I was stuck in an hour-long in-person meeting today meeting today. I obviously enjoyed connecting with my work family, chatting for 25 minutes ahead of the meeting, getting a tea, and sharing pictures of my goldfish, but the meeting lasted the full 60 minutes. Let me say that again: It. Lasted. 60. Full. Minutes.
Needless to say I did not reach my Apple Watch standing goal that hour. People kept droning on and on about revenue shortfall and keeping the company afloat. Is this part of an elaborate scheme to increase our risk of heart disease due to sedentary living? I could barely concentrate over the sound of my arteries hardening. Are they actually trying to kill us?
Luckily, I had walked an extra lap around the cubicles on my way to the conference room so I hit my stand goal the hour before the meeting. As a side-note, noise cancellation technology must be getting really good. Several of my office mates seemed not to hear me when I popped by their cubes to chat on the way to the meeting.
Immediately after the meeting, refreshing my tea, and pausing to survey a handful of my coworkers, I marched straight to HR. They reminded me, I'm in HR and my manager wouldn't approve PTO for me to go file an OSHA complaint in person, but they tried to turn it around on me saying that I have been reported as nodding off at my desk.
I showed them my Apple Watch's Sleep App to confirm that I'm getting plenty of healthy rest. In fact, I set an hourly alarm overmight so I can wake up and check the quality of my sleep. If it wasn't registered as a deep enough sleep, I close my eyes, breathe intensely deeply, and mimic REM sleep by consciously flicking my gaze back and forth and up and down as quickly as possible behind closed eyelids to max out my sleep score.
I've found the easiest way to stay healthy is to have two Apple Watches, one for overnight and one for wearing during the day so they never run out of battery life. On a different note: did you hear that 50% of people have no internal monologue? That's strange because I seem to have found several. Even moreso now that I'm getting healthier with my Apple Watch.
Hi Anna, I'm glad to hear that you're working on your breathing practice. Please forgive me for saying so, but it sounds the teensiest bit less meditative than performative. Your body "knows" how much you actually walk, stand, or sleep. Hacking the numbers on your Apple Watches are unlikely to change your actual physical health. Think of those as guideposts on your journey. I'd love to send you a copy of my book. DM me for a discounted link to the e-book and you can read all about honoring your body's need for a holistic mind, body, and spirit synergy.
You got to bask in your manager's wisdom for 60 minutes straight? Do you mean in the same room? How close did you sit? NGL, social media posts like this make me a tad jealous sometimes. What better advertisement can there be for Return To Office?! I'm sure your work family loved it!
Anna, are you okay? You don't have to measure everything. It may even do more harm than good. Even waking up once or twice overnight and checking your gadgets can ruin the quality of your rest. The light from your screens tricks your brain into relasing Cortisol and reinforces the message that you should be awake.
Do you not know that people with headphones do not want to be disturbed? We are in deep thought, building beautiful mental models which come crashing down when interrupted. A one-minute question can undo an hour or more of visualization. Please do not do this to your coworkers.