What are you putting off, that you could start today?

Dr Bridget

Interests: Mum's and Kid's Health, Headaches

Procrastination. It is something we are all guilty of. It’s age of the internet and now more than ever, it’s so easy to sit down with your phone,  not realising the hours whiling away. Yet we all say how busy we are! ‘I don’t have time to do that!’ is a catch-cry for most of us.
So what is your biggest bugbear, the thing you could be starting today?

New Year's resolutions and willpower
“One year from today,
you’ll wish you had started today.”

Start the new year off right. Every  new year, people try and make huge life changing resolutions. Usually it is getting fit or losing weight, giving up smoking or alcohol, or even saving money. And usually, about 2-3 weeks later, they have given it up as a bad job, and say “I’ll try again next year.”
Willpower is something that is also talked about in relation to resolutions. Some people think they don’t have enough willpower to get though and reach their goals. But willpower is more easily described as decision fatigue.2 When you have to make lots of decisions, your brain gets overly tired and requires more glucose, and your decisions become more impulsive.
How to make sure you achieve your goals
Leaving yourself with big, vague goals will set you up to fail. Instead:,

• Make SMART1 goals with progress checks.
  Specific
  Mesurable
  Attainable
  Realistic
  Time Bound
  
• Start with a small easily attainable goal to get your confidence up
  
• your long term goal in mind, but plan how to get there with small, daily changes. These are a lot more sustainable than whole lifestyle changes.Each small change leads to the better overall lifestyle. You can’t exercise once and say ‘I’m fit now’, it requires consistent effort over a long period of time.
  
• Make it easy for your brain by making a plan in advance, tidying your space, get in some gentle exercise, and get to bed on time. All these help your brain to relax and focus on the long term goal, instead of saying ‘I really could go some chocolate right now’
  

Long term benefits of small decisions
Small consistent changes, like taking multivitamins or regularly getting adjusted, might seem small now, but they can make a huge difference to your overall health in the long term.

1. Taking a multivitamin:. In a long term study conducted in the 80’s, nearly 20,000 male doctors were asked a range of lifestyle questions. In a follow up 15 years later, the doctors who reported they had been taking multivitamins for at least 20 years had a 44% lower risk of cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke) than those who didn’t take any.3 Taking a multivitamin is no replacement for a healthy diet, but it may be part of overall healthy habits that have long term effects that we cannot measure yet. 4
   
2. Seeing a Chiropractor and getting adjusted:In most adults, lung volumes are expected to decrease with age, but one study a middle aged male with chronic lung disease began to see a chiropractor and 14 months after starting care, his lung volumes had significantly increased, meaning he could breathe better. There are many studies discussing the links between higher lung volumes and longer lifespan, so in theory, seeing a chiropractor could help you live longer.5
   
3. Low Back: Think one adjustment and you’ll be right? Think again. Studies show that if you have long standing back pain, once you start getting adjusted it’s better to keep it up for at least 9 months. In one study, those who stopped getting adjusted after one month where back to where they started after just 9 months, while the people who kept getting adjusted every 2 weeks just kept getting better and better and better. 66
   

Why procrastination is bad for you
If you needed any more convincing, let’s talk about why procrastinating can actually be detrimental to your overall health. When we procrastinate and put off tasks, this can be linked to the function in our amygdala. The amygdala is the switchboard for our fight or flight response, or our stress response. When we procrastinate, or “fail to start”, often it is the amygdala telling us ‘remember what happened last time you did that? It wasn’t good’. While it can be good to learn from our mistakes, this is an overactive stress response from our brain, impeding us from beginning our task.7
How can we help procrastination?
By lowering our stress response.

• Using a posture corrector
  
• Doing some guided meditation
  
• Getting adjusted
  
• Modifying our diet
  
• Check out our September’s blog post for more ideas.  
  

Procrastination can be because of stress, and procrastinating often makes you more stressed! What a vicious cycle that is. So, and I’m aware of the irony of what I’m about to say, start today to help your procrastination and stress levels!
Healthy habits to start
Try some of these:

• ​A glass of warm lemon water first thing in the morning.
• Taking a multivitamin or supplement as suggested by your healthcare professional
  
• Basic exercise- put on some music and dance around the house for 10 minutes/3 songs, go for a walk around the block, anything to get you moving a little more than you normally would
  
• Start your day with stretches or yoga
  
• Self care- take 10 minutes a day to do something just for you. Read a book, do some colouring or writing, make a cup of tea (please don’t spend this time on your phone!)
  
• See a chiropractor and get adjusted
  
• Do guided meditations
  
• Use a posture correction device/posture pole/rolled up towel for up to 15 mins at a time
  
• Sit up correctly when working or studying
  

Making a few small changes can make a big, lasting difference in your life. And procrastinating can make you more stressed. So what are you putting off that you could start today? Leave us a comment below so we can help you and answer all your questions.

References:

1. https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.php
2. https://nutritionstudies.org/4-ways-to-increase-your-willpower/
3. Rautiainen S, et al. Multivitamin use and the risk of cardiovascular disease in men. The Journal of Nutrition. 2016, June.
4. https://www.simplysupplements.co.uk/healthylife/general-health/the-long-term-benefits-of-multivitamins https://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=54048
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245790
   
6. ​https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/dont-delay/201808/the-neural-signature-procrastination