Know more about the BEST pillars of a productive and mindful life!
| From the desk of Miles Everson: Happy Friday! I’m excited for today’s "Mindfulness by Miles." In these articles, I talk about health, career advancement, AI, business, and the future of work. My goal is to provide you with insights that can help you elevate both your personal and professional life with mindfulness and greater clarity. Today, we will talk about burnout and stress, and how you can mitigate them to build a productive and successful career. Curious? Keep reading below! |
Back-to-back meetings… A to-do list that grows with each passing minute… An email inbox that piles up minutes after you empty it… It’s hard to keep a clear head these days, and it’s even more challenging to keep track of everything going on in your work and life… Today’s workweeks can stretch beyond 40 hours when the necessity arises. Quick check-ins can turn into meetings that run for an hour or two and relatively simple tasks can turn into complex ones that can take hours. Sharp thinking and sound judgment are what carry you through your day, and both can suffer when a demanding schedule takes its toll. The good news? You don’t have to let stress get the better of you!
In fact, there is a framework that can help you remain productive and minimize burnout. The BEST framework is built around four simple, yet HIGHLY effective principles:
Allow us to walk you through what each pillar means… Starting at the top is breathing —an action that probably doesn’t need teaching. You see, an intentional focus on breathing can bring mental clarity. Besides, focusing on your breathing enables you to relax your mind, freeing up space for more creative thinking. So, the next time your schedule gets crowded or your attention is pulled in multiple directions, take a pause. Sit. Close your eyes… and then breathe. Next is eating. Skipping meals or eating unhealthy food has become commonplace for professionals working in fast-moving occupations. Taking a real break from work to eat a healthy meal gives you the opportunity to replenish your energy and gives you the clarity to come up with better ideas. Said another way, eating a healthy meal isn’t time away from work, it’s the fuel for it. The third principle is one of the most important: Sleep. During sleep, your brain and body are able to focus on recovery, helping you feel relaxed, refreshed, and calm by the time you wake up. Sleeping properly gives you the mental clarity to piece together the fragments of information you’ve gathered into meaningful and informed analysis. Think of the pieces of information you gather daily: emails, news reports, meetings, cutting-edge research, and more. Proper sleep is what helps you connect all of those together, as well as stay calm and composed—qualities that are necessary regardless of which industry you’re working in. So, just how many hours of sleep should you aim for? Adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night. That brings us to the last of the four principles: Training. Put simply, training refers to exercise or physical activity. Exercising supports executive function—parts of the brain responsible for reasoning, problem solving, and planning. It also helps in reducing stress and anxiety, and improves your mood and sleep. Here’s the thing: What if you don’t have the time for an intense workout session? Well, brisk walking might be a good alternative, since it’s also a form of exercise that’s moderate in terms of intensity. According to Dr. Scott McGinnis of Harvard Medical School, folks should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercises per week. Similar to waking up after a good sleep, you might find you’re much better positioned to come up with answers to problems you’re trying to solve after finishing a workout. Now, why should you integrate the BEST framework into your life? Regardless of industry, the quality of your work depends heavily on your mental sharpness and creativity. Sadly, these are also the qualities that suffer most when you’re mentally depleted. That’s why if you want to have a productive and successful career and personal life, you need to take care of yourself… and the principles we shared today can help you do exactly that. So, if you haven’t yet: Breathe. Eat. Sleep. Train. Your best thinking is waiting on the other side. Have a happy and active weekend, everyone! For a daily version of this newsletter, please subscribe here |
Miles Everson
CEO of MBO Partners and former Global Advisory and Consulting CEO at PwC, Everson has worked with many of the world's largest and most prominent organizations, specializing in executive management. He helps companies balance growth, reduce risk, maximize return, and excel in strategic business priorities.
He is a sought-after public speaker and contributor and has been a case study for success from Harvard Business School.
Everson is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants. He graduated from St. Cloud State University with a B.S. in Accounting.
