REWARD
Is your brain up to the challenge of payroll? Part one
Lindsey Byrne, the Cognitive Health Coach, provides some of her top pointers on how to get your brain in tip-top condition and improve your productivity
P ayroll is a stressful, deadline driven, complex job with a heavy burden of responsibility; not all your non-payroll colleagues will appreciate that! In this role, it’s so important to keep your brain in tip-top condition; you’re constantly tasked with learning, interpreting, remembering and applying complex changes and regulations, with little acknowledgement when you get it right, but significant down- sides if anything goes wrong. Have you ever experienced:
l fuzzy thinking after a poor night’s sleep? l brain fog after an infection (or post- Covid)? l feeling constantly distracted by notifications? l brain fog during peri-menopause? Then you’ll understand how delicate the balance of brain health is. Luckily, our bodies and brains are resilient and will bounce back after most short-term set-backs. But what happens if we’re not looking after ourselves longer term? What if we’re experiencing low
level, constant stress, disrupting our normal hormone balance? What if we react to that stress with less than healthy ‘rewards’, like an after-work glass of wine or two, too often? What if that starts to affect our sleep? Before you know it, what we might think of as little habits are building up and affecting our brain health longer term. The good news is that it’s never too late to start looking after your brain health. First though, let’s assess how you’re doing right now (see table). The good news is that there’s plenty we can do to improve our brain health and live long, healthy, productive lives. Tackle your lowest scores from the analysis to the left, one at a time. Take your time, and prioritise new, small habits that will help you the most or that you feel will be easiest. As time passes and you start feeling a little better, that should give you the motivation to keep going. Remember, this isn’t a race; it’s for life, so you have time to make tiny changes and let each one bed in before tackling the next. If it helps, find a colleague to work with to give each other some accountability. Next issue, we’ll look at how to train your brain to encode complex information to your long-term memory and make it really easy to recall. If you change just two things between now and next month’s article: l eliminate ultra-processed foods l prioritise sleep: go to bed at a regular time, make it really dark, read before bed (at least no TV or screens) and get out into the daylight as soon as you can after waking. n Lindsey Byrne is the Cognitive Health Coach . She helps people improve their brain health, memory and prevent dementia, even where there’s a history in the family. Find out more at: https:// ow.ly/91lB50PR9fF.
Rate your health scores from one – ten, where one is poor and ten is excellent. How would you rate your sleep time and quality? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Are you getting the right nutrients? Quality protein and a rainbow of six non-starchy colour veggies every day? (White / beige, yellow, orange, red, blue / black /purple, green).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How pure is your food? What proportion is organic vs ultra- processed?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How would you rate your oral health? Gums, breath, fillings, breathing through your nose (good) or mouth (bad). Do you wake up with a dry mouth (bad)? Are you moving enough? Strength training / flexibility / cardiovascular fitness. Do you challenge your brain with learning new things every day? Learning different media (numbers, words, spatial awareness, rhythm, languages, music, technical topics). Are you taking time to relax? Meditation / mindfulness / naps / fun and recreation. Are you aware of hormonal changes in your body? How much are they affecting you?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How are your friend and family relationships?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How toxic is your environment? Think about the air you breathe, what you put on your skin, what you use to clean your home. Do you have a clear sense of meaning and purpose in life?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
45
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 94 | October 2023
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker