As we crossed the old bridge over the River Irwell, that umbilical cord of the Industrial Revolution, the dogs strained on their leashes as two cyclists approached from the other side.

I looked up at my old school, St Gabriel’s RC High School, Bury and a wave of nostalgia welled up. My wife and I remembered the teachers, what would they be doing now? It was over 36 years since I had left, would they all still be with us? Times of course have changed, the school grounds are all fenced off now, there were safety railings on the steps.

The Order

My first thought when I saw the sign was, yes Strength, Service and Success are admirable values to have, but what do they mean really? Why were these values named? This train of thought continued as we walked. Then it struck me. The values Strength, Service and Success are in a particular order for a reason, the first being strength and lastly success.
Everything must start with your strength. Service is how we employ our strength and success is the end product.

Strength

What do we mean when we talk about strength? The first thing that comes to mind is physical strength.

Physical strength.

Athletes, and sports people who are in competition with other athletes, for example, will work on their strength as well as their as their technical ability. If they are stronger, than their competitors, they will have an advantage. If two athletes have the same technical ability, the stronger will win.
We can obviously increase our physical strength with exercise, in which we will stress our muscles. The recovery from this stress will involve an increase in muscle mass, as the body adapts to be able to cope with increased workload.
The converse will be true as well. A lack of physical exercise doesn’t mean that your strength will remain static. Your strength will be reduced by prolonged inactivity. I have run marathon races in the past, but I know that I would need about four months to re-train for another marathon, as my endurance will have decreased since the last one.

Mental strength

We are not all athletes, though. How would physical strength help with the academic? Wouldn’t they need mental strength, meaning the ability to concentrate on a given concept for extended periods of time? Natural intelligence will obviously help the academic, although this would be for nought if they were unable to concentrate for the period of time required to finish the work.
Just like a physical muscle, the ability to concentrate can be exercised.

Emotional Strength

Emotional strength is now recognised as a prerequisite for business strength, often called emotional intelligence.
Sales is one of the primary skills in business. Even if you are not in a sales position, you will benefit from selling your ideas to colleagues. Inspiring your team is also a form of selling. The effective salesperson has emotional strength, as they can control their emotions. Are people born with high emotional strength? No obviously not. Show me a toddler with high emotional intelligence.

Mood

Emotional strength will express itself as someone’s mood. A person could be having a difficult day and feeling down however they can still check their mood. Its great advice to get in the right frame of mind before undertaking something important. The expression ‘leaving your troubles at the door’ holds good.
One way that sales is great for developing your emotional strength is by exposing you to rejection. The more successful the salesperson, the more rejection they have faced. It’s a simple numbers game. If two salespeople have the same conversion rate, let’s say 10%, but salesperson A makes 50 calls whilst salesperson B makes 100, then A will make 5 sales to B’s 10. However, salesperson B will have twice the number of rejections (90) than A.
Over a career, salesperson B will develop their emotional strength deeper.

Read my post describing my sales prospecting process, where I show you how you can overcome a fear of rejection.

Financial Strength

Money doesn’t buy you happiness, however it can help solve problems. If something breaks down in your home, like a boiler, having an emergency fund ready can turn a disaster into just an annoyance. Having insurance policies in place gives us piece of mind and saving up in a pension gives us the knowledge that one day we will not need to work to support ourselves. We will be able to mature with dignity.
Having a pot of capital can often help a new business to scale quickly to the point where it is self-sufficient. I have saved up capital for down payments on investment properties. These in turn have given me financial independence. I am not reliant on the state to support me.
So financial strength is something to strive for, it is a good thing to do.

Altruism

Having money gives you the chance to be altruistic. Are there any causes that are close to your heart that you could donate to? Having financial strength means you can do this without harming your own finances. What is it the flight attendant says before every flight? ‘Put your own mask on first before helping others.’

Spiritual Strength

The final strength is spiritual strength. My old school moto is The Lord Gives Me Strength. In our postmodern era, when many religions are on the wane, there is a void where once there was God. We are hardwired to have this belief in something bigger than the self. If we are not careful it can be filled, without our choosing. We can fall for scams, cults and gurus. We worship at the feet of celebrities and sports-heroes, not realising that there are normal people just like us, with all the same flaws.
Before I stopped digesting the news altogether, I became struck be the religious zeal that followers of political parties would display. Anyone from the ‘other side’ or someone who questioned ‘The Science’ is a heretic.
So, what is the answer? I’m not suggesting we revert back to organised Religion, although that may be preferable. What I am saying is we should believe in something bigger than ourselves, but we should choose it consciously and carefully. This will give us the spiritual strength to protect us for the frauds and fake gurus. If we have a North Star to guide us it will give us the strength to speak up when we see something blatantly wrong.

Exercising each is the key

In all the examples of the different types of strength, the one common denominator is that you can increase the strength by exercising. Physical exercise is obvious, but we can also increase our mental strength through practising concentration. We can make this easier by removing things that decrease our mental strength, such as scrolling on phones and trying to multitask.

Emotional strength can be increased by exposing ourselves to things that could dampen our mood. Cold call sales are a fantastic way to do this, as we expose ourselves to rejection. If you aren’t in sales, you can practise this by speaking up in meetings and putting your ideas forward.

If a position becomes available which is more senior, put yourself forward. Be unattached to the outcome, as you may be rejected. Count the rejections as a badge of honour. You are one more ‘no’ closer to a ‘yes.’

Saving money gives you financial strength. Its a great feeling to know that you have capital built up to weather any financial emergency. Eventually your capital will grow with compounding until you no longer need to work again.
What about spiritual strength? Find something you believe in that is bigger than you. It could be getting involved in a community, a charity or your wider family. Spiritual strength will anchor you. Without it, you are at the mercy of the currents of life, of scams and fake news.

Service

So, strength gives you a platform from which to serve. Let’s have a look at how you can serve.

Employer

I was told many years ago to always do more than you are paid for. Serve your employer, go the extra mile. Do it out of habit and do not expect extra reward. It’s a law of the universe that rewards will come eventually, through promotions pay rises or being head hunted. This law of the universe can’t fail to work. Take pride in your work, treat it as your craft. You are a craftsman, creating a masterpiece.

Colleagues

Help your colleagues and be a team player. As you do, you will be seen as the go-to person. You will be indispensable to your organisation. Don’t hog information. If you know something valuable, share it. As you pass your knowledge to your peers, you increase your own expertise and your capacity to learn more grows.

Customers

Businesses in the private sector must service their customers or risk going bankrupt. All things being equal if the price and quality of the product is the same then the business who provides the best service will win and retain more customers.
In my earlier sales career, most of my time was spent on Account Management, for good reason. It was a competitive industry (Specialist Hygiene Systems to the Food Industry). In the time I had available for new business development, when I visited prospective new customers, the biggest complaint I heard was that the incumbent supplier gave poor service. Poor service can mean a lot of things, from late deliveries, to just not being listened to. If you are in business, it is your job to listen to the customer and serve them.

Audience

In the entertainment and sports industry, people pay good money to attend performances. They want value for money. Some of the best concerts I’ve been to are when the band give absolutely everything. Even though they are playing dozens of concerts around the world, this show feels like the only one they will ever do. Because of that these bands have the most loyal followers. They are serving their audience well.
I would contrast this to a forgettable gig I once went to where the band were sullen and there was no chemistry between the band members. It was at the end of a long tour and was supposed to be the homecoming concert. Their hearts weren’t in it, there was obviously something amiss. The band split up shortly after the end of the tour. As a post-script they have just announced they are reforming after 14 years and will be performing a new tour. I won’t be going.

Success

We’ve explored how strength gives you the ability to serve and we’ve touched on how success comes from serving. Let’s explore success a bit deeper.

The myth of the overnight success

When we look at successful people especially those in the limelight, such as films stars, they often seem to gain overnight success. They suddenly burst on the scene and gain critical acclaim. The next thing you see them everywhere. It’s as if they have won the metaphorical success lottery. But this is a myth.
What we are seeing is the result of years and often decades of working and honing their craft. In the lean years they take what work they can. This includes smaller roles to keep a roof over their head (service), but also to practise, practise, practise. They will have had hundreds and thousands of rejections and failed auditions but they keep on going. (Mental Strength).
What we also don’t see are the thousands of individuals who gave up on their dreams of success.

The law of compounding

The law of compounding is a very real law in finance, I’m sure you’ve heard of. Compounding also works in the development of skills. Over years and years of adding small improvements, reviewing your progress and iterating, you will see very little visual progress at first. If you keep stacking these improvements, however, eventually there will come a point when there seems to be a massive leap in competence.
As an example, let’s say there is a certain actor with an arbitrary skill level of 1, on their very first day out of acting school. They decide to improve their skills just 1% per week. Obviously this is hypothetical. What number would their skill level be after one year? The answer would be nearly 1.7. If you improved something by 1% per week you would be 1.7 times better in a year. Good but not enough to make a dent.

What about 2 years of 1% growth per week? The answer? You would be 2.8 times better. After 3 years you would be nearly five times better. Impressive, but again, you may feel it isn’t great progress. You may be tempted to quit as you feel you aren’t getting anywhere. What about after 10,20 and 40 years? Making small 1% improvements per week?

• 10 years = 177 times better.
• 20 years = 31,205 times better.
• 40 years = a staggering 973,772,415 times better.

That’s the law of compounding ladies and gentlemen. My guess is that our hypothetical actor who hones his craft would ‘burst onto the scene’ somewhere between 10 and 20 years of consistent practise and small weekly improvements.

Promotions

So, we make consistent and small incremental improvements, or to put it another way we increase our strength and improve our service offering, and suddenly we burst on the scene. Or so it seems from the outside. What about in the world of business? If we diligently apply ourselves to the tasks and always go further than we are required, we improve as a person, but what about success?
This is where grasping opportunities plays a role. So, an opening comes up in your company for a promotion. It’s obvious that you will have more chance of landing this elevated role compared to your colleague who has gone through the motions and is at the same skill level as the day they started. What if no opportunities arise in your company? Then the marketplace and other employers will take note of your performance. You will eventually be head-hunted into an improved position.

Winning the trophy

I am reminded that Olympic Athletics must be a tough business to be in. You dedicate your life to your sport, improving everyday and yet you still may not be successful in terms of winning the gold medal. Your chance of gold occurs every four years and you are competing with the best in the world. There can only be one winner.

I’m sure your situation isn’t like that. Success may not be winning the trophy or the Oscar. For me success means achieving small incremental goals and improving every day.

Luck

In success, luck plays a part. You might be at the right time and place and the opportunity floats on up to you, but you grasp it and you never look back. For me though luck is something you can influence. What does the saying go? Luck occurs when opportunity meets practice. Or the golfer Gary Player said it better ‘the more I practice the luckier I get’.
Practise your craft, so you increase your strength, to give better service and watch out for lady luck along the way.

The virtuous circle

Success to me isn’t an event, it’s a process. Let’s say you achieve what you set out to achieve, for example your business has reached a certain level of profits. Then that would give you more financial power. Success therefore gives you strength and so it starts again. It’s a virtuous cycle.

The post Strength Service Success appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

The way the Main Stream Media present the news is depressing and social media is often divisive.

When I came off using my phone, after checking the news and social media, I suddenly realised I felt internally angry. I looked round the room I was in and there was nothing in my immediate surroundings to make me so angry. No one else was there. Its madness that a small device could make me so angry.

‘This is not me’, I thought to myself, allowing something external to influence my emotions. Surely one should be master of their own emotions, no matter what the provocation.

Possible solutions

This can’t go on and so as I see it, there are only three possible solutions.

1. Will power to stay positive.

The first solution is to continue using my phone in the same uncontrolled way but use sheer willpower to control my emotions. No matter what the algorithms send me, I will stay on an even keel.

2. Only find positive.

The second solution, I can think of, is to continue using the phone but only find things of a positive and uplifting nature. This could be tricky as the applications on the phone are addictive by design and algorithms on social media, for instance, reward those posts which garner more engagement. More often these are of a divisive and controversial nature. The danger might be that I get drawn in to negative content.

3. Break up with my phone.

My third option is to break up with my phone completely. This might mean completely resetting and re-evaluating how I use my phone. This option seems to be the hardest at first, but counterintuitively may turn out to be the easiest overall. So, the option I have chosen is to break up with my phone.

Addictive devices

Manufacturers design smart phones to be addictive. This is bad enough as we shouldn’t become addicted to a device. After all, I am not addicted to my toaster. It serves the useful purpose of toasting bread and then I leave it alone. The problem with smart phones is that every aspect of them is designed to be seductive. From their shape and colour down to the design of each icon, the phone entices us to pick it up.

Much more destructive though are the apps. The app designers have, through iteration, produced many ways to seduce you to use them and then get you hooked. Social media companies offer their products for free. Think about why that is. Is it maybe that we the consumer are the product? Through paid advertising the Social Media companies earn their money through selling your attention to advertisers. These advertisers are selling either directly or indirectly through affiliate marketing, either products or their influence, to get you to think in a certain way. I have no problem with marketing, after all, I work in Sales and Marketing. However, I now realise that I am being manipulated to engage with these apps and devices to my detriment.

May be its time I stopped consuming.

Time management

Many phones have a feature in the settings called Screen Time, where you can check the amount of time you are using the phone and even which app you are using the most. The last time I checked I was shocked and embarrassed to see I had been staring at my phone for an average of 2.5 hours per day. The worst day was over 5 hours. This is frightening and I am ashamed. The only slight mitigation to this is that I only use the phone for work during working hours and I don’t have the phone in the bedroom at night.
Think about that. 2.5 hours a day scrolling mindlessly. Not just the damage this is causing neurologically (more on this later), but the opportunity cost of this.
And here are two serious opportunity costs:

Financial

If the average (Median) salary in the UK is £35k which equates to £16.83 per hour, this means at 2.5 hours per day, you are wasting £42.07 per day. That is like wasting £11k per year. Yikes. Oh, and this doesn’t include the money you spend on things you don’t want or need because of the adverts you saw..

Learning

How about how much you could have learned in that time. If a standard non-fiction book has a word count of 100,000 words and you can read 250 words per minute, it would take you about six and a half four hours of reading to finish. Therefore, with your 2.5 hours per day you could read over two books per week.

What about say learning a new language or a skill like learning a musical instrument. A common myth is that you can master any new skill by practising for 10,000 hours or just under 11 years if we use our spare 2.5 hours a day. Ok, you might not want to become an expert at your new skill. However, the point is that if you use those 2.5 hours per day practising some new skill, you could become proficient new and useful.

Change in brain neurology.

Have you ever picked up your phone and forgotten why you picked it up. You know you picked it up for some reason, but a notification distracted you and now you can’t remember. Its scary isn’t it. Research has shown that indeed overuse of smart phones can have a negative effect on your mental health. And that’s not all, our attention spans are lessening. Some people are unable to concentrate on a task for very long before they feel the urge to do something more stimulating. This means that we are unable to perform the deep concentrated work to finish a project or achieve a goal.

Did you know that the executives of tech companies will limit or ban the use of smartphones and screens for their children? Why would that be? Because they know the neurological damage they can cause.

Still need it for work

The big drawback to all this breaking up with your phone is that I still need a phone, to make and receive phone calls. What about when you are out and about and someone needs to get hold of you in an emergency? That’s why I’m going to get a dumbphone.

Robin Sharma talks about the 2-phone protocol, where you have two phones. One stripped down phone which just makes and receives calls and has text messaging. The other phone would be just for those apps you really need. For instance, my Manchester United season ticket. I need the phone for scanning into the stadium. Another example would be boarding passes for flights and train tickets. I also regularly use maps and the camera. Oh, and I’ve just realised I enjoy listening to music and podcasts in the car, connected by Bluetooth to my phone.

So, I’m going to have the dumbphone for everyday use and keep the smartphone for only when I specifically need it. I will also remove all the apps apparent from the essential. I may miss those times when I can just jump on Google to get an answer to some question immediately, but how about going back to a time when you had to wait for the answer. It may just promote patience, which is sadly lacking in today’s world.

Long deep thinking

Smart phones are anathema to long deep thinking and deep work. this is the kind of thinking and work where you get into a state where you are totally engrossed in the task. In deep thinking you can examine an issue from all angles to produce the solution.
All meaningful endeavours, for instance, writing a book require periods of deep concentrated work. Yes, you can do meaningful work on just 30 minutes of deep concentrated work per day, however during those 30 minutes you should concentrate your focus.

If you are interested in starting to write, I can recommend my post on the 7 Reasons Why Writing is Good for You, where I describe the benefits of this great pastime.

Smart phones, with their distractions and attention smashing apps, prevent you from getting into the mindset required to undergo a period of deep concentrated thought. People who have spent more time scrolling on their phones are more likely to be distracted and their mind more apt to wander.

Therefore, another reason why I am breaking up with my phone is to promote the mindset conducive to deep thought and work

Embrace boredom.

I hate being bored, everyone does. When I was a child, wet Sundays were particularly boring. There was nothing on TV, there were only three channels and they went off in the afternoon. However, when I look back during those times, I always found a way of alleviating the boredom. It wouldn’t take long for me to think ‘I’ve got an idea.’
We don’t here that saying much these days – ‘I’ve got an idea.’ Think about that for a while. Does that mean we aren’t getting ideas anymore? Is this because we hate boredom? We feel we should fill any free-thinking time with distraction.

Waiting in a queue – check your emails. Long journeys sitting on a plane or train must be filled by watching films on your tablet or scrolling on your phone. How about just staring out of the window? Whatever happened to just staring out of the window? I love getting the window seat on a flight and I can easily spend 4-5 hours just staring at the earth below, even if it is just ocean or clouds. That’s when I get my best ideas.

Break up with your phone. Embrace boredom. I think the world will be a better place for it.

.

Inspiration from Catherine Price – How to break up with your phone.

The post Why I’ve decided to break up with my phone. appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

1. Writing to Improve Communication skills

The ability to express my thoughts and complex information has been important in my career in sales. Whether it be sales proposals or technical reports, it was essential that I could convey accurately and succinctly information that other people could understand and hopefully act upon.

English Language was my best subject at school, so I have always found it easy to find the right words to express what I was thinking. However, like any skill it needs practising and honing. I therefore started a daily writing habit many years ago, so that I could maintain and improve this skill.

I started this blog, so that my writing could be seen by others and hopefully benefit from the information. This evolved over the years, so that I have self-published longer form content into several books.

2. Therapy Writing

I feel better after writing, it is a form of therapy. Often if I am anxious or even just filled with a sense of ennui, writing seems to unblock something in my mind and it can lift me out of the fog.

I’m not sure of the process of why this happens. My hypothesis would be that thoughts can become circular, as we try to make sense of the world. We are going round in circles in our mind. Maybe writing provides an escape route for these trapped thoughts. Just like the discomfort of trapped wind, maybe we just need a good belch. It goes without saying that I wouldn’t publish this type of writing and I may not even read it back.

3. Work Through Problems

In a similar way to therapeutic writing, I will often write to work through some problem or issue. Here, though, I am looking for a certain insight. I will approach this with stream-of-consciousness writing.

First, I think about the problem and then just write. I will then keep writing, exploring all the angles of the issue. Certain passages will lead to other trains of thought, so I will explore these. If I go dry, I will force myself to write some more. I can take a break if I must, but I will then return to the writing, until there is no more to write. I will then get a feeling inside that I have put all my thoughts down and I am ready to analyse them.

The next step is to then re-read what I have written. Often most of it is gibberish, however I will highlight or underline anything that seems relevant or seems like an insight. It’s amazing that usually some course of action will reveal itself.

4. Organise Your Thoughts

The mind does not operate in a linear fashion. If we let our mind wander, our thoughts will seem to flit from one unrelated subject to another. The subject matter doesn’t appear to be linked logically, but there will be some connection, however tenuous. In a similar way to the two examples above, writing out our thoughts, to get them out of our heads can be a step towards organising them.

Mind mapping

To organise your thoughts, rather than using stream-of-consciousness writing, it can be useful to use mind mapping. Developed by Tony Buzan, Mind Mapping is a way of putting your thoughts, on a particular subject, down on paper. If you start off by writing one word or phrase in the centre of a piece of paper to represent the central theme of the subject, you then draw lines out to represent all the related thoughts, in a spider formation. See below:

Repeat with the sub-themes, by radiating sub-sub thoughts. Keep radiating out until you exhaust the subject. The important thing is to use one word for each theme. This vagueness helps the mind come up with related thoughts. What you are left with can look like a jumble of nonsense, however the pictural nature of the Mind Map allows you to see connections.

I use mind mapping to plan outlines for blog posts and nonfiction books. Once I have an outline, my creative juices are able to fill in the gaps.

5. Creative Expression

Talking of creative juices, I believe that everyone is creative, but just like anything else creativity can be developed with practice. Having a creative outlet whether it is writing, art, music or whatever, can make you a more rounded human.

Don’t be a consumer all the time

Over consumption is epidemic. There is so much to consume today from TV, Podcasts, social media and mindless scrolling. If we are not careful, we will become a species of zombies, constantly plugged into the matrix. Instead of consuming, why not produce content or art.
Writing for me, is my creative outlet. I hope I am perfecting my art, maybe you can let me know. However, even if nobody reads a word I write, I am exercising a core faculty of my human being – my creativity.

6. Find Your Voice Through Writing

Most writing is someone’s opinion. Opinions are neither right nor wrong, they are just that – opinions. I write so that I can broadcast my opinion. Are my opinions not as valid as anybody else’s? Somebody may disagree with my opinions, but that is fine. That is why they are opinions.

In a similar way, your opinion should also be heard, or at least expressed. Why not start your own outlet where you can voice your opinions. You deserve to be heard.
I truly believe in freedom of expression and I believe much of the current cancel-culture is extremely dangerous. Stamping down on freedom of expression, throughout history, never ended well.

7. The Business of Writing

Could you make writing your business? Its feasible although difficult. The best way to look at it is that you may make some extra cash. I myself have made a small amount of money with my writing, although no way near enough to live off. Yet.

If you write non fiction ‘how to’ type books and blogs, you could build up a following, or tribe in the modern parlance. If you truly provide value, some people may be willing to pay you for coaching or consultation work. You will need to have marketing skills as well as writing skills, though.
The first thing to think about is whether you are writing to entertain or inform. Or you could do both as in infotainment.

If you want to make writing your business, be prepared to commit to the very long term. It can take years to build up a following and even then, the remuneration is meagre.

Where can you write?

What platform can you write on?

Daily journal

If you are just starting out writing, I would suggest starting the habit with a daily journal. This can be just for yourself. If you hit on a great idea, then maybe you can start to expand on it.

Weekly blog

Once you get into the habit of writing every day, then you could expand into writing a weekly blog. If you can write about 200 words a day, then you could in theory publish a weekly blog of around 1,000 words. You would write for 5 days and have one day for editing, publishing and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Writing 200 words a day is not hard at all. This section is around 200 words and took about 15 minutes, so that gives you an idea.

If you would like to know more on how I write, read my post on How to Write a Weekly Blog Post. In this post I show you how to structure your time so that you consistently manage to create and publish regular content.

Self-Published Books

As you develop your style and your knowledge of the subject matter grows, why not write a book? It may take you a few months to write, format and publish, but the process is as easy as ever with Amazon KDP. I’ve written several books, please check them out.

I’ve given you the reasons why I write. If any of this resonates with you, then start today. Find your voice and get writing.

The post 7 Reasons Why Writing is Good For You appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

There is only one question you need to ask to achieve any goal, provided you have already clarified what the goal is and why you want it. That one question is: What is the next action?
You don’t need to know all the ins and outs of how to arrive at your goal. You don’t need to know even what the second step will be. All you need to know is the very next step. So, if you are stuck, just ask yourself, what is the next action I need to take?

Why the one question is so powerful

When you ask yourself this question, you focus your attention on a very small area. This automatically frees up you mind to work on a much simpler problem. What do I do next?
Now the answer may be a small next action step, or it may be a larger series of steps. You can then focus down further by asking, out of this series of steps, what is the very next action? Once you have this answer, then go ahead and complete this task, without any thought of the next action step after that.

The reason it works is that it kills procrastination. Often procrastination is caused by overwhelm, resulting from trying to focus on all of the possible steps in a goal. Focussing on just the next step, helps you narrow down your focus.

Usually during the process of completing this next action step, the subsequent action step becomes clearer. If not, once you have completed the next action step, then just ask yourself again what’s the next action?

I have written more about taking action in my post Take action – how this helps the Law of Attraction, in which I describe how taking any small action can have dramatic effects.

Then repeat the question.

Once you are specific on your outcome and motivations, then all you need is to know what the next step is.
So just like any traveller who knows his destination, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and the path will reveal itself to you.

The post One question you need to ask to achieve any goal. appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

1. The Monkey and the Computer

The author simplifies the human mind, to help us picture how it works, how habits form and what drives us. There is the human – us, our thinking mind. There is also the monkey and the computer, which both act unconsciously. The monkey will make us act if it perceives danger or opportunity (delicious food). The monkey mind will keep us safe but is rooted in our evolutionary past; it is usually inappropriate.

If our monkey mind is reactionary, then our computer mind is like a pre-programmed script. Our task then is to use the computer to help us form good habits. If we use our human mind to decide what needs doing and put work in to form a good habit, the computer will eventually take over. This good habit will then be done automatically.

Stop and think of every decision you make today, is it the human, monkey or computer who was in charge?

2. Changing large unhealthy habits

If you want to change a large unhealthy habit such as drinking alcohol, we can use re-framing to help us make the good decisions when we need to. For instance, the author says he doesn’t drink alcohol now, he used the reframe method to tell himself that ‘Alcohol is just another drug that he doesn’t take.’ In his mind alcohol is just like any other drug that he would never take, rather than a social norm. I’ve written a post on what I call Chemical Habits, which goes into how things like removing alcohol use is different from removing other habits.

3. Swap negative routines for positive ones.

Rather than trying to eliminate an negative routine, it is easier to change it to something more positive. For instance, do you listen to talk radio stations in the car? Why not change this to listening to business podcasts instead?

4. Focus on not losing first.

When we are starting out on any new venture, we will be inspired to act big. In fact, a lot of modern-day gurus will say things like ‘go all in’. Sometimes this is poor advice, for instance if you are starting a new business, it would be unwise to quit your job and ‘go all in’ until you have a proven concept and regular income. Yes, the positive thinking crowd would say, ‘be positive and trust yourself’, but it would be advisable to start small on the side, i.e., focus on not losing first.

5. Do a time audit.

This is a great exercise that I’ve done many times in the past and is recommended by a lot of authors. As usual, with anything useful, it is worth repeating. Here, Lamerton shows us how to track what we do, during a normal week, at 15 minute intervals. You can set an alarm to remind you every quarter of an hour to write down what you are doing. At the end of the week, add up and list in descending order what type of activities your were doing . Did each activity move you towards or away from your goals? You can then give yourself a score of what percentage of your activities are helping you achieve your goals. With this knowledge you can aim to improve your score.

6. The cure for shelf-help

After each non-fiction book, don’t start another one until you’ve written a report on it and implemented at least one idea. This report could even be a blog post and is a recommendation, I’ve just started, hence this post. I sometimes feel that I can rattle through hundreds of non-fiction and self-help books, but I sometimes wonder if I would get more benefit from slowing down and allowing myself to put into practice what I learn.

7. Compounding actions.

We all are aware of the positive effects of compounding on your wealth. This is where you can build a big net worth by starting to save early in your life and being consistent. Your money will increase slowly at first, but over time will start to increase exponentially. The same can happen with good habits. Adding small, good habits consistently will, at first, show little reward, but over time will provide massive improvements. Therefore, what can you do in each area of your life to start this compounding?

8. One page marketing sheet.

Here the author shares how he has been able to build up his online marketing business. Get an A4 piece of paper and list what daily/weekly actions you can do consistently, that will compound over time. For instance, sending a weekly ‘make friends’ email to your mailing list won’t achieve much, but over the months and years, if you are consistent, your recipients will come to expect and enjoy your emails, if they provide value. When it comes to the time they are in the market for your product, guess who will be front of mind? The person who provided consistent value and is liked and trusted, will be more likely to win the business.

9. How to change a negative habit no.2.

Get a normal wall calendar and some sticky dots, you can buy at a stationery shop. Every day you refrain from the bad habit, place a sticky dot on that day’s box. Consecutive days, where you were successful, will form a chain of dots on your calendar. You have another visual incentive to keep the chain going. Don’t break the chain. Also give yourself a reward for achieving a milestone, such as 7, 20, 100, 1,000 days etc.

10. Create more friction for bad habits and remove visual triggers.

This is another simple thing you can do to help you remove bad habits. Let’s say you have a weakness for snacking on biscuits and your goal is to not eat them. Every time you go to the kitchen, however, there is the biscuit barrel. Its too tempting for your monkey mind, which is more powerful than your human mind. The human mind says ‘no’ but the monkey mind says ‘sugar-sweet-survival-eat’. It’s a visual trigger for a chain of micro events that result in weight gain. There is also little on no friction involved, if repeated day in day out.

What if you removed the visual trigger by throwing away your biscuit barrel and all the biscuits with it? You subsequently enter the kitchen and there is no visual trigger. Even if you were desperate for a biscuit, you would have to visit the shop to buy some. Too much friction and the result – no biscuits eaten.

11. The Magic Ingredients for personal development.

a) Goals

Have goals and know where you are heading.

b) Why

Know your why and have a compelling reason to achieve the goal.

c) Knowledge

Do you know how to achieve the goal? If not then find out.

d) Environment

Create an environment conducive to achieving your goal. For example, you want to lose weight, then remove all junk food from the house and have your exercise kit ready and easy to use.

e) Action

Take some action every day, however small to move towards your goals. Consistency is key.

12. Goals

Once a year, sit down when it is quiet and set your goals for the following year. Most people do this at new Year, but it could be at any time of the year. I like doing this in the week between Christmas and New Year as it is naturally a time when not a lot else happens. To help you, use the following guide:

a. What do I want to:

• Start doing
• Stop doing
• Keep doing
• Do more of
• Do less of
• Try new

b. Next, get pictures of your goals and make a vision board.

Put this up somewhere prominent. You can also scan this and use as screen saver on your pc or phone. The aim here is for you to be looking at this unconsciously as much as possible. Our mind will subliminally take in the information.

c. Draft up a could-do list of things that are not a priority, but you would like to have.

I use the GTD someday-maybe list for this. As you move on through the year, if you think of more things to add, then go ahead and add them to this list. Consult this list to see what you could do next.

d. 90 Plan.

Consult your could-do list and pick 3 big goals for next 90 days. Set a reminder to repeat your 90-day review.

e. Monthly plan.

Now choose 3 smaller projects that can be done in the next month. These could be from your Could-Do list or they could be steps to the Big 3 on your 90 plan. You will therefore have 9 projects in 3 months. Set a reminder to repeat this the following month.

f. Weekly plan.

Once a week choose your One Thing. Pick just one action or small project you can complete this week that will move you towards completion of one of your monthly projects. Set a reminder to do this once per week. I love to do this on Friday afternoon, so I can enjoy the weekend knowing that I’ve set my intention for the following week. Lamerton recommends printing out a weekly calendar and marking off the time when you will focus on this One Thing. Read my post on the weekly and daily targets, where I show you how to make sure you are moving towards your goals every day.

g. Rocks, Pebbles, Sand and Water.

At the end of each day plan your calendar, first with work on your One Thing. This is non-negotiable. Then what else must you do – appointments, family etc. These are the Rocks your put in your metaphorical jar first, or commitments. Then once you’ve added your One Thing and Commitments, if you have any spare time, add other stuff from your Could-Do list. In the Jar Analogy these would be the pebbles. The gaps in the calendar you can fill with sand and water, for example, checking emails, returning calls etc.

13. Marketing.

I really like how the author simplifies his models. In marketing, building an email list is one of the most important things you can do. The author gives us 3 simple steps to follow:

1. Build a list.

In your marketing, your first job is to build your list. Create content around your offering that adds value for free. Give something away in exchange for their email address.

2. Make friends with the list.

Once you’ve started gaining followers, its tempting to start selling to them. However, refrain from this. Your next task is to make friends with your list so they know, like and trust you. You do this by sending, for example, a weekly email which again offers some information the recipient values, for free. Make it engaging by adding stories and your personality. An example could be to share what bad practices you see in your industry.

3. Sell to your list.

Only after you’ve made friends with your list can you sell to them and not before.

Conclusion

The key message in this book is to try to get as much of your activity done by the Computer Brain as possible, by forming good habits. The book describes how you can do this across many areas of your life from Health and Fitness to Business. You are also looking for constant improvement, by making small incremental changes. You will then become a Routine Machine. Read my article about the importance of forming good habits, after you’ve removed bad habits.

The post Routine Machine by John Lamerton – my 13 Takeaways appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

My story of Getting Things Done

My reading of non-fiction started fairly late in my life, at about age 27, when I took some good advice from an old boss and got myself a library card. I started to read all the self-development books, which fired my enthusiasm and motivation to improve myself. This was mirrored by my progress in my career and I found myself in my first sales job. It was actually a hybrid business development and account management.

My to-do list grew and grew as tasks were given to me by 30-odd demanding companies, who were my clients. Coupled to this was the need to bring in new sales. Then there was all the stuff I needed to do at home with my growing family. Oh, and of course there was all the self-imposed commitments I threw at myself, whilst I read at least one How-To book per week. I was approaching burn-out.

The Turning Point

I distinctly remember one Sunday afternoon and I was surrounded by documents and a mountain of unfinished paperwork that needed finishing the week after. My wife and young daughter were playing outside. I looked out of the window at them and then looked at the paperwork strewn across the floor. Sensibly, I decided to pack it in for the day and joined them outside. I had decided to prioritise family, but I still needed a system to get organised.

On my next visit to the library, in the business section, I saw the book – Getting Things Done by David Allen. The title immediately appealed to me. Over the next three weeks (which was how long I could borrow the book for) I devoured the book and implemented as much as possible. I saw immediate improvements in my stress levels. Some habits stuck but I slipped back into frazzled mode. I knew that GTD was the answer and that I needed this book to refer to over and over. I decided to buy it. Back then, Amazon didn’t offer the next day service they do now, but I knew I wanted this book, that very day. So, I stopped what I was doing and went to the nearest bookstore that had the book in stock.

I still have a copy of the book today, some 20 years later, albeit the newer version. I will now layout the key learnings and principles for you. However, I seriously suggest that you get yourself a copy as soon as you can.

Setting up

The first section of the book describes the key concepts behind the system, but then you arrive at the gold. Be patient when you read it.

Time & space.

Firstly, you will need to set up some time to set up the foundations. The author recommends two days. You are recommended to sacrifice a weekend, to start with, if you cannot find the time during the normal working week. Once you have cleared this block of time, set up your space. This could be your office or an area of your home dedicated to the work.

Tools

The tools you will need have changed over the couple of decades since I first read this book. Filing paper has been replaced by digital files on your hard drive or in the cloud. The principles remain the same. You will need some filing system, plain paper and pens. Post-it-notes can be helpful in the mind dump, more later.

You will also need a calendar (again online or paper) and some form of system which will be your lists. I’ve oscillated back and forth from a digital system to paper. Truthfully it doesn’t matter. What matters is how you use it. The system of lists includes:

• Next action list
• Calendar
• Waiting for list
• Someday/maybe list
• Project list
• Project support material
• Reference material

Most importantly, you will need to set up your in-trays. You will have a physical in-tray, email, message and voicemail. You are advised to have the minimum number of in-trays that you can get away with. For instance, if you have 5 email accounts, try sync these into one inbox. I use Microsoft Outlook for this.

5 Steps of Workflow Mastery

There are 5 key steps in your workflow mastery, which you will follow in order. You will also repeat this to varying degrees daily, weekly and whenever required.

1. Capturing

Capturing is the first step. Here you capture everything that has your attention, whether it be physical or mental. First collect everything physical in your environment that is either not where it should be, is broken or needs some further action. Collect all this stuff into one place, in one pile.

Next capture everything that is already on to do lists or post-it notes. For each item the author recommends writing it down on one piece of paper. I use index cards for this. It is important that there should be only one thing written down on each piece of paper. Add this to your pile.

Then, and here is the fun part, you will do a brain dump. Allen calls this the mind-sweep, but I prefer brain dump. This is where you go through everything that has your attention on your mind and again you write it down on one piece of paper. The author gives us a prompt list, which is useful. As you go through the prompt list you will think of more stuff that either needs to, or you want to be done. This all goes on one card each.

2. Clarifying

After capturing everything you will certainly already be feeling better about things. However, this is where the work starts in earnest. Clarifying, means getting In to Empty i.e. processing all your in-trays and inboxes.

You will go through every item and piece of paper, one at a time, and decide on it. Allen provides a useful flow chart for this (see below).

Essentially you ask:

What is this item?
Is it actionable? If no, trash it, put it on a Someday/maybe list or file for reference.
If it is actionable, what is the next action to move it forward? Can it be done in 2 minutes or less? Then do it.
Does it have multiple actions associated with it? If so, add it to a projects list. More on projects later.
Can it be delegated? If so, delegate it and add it to a Waiting For list.
What if it can’t be delegated, then, when does it need doing? If there is a date add it to your calendar. If there is no due date, then add it to you Next Action list.
The key question in all of this is ‘what is the next action?’

3. Organising

After you’ve decided what each item is, it is time to put it in its correct container. I.e. one of the lists we described earlier:

• Next action list
• Calendar
• Waiting for list
• Someday/maybe list
• Project list
• Project support material
• Reference material

For calendar items, Allen recommends that you only put items on your calendar which need to be done that day, or a specific reminder you need that day. This goes against some other authors’ advice who suggest filling your calendar with tasks you want to do, so that you can see what free time you have available for other things.

Allen also recommends breaking down your next action list into contexts, such as At Office, At Home, Email, Errands, On-phone, Anywhere, To Read. This is useful because, say for instance you are waiting for a meeting to start and you have 5 minutes spare, you could scan your on-phone list and maybe send a text or email.

It also is useful in not being one long list of things you aren’t able to do. For instance, you are at home, what’s the point of seeing items that need to be done at the office?

4. Reflection

Reflection is the next stage where you are encouraged to review your lists, occasionally, to see if they are still up to date and relevant. For instance, you can go through your Waiting For list, to see if you need to chase someone up or mark off as complete.
The one cornerstone reflection event will be the weekly review, more later.

5. Engaging

Engaging is where you do the work. You would decide what to do based on the following criteria:
Context – are you in the right place to do this task?
Time – how much do you have to do the task?
Energy – do you have enough energy to do the task at this time, or should you wait until you have more?
Priority – if you are in the right place, have enough time and energy, you would obviously then work on the most important task first.

Projects

One of the things I like about the Getting Things Done methodology is how it describes projects as any multi action task. Often many items on our to-do list cause procrastination because they are really multi-stepped. You are therefore better off putting the item on a project list, but figuring out what the next single action is.

For example, let’s say an item on your to do list is – Fix Tyre on Car. Really this is a project and it’s no wonder you don’t get round to doing it. Therefore, put it on your project list. Then put down on your action list – ‘Google local garage phone number’. This is much more likely to be done and therefore will move the project forward. Once you have the phone number, your next action is ‘Call garage and make an appointment’.

You don’t need to plan your projects out to the nth degree. All you need is the project to be listed and what the next action is. Once that action is completed, you will then formulate the next action. Getting Things Done also goes through a natural planning model for projects. This is a simple way to break down some larger projects into manageable tasks. It goes as follows:

• Purpose – Define why the project needs to be done.
• Vision – Describe what the finished project will look like.
• Brainstorm – what actions need to be done?
• Organising – put the actions and events into a logical sequence.
• Next Action – what is the very next thing that needs to be done.

I have more tips on this on my post managing projects which is based on Allen’s system but with my take on it.

The Horizons of Focus

One of the concepts in Getting Things Done which really helped me was the Horizons of Focus model. It is easily explained by using the altitude analogy.

The runway – This horizon is where your next actions reside. Allen likes to call this where the rubber meets the road. This is the only place you get things done, as it is the only place you do things. There is no perspective or organisation here. If you spend all your time here, you will be a busy fool.

10,000 feet – this is where projects reside. Actions are organised into projects.

20,000 feet – Areas of Focus. These are the discreet areas of your life that need their own focus. For example, at work you could use your job description, i.e. what are your areas of responsibility. If you are in sales, each customer could be an area of focus. You might also have areas of focus such as Prospecting, Meeting Prep, Quotations and so on. Do this for each area of your life.

30,000 feet – Goals. What do you want to achieve in the next 1-3 years?

40,000 feet – Vision. What does the whole of your life want to look like?

50,000 feet – Purpose and principles. Why are you here? What’s the purpose of your business. What do you value?

In my post One Notebook to Rule them All, I show you how to decide which horizon of focus to work on first.

The Weekly Review

As I said before, regular reflection is key to making this all work. If we tend to let things drift, we will soon fall out of the good habits and revert to the old ways of working, that got us into the mess in the first place.

The weekly review should be set in stone, which will allow you to keep on top of things. If, as Allen says, we are down in the weeds during the week, the weekly review is the time we rise above it all to see the bigger picture. We move up the horizons of focus, described above.

To do a weekly review should only take an hour or two. I do mine on a Friday afternoon. As you get into the habit of doing it, you will come to look forward to it. Its important to block out some uninterrupted time to perform the Weekly Review. Here are the steps.

A. Get Clear

1. Do a mind sweep.
2. Collect loose papers.
3. Get in to empty.

B. Get Current

1. Review action list – what can be marked off as done or doesn’t need doing?
2. Review previous calendar for the last 2 weeks. This will act as a prompt for things you’ve forgotten to add to your lists.
3. Preview upcoming calendar – for as long as possible but at least two weeks. What’s coming up soon that will need to be actioned.
4. Review Waiting for list. Who do you need to chase up? What has been completed?
5. Review projects – make sure that each project has a next action.
6. Areas of Focus – will this prompt you to look at new projects, that need to be planned out?
7. Review your checklists.

C. Get Creative

1. Review your someday maybe lists – are there any items you want to promote to current projects? Are there any items that are no longer relevant?
2. Be creative and courageous. This is where you sit and think of the higher horizons of focus.
3. Goals and vision, what can you do to move yourself towards your higher purpose?

Relapse? Re-read.

I’ve been reading and re-reading Getting Things Done for almost twenty years and I can honestly say that it is more relevant in today’s digital world, as it was when my systems were mostly paper based. Have I always followed it? No. The big trap is that when you start using it, you become more efficient and effective. This makes you think you have things under control, so you let the good habits slide. Soon enough, though, things will get on top of you. You are once again out of control. so, you are back where you started. You then reach for the book and start again.

The post Getting Things Done by David Allen – Book Report appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

Creating content, has many great benefits for business and for providing a creative outlet. To get the best benefit out of it, it should be done consistently. Daily if possible. When is the best time for creating content, then? I’ve experimented with various times and here is what I’ve found.

In the morning

In the morning, before work, you are more fresh and its quieter.

Apart from distractions, finding a time to write can be the most challenging obstacle. Often this can be overcome by writing early in the morning when it is quiet and there are no distractions. This may mean getting up earlier so that you can find this time before the normal day’s routines take hold.

Although this is the best time for creativity, it can mean major changes in your sleep habits. This is because it might mean you have to go to bed and wake up at least an hour earlier.

In the evening – after work

The next best time, to create content is in the evening after your day’s work. If you can switch off from work, you can concentrate on your content creation, without worrying about if you should be working. The downside is that there will be more distractions and temptations, in the form of family and TV for example.

As long as you are not neglecting your family I would recommend forgoing an hour’s TV or social media for creating something worthwhile. Actually, I would recommend quitting TV and social media anyway, but that’s a different subject.

During breaks at work

Aside from before and after work, the only other time you have is during work. I wouldn’t recommend using time you should be working because you should be concentrating on providing value to your employer. However, you could use your breaks. If you get an hour’s lunch break, why not make this a time you can create some content? Even if you committed just 30 minutes of your break to writing, this could add up. Remember little and often is better than larger chunks done infrequently.

Now that I work for myself, I can write at the best time for me every day. For me it is around mid-morning between 10am and Noon. At this time, I’m at my most creative and alert. I’m fully awake and have yet to hit the post lunch slump.

It doesn’t really matter what the best time for creating is. The best time is the time, when you will actually do it. Remember consistency is the key.

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I practice the GTD system of Getting Things Done by David Allen. The beauty of it, is that you can tailor it to your own needs. One thing that I’ve played around with, is what to do with recurring tasks. Recurring tasks are those items that repeat every day, so how do you record this on a to do list. Here are some ways in which I’ve tried to record recurring tasks.

Repeating calendar entry

If you use an online calendar such as Google Calendar, the simplest method is to use the repeat function on your calendar, with either a time or no time attached. My calendar became cluttered and so this wasn’t practical.

Process flow

During my paper only days, I had a line on my Process Flow sheet, for repeating items. Read my post on the Process Flow system for an explanation. Again this started to become impractical and so I found another system.

Recurring task on to do list app

Eventually I came away from paper only and looked for a digital solution. I was specifically looking for something that could mimic the GTD system. I found the Nirvana application and now I use this as my To-do list. It is primarily designed to work with the Getting Things Done system and is very intuitive to use. I can now use the recurring feature on Nirvana. I would recommend trying it, if you are looking for such an app.

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“The person with dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts” – Albert Einstein.

I’m sure Einstein was talking about those dreams which are our hopes and aspirations, rather than what goes on when we are asleep. I would like to posit that those movies we play when we are unconscious are important. Therefore, you should record your dreams so that you may benefit from them.

Why do we have dreams?

Why do we have dreams in the first place? Are they just an evolutionary quirk from when we first became conscious beings?

Flotsam and jetsam

Materialistic scientists would say that they serve no purpose. Dreams are just the useless items of our daily lives being washed up as we sleep, so that we can clean them out and forget them. Are they the de-fragging of the mind?

To make sense of the world

Other experts suggest that dreams help us make sense of the world and help with our memory building. It’s certainly true that lack of sleep can cause poor memory retention and recall.

Warnings and opportunities

I do believe that it may be true that some dreams serve no purpose or that they are our brain’s nightly decluttering. However, some dreams are there to warn of certain threats or to highlight opportunities.

The problem is that you don’t know which dreams are useful and which aren’t. That’s why I record my dreams so that I can look back to see what patterns there are.

How to record your dreams

How do you record your dreams when you don’t remember them. Dreams are like the will-o’-th’-wisp, they disappear shortly after you wake. Here are some tips to help you record your dreams

Say to yourself “I will remember”

When you are in bed just about to sleep, say to yourself, that you will remember your dreams. You are sending your unconscious mind an instruction and it will obey.

Notebook

Have a notebook next to your bed. If you wake up in the night or first thing in the morning, write down your dreams, before they evaporate.

Dream journal

It’s often a good idea to put these dreams into a dedicated Dream Journal. I used to put my dreams into a normal daily notebook journal, but looking back it was hard to find the entries. A dedicated dream journal will make it easier for you scan your past dreams to look for clues and trends.

Problems & puzzles – ask a question before you sleep.

Your unconscious mind will obey your commands if you give it a specific directive. If you are struggling to solve some conundrum in your life, try asking for an answer in your dreams. I’m sure this is where the phrase to ‘sleep on it’ came from.

Take a nap

Why wait for bedtime? You might be able to make use of napping. Often during a nap you will have dream-like visions or maybe you will hear yourself say phrases. These again can be useful if you have directed yourself beforehand.

Many famous people have used afternoon naps for this purpose. Thomas Edison would lock himself in a dark room to sleep on a problem. He would then wake up refreshed and usually with an answer to whatever was puzzling him.

Try it yourself. Get yourself a blank notebook and pen start recording your dreams. Also read my other post on dreams and how to interpret them.

The post Record your dreams appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

The older I get the more I realise the importance of sleep. When you are younger you can afford to burn the candle at both ends, but eventually there comes a point where you must take sleep seriously.

Lack of sleep

A few nights of reduced sleep and you will soon start to struggle mentally and emotionally. Recent research has also shown that lack of sufficient sleep can also affect your physical health.

I have therefore made it a priority to get the correct amount of sleep. I listen to and read about the modern gurus who say we should rise at 5am to attack the day. We should hustle till we drop. I just smile to myself and think ‘you’ll see.’

Getting enough sleep

So, what is enough sleep. Well, that depends on you. The amount of sleep you need depends on a lot of factors such as your age and how physically active you are. I’ve experimented with the amount of sleep I need and it is just under 8 hours per night.

Are you getting enough sleep? Do you find yourself dropping off when reading a book in the early evening? I remember when I was in field sales and was driving home in the afternoon, I would start to feel drowsy, especially on monotonous motorway journeys. I would have to pull into the services to have a quick nap.

If this is also you, then maybe you aren’t getting enough sleep.

The Effect of Drinks on Sleep

The amount of sleep is important but so too is the quality of sleep. There are many things that can affect the quality of sleep such as what you drink during the day, leading up to sleep.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant which will stay in your system for hours. If you drink tea or coffee in the evening, you will struggle to drop off to sleep. Consider having your last caffeine drink earlier in the day.

Alcohol

Drinking alcohol can often make us fall asleep sooner, but the quality of that sleep will be diminished. Research on brain waves of sleepers has shown that we do not get enough of the deep restorative sleep, whilst alcohol is in the system. Again, experiment by having that last drink earlier or maybe not drinking alcohol at all.

The Effect of Looking at Screens on Sleep

The blue light from screens mimics that blue sky we see in the morning. Consequently, after looking at screens in the evening, our circadian rhythms go out of sync and we become more awake when we are usually getting ready for sleep. Looking at mobile phones, tablets and laptops before bedtime is therefore bad for sleep hygiene. Try to limit their use to at least an hour before bedtime.

If you are struggling with your sleep patterns, one remedy is to try to get outside in natural sunlight first thing in the morning whilst avoiding blue light from screens in the evening. This resets your circadian clock, as we then naturally will feel sleepy in the evening and awake in the morning.

Once you get in the habit of the right amount of quality sleep, every day, you will see wonders in your mental, physical and emotional health.

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