond the risk of addiction. Checking our phones, emails, the news, or social media can activate the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight system). Although this system is important, we don’t want it to be “on” all the time, or else we end up constantly in a state of fight-or-flight, which can have serious negative health consequences including burnout, stress, anxiety, and lack of creativity. Screen time can also negatively impact brain function and is associated with poorer language development, memory, and attention span.
You may feel discouraged about the negative effects of screen time; however, it doesn’t mean you need to throw away your phone to feel better. The internet has many benefits too! The internet has allowed us to maintain social connections and bonds. Technology has also provided a platform that is cost-effective for mental health services and provides interventions and skills to help people manage their mental health. However, we need to learn to use technology with intention, not compulsion. Instead of aimlessly scrolling, use technology to stay connected or to boost your physical or mental health.
Therefore, in this module, we’re going to focus on personal optimization. Before you can learn to focus in other areas of your life, you need to make sure you’re focused in your day to day life. This starts with the beginning of the day. We’ll dive deep into how you can optimize your mornings. Once that’s done, we’ll show you how to optimize your day to ensure that you’re optimizing your productivity. Finally, we’ll work on optimizing your evenings as well, to help you recharge for the next day.
The information and advice provided in this program is intended to assist you with improving your performance, as well as your general health. It is not intended and should not be used in place of advice from your own physician or for treatment or diagnosis of any specific health issue. By participating in this program you acknowledge that undertaking any new health, diet and/or exercise regime involves certain inherent risks, that you assume such risks, and that you release Wells Performance Inc. from any responsibility or claim relating to such participation.