The Digest - 5 July

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In today’s High Performance digest:

  • The color of your logo is a “message” you send to your audience. Chose it carefully.
  • If you want your workouts to reward you with fat loss, increased energy and better health, make sure you refuel well afterwards.
  • I love 3pm meetings, when everyone is suffering from the “afternoon slump”, but except me…
  • Want to accomplish many tasks on separate projects in a single day? Avoid multitasking!

 

  • Countless marketing and psychological studies have been conducted over the past few decades on the power of “color” on one’s psyche. When it comes to building a brand, choosing the right color can make or kill your business project. As this article explains, almost 85% (!!!) of consumers cite “color” as the main reason for buying a product!
  • Many of us are in a constant battle to lose fat, gain muscle and maintain high energy levels during the day. In an attempt to do so, you may have been tempted to limit food intake AFTER a workout. This is counterproductive on many levels. It’s a good idea (and my frequent advice) to do your workouts in a “fasted” state. This allows your body to use up glycogen, which prompts it to create more glycogen storage capacity, which helps you perform better and minimize fat storage from carbohydrate consumption. In addition, training in a “fasted” state has been shown to trigger increases in mitochondrial density: mitochondria are the “power plants” of your cells, and the more of them you produce, the more energy you have, the stronger you will be, and the healthier you will be on all fronts. HOWEVER: minimizing food intake AFTER a fasted workout has the OPPOSITE effect: your body does NOT produce more mitochondria, and in fact may reduce the number you already have. So always refuel well after a hard workout with good quality food.
  • The mid-day slump is something I’ve experienced in the past and a frequent complaint among executives, entrepreneurs, professionals and many more. This article from the Harvard Business Review provides some useful suggestions on how to manage this “slump” to minimize its adverse effects on your productivity at work. However I personally believe it’s missing a main component: nutrition. I’ve learned to manipulate my own personal nutrition to “completely” eliminate the dreaded “slump”, and this has been a major advantage for me during mid-afternoon meetings. The journey to manipulate your nutrition for maximum effectiveness at work is not a “quick fix” and requires time and dedication, but if you’re interested in this program drop me a note.
  • Admit it: you genuinely believe you can multitask and remain productive on multiple fronts. Let me the first to admit that I used to believe that and defended my opinion vehemently… However, my studies in productivity over the past 2 years have clearly revealed to me that “multitasking” and “productivity” are completely “inversely” correlated. This article provides smart suggestions on getting things done on multiple fronts without having to “multitask”. I personally use many of them, including switching off the instant notifications on my email so I check my email every 2 hours (if something is urgent people will call!), allocating long blocks of time to each task, etc.