August 2, 2025 at 1:12 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Hack Your Brain
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
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August 3, 2025 at 2:10 am
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August 3, 2025 at 1:33 pm
Hey Grant, I love this article. I read about the Pomodoro technique years ago and started to incorporate that into my life. I have a timer I set for the 25 minutes of a Pomodoro. I'll do one of those, stand up and do a minute stretch (not the Pomodoro technique, but I don't feel I can take longer at this point), then reset my timer for another 25 minutes. At the end of that I'll leave the building to walk around it. The building isn't that large, as I can circle it in 5 minutes. Then I restart it again. I've noticed that I've had an influence on others as people at work are now going outside for a short walk, too.
I love dark chocolate, which I'll do in limited amounts. Mindfulness and a positive outlook are hard to do. In fact, I really don't do these well. I don't know what mind mapping is; I'll have to look that up.
The one habit which is very hard for me to do is get enough sleep. Most nights I get about 5 hours of sleep. Some nights all I get is 3 hours of sleep. It irritates me that I don't get more, but I don't know how or why I get so little sleep.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
August 4, 2025 at 6:06 am
Earlier this year, I uninstalled most of the social media apps and reduced the amount of TV I was watching. I have always been a reader, but that had tailed off following a time on anti-depressants just before COVID. I started reading again and joined a book club. I spend more time in the evening reading, and because of the book club, I am reading books I would not normally have chosen to read.
I have also gone back to playing the piano and am learning Billy Joel's "Turn the lights back on".
When I do watch TV, the programs I have replaced much of what I used to watch with stuff where you don't half watch with your other eye on the phone.
August 4, 2025 at 2:08 pm
All great stuff. I could do with reducing TV time as well. Let me get this book rewrite finished because that's taking up my will power at the moment. I do want to get going on the pomodoro again. Just need to make it happen. Did I mention that this stuff isn't easy?
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
August 5, 2025 at 2:04 pm
Exercise Exercise Exercise… and also a good diet. Over the past few years, I've gradually had to change my diet. I have to stay clear of any and all packaged/fast foods and sugary treats due it causing stomach acid issues, also had to cut back on meat. Eating more fruits/veg snacks, greek yogurt/kefir, beans/chickpeas/peanuts, and smaller portion dinner. I feel lighter, improved mood and sleep. It is hard, sometimes do relapse for 1 or 2 days but then get back on track. It aint easy, especially when there is a Tim Hortons close to my house and I go grab a coffee and egg/cheese breakfast sandwich on english muffin 🙂
Meditation has helped tremendously also - mindfulness meditation, body scan meditation, gratitude meditation, walking meditation.
The past few months have started doing Peloton classes in my living room at home, the trainers are awesome they really push and motivate you. The Peloton app is fantastic tracking all your workouts and if you have a Wear OS smartwatch, it can track your health stats as well. I don't have the watch yet, but planning to add that on soon once the Pixel Watch 3 comes down in price.
Also, the past couple of months have tried taking supplement creatine 2 or 3 times per week, which I read might help with cognition as we age. Taking high quality protein powder as well couple times a week.
Great article Grant! Thanks.
August 6, 2025 at 1:37 pm
Thanks for the feedback Mandeep. Keep up the good work.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
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