Working out During Work Breaks

Nothing has made me move more than my Apple Watch. Every hour, it tells me that I need to get up for at least a minute and it keeps sending me reminders of my exercise progress, or lack thereof, throughout the day.

I'm thankful for this little device because, ever since the Pandemic hit, I haven't been going to the gym and working out at home has proven more difficult. I find it a bit shocking how little I would actually move, on some days, if my watch didn't tell me to.

One thing I've been doing is incorporating some exercises during my work day. On my lunch break, for example, I'll do 20-30 min cardio. When my watch ask me to get up, I sometime work on a muscle group for a minute to "satisfy" it... All of this doesn't really replace the gym but every little bit helps.

I recently ordered a fitness ball and the plan is to use it as an office chair in order to work the core as I work. I'm also thinking on buying a under desk bike. All these little things may not sound like much but it's important to find the time to workout and these little things do add up over time. Sure, I may not be able to build as much muscle mass as I used to from going to the gym but it's more about getting the stress out than anything else at this point.

That Sure Was Negative...

I spoke with an individual that suffers from depression and it was made evident to me that the philosophical beliefs someone has is greatly influenced by how they feel. The discussion was about the benefits of eating good food versus bad food and ended up with that person telling me that "it doesn't matter whether you eat well or not because we're all going to end up dead anyway".

While the statement is true, there's a definite negative connotation to it. To me, it's not a question of whether or not we'll die, because we will, but how to make our time, alive, feel the best that we can.

It's proven that eating good food increases our overall wellbeing.  

It's proven that exercising increases our overall wellbeing.

It's proven that a good night sleep increases our overall wellbeing.

...

Not following these "wellbeing rules" increases our chances of having mental or physical problems. 

Sometimes, even if we follow all the "rules", there will still be days when we won't feel our best. We should still follow them to give our bodies a fighting chance because feeling negative can ruin a day and, as my friend specified above, there are only so many days for us to enjoy.

When you don't feel right, try to identify the reason behind it and see if you can make an improvement. Don't hesitate to ask for help.

Are You a Passive or Active Employee?

I've been working for the better part of 15 years now and I've come to understand the difference between an active and a passive employee.

• A passive employee is someone that can do the work but usually won't start until he's told, exactly, what to do.
• An active employee is someone that can do the work but generally doesn't need to be told what to do.

Generally speaking, both type of employees are able to do the work but active employees are easier to work with. Since you don't have to tell an active employee what to do, it's possible that he'll be working on things that are not necessarily the top priority for the project; this is why it's important to share clear objective with them.

I originally was a passive employee as I had no clue how to add value on a project when I first started but, as I became more comfortable in my role, I slowly evolve into an active role. Part of this is due to the fact that I hate being told what to do and by finding out, myself, what to do it removes the need for someone else to tell me.

Some people remain passive employees for their entire careers. I wish I could tell you that this is fine but this isn't how I feel about it. When the work demands someone that is able to think on their feet, and the passive worker's contribution never goes beyond what you tell them to do, then their contribution to the project is limited to their manager's ability to tell them what to do. Those types of people are better suited in position that are clear and consistent and require little to no supervision.

Are you a passive or an active worker?

Fear of Running Out

It's been said that the Fear of Running Out (FORO) is a universal phenomenon. You can see it when people make large purchases before a storm, a pandemic, or buy the same item multiple times for fear of one breaking.

We do this because we associate these things with our survival and having more of it means that we can survive for longer.

While I'm guilty of this too, I do find it irrational when thinking about it. The most wanted item, during the Pandemic, was toilet paper. 

The biggest fear my mother had was missing out on toilet paper even though she already had a year worth of it in storage (she buys in bulk when it's on special). In this case, it make sense for people to stock on food as we all fear that Covid can have a negative impact on the food supply but why in the world is toilet paper an issue? I mean, worse come to worse, everyone could just get a bidet (which we should all have to save water really).

For me, this fear of running out is mixed with an addiction. When it comes to video games, my addiction, I'm always afraid that I'm going to run out. I have a stack of video games that I haven't even opened yet just because I'll get to it when I'm done the current ones I'm playing (I also like to collect them). I buy 2 controllers in case one goes out and I also have 2 versions of a console (ex: PS4/PS4 Pro) for the same reason.

It's important to understand what the fear is and, in my case, the addiction as that's the first step in fixing things.

Do you have a fear of running out? If so, what is it about?