Alaska Sleep Education Center

5 Steps for Enhancing Your Personal Wellness

The demands of day-to-day tasks can make it difficult to focus on anything else. Serving these demands often feels like the key to succeeding in life. However, it’s important to take a step back from your responsibilities and assess yourself. Your wellbeing isn’t necessarily defined by your achievements. Even if your career is successful, you may be suffering on a personal level. Unfortunately, tending to your own contentment is a different beast altogether. For those wondering how to get started, here are five steps for enhancing your personal wellness.

Stay Hydrated

Hydration is one of the most essential tasks for maintaining personal wellness. This is mainly because it’s also essential for sustaining human life. Your body, which is about 60% water, won’t function normally unless you provide it with enough liquids. You need water to complete vital tasks like bringing nutrients to your cells and maintaining the correct bodily temperature. In terms of the mind, sufficient hydration helps memory and sleep. It’s also important to drink the right kinds of liquids. A steady diet of caffeine will only dehydrate you, and it isn’t healthy to live on sports drinks alone. There’s far too much sugar in most of these drinks, which only serves to hurt your body. In general, women are asked to drink about eleven cups of water daily. Men, on the other hand, are encouraged to drink sixteen cups in that amount of time. You might try bringing a reusable water bottle with you wherever you go.

Get Sufficient Sleep

Sleep is a vital part of life. Anyone who’s suffered through the day after an all-nighter can tell you that. Rest keeps us invigorated and ready to tackle any issue. It also helps with safety on the road and memory retention. Therefore, obtaining the correct amount of sleep should be a priority. Try setting a schedule for yourself. Otherwise, it’s easy to let time run away from you. Before you know it, you could be awake at one in the morning and doomed to a day of tiredness. If this is a particular problem for you, consider setting an alarm near your determined bedtime. While figuring this schedule out, be sure to do the math. Adults require about seven to nine hours of sleep a night, so only allowing for six isn’t going to do you much good. Think about how long you need to get ready in the morning as well. It may take some practice adapting to an earlier bedtime, but your body will thank you. If you have trouble with going to sleep, as many do, try avoiding electronics and start reading before bed. You may also drink chamomile tea, which is an excellent relaxant.

Keep Your Home Clean

Any journey to create personal wellness is likely to begin with basic safety. A clean home is a safe home. Not only that, but it’s a pleasant home as well. You may have unsavory memories of being forced to clean your space, but you were made to do this for a reason. The most prevalent explanation is that it keeps every occupant healthy. Unorganized areas could be hiding a good deal of safety hazards. An untended damp spot may be growing mold. Old food could be attracting dangerous bugs. A sharp object might be hidden under a pile of clothes on the floor. In essence, a dirty home is a disaster waiting to happen. This doesn’t just apply to organization. Be sure that the mechanisms throughout your domicile are as efficient as possible. If you have low water pressure and issues with scale, you might consider getting a water softener. If your cold food goes bad quickly, it might be time to get a new refrigerator. In terms of pleasantness, keeping your home clean is an effective way to reduce anxiety. Dealing with clutter, especially while in a hurry, is a surefire way to induce stress. Ergo, putting everything in its place can be a huge relief for your mind.

Be Active

A sedentary lifestyle, while often tempting, is substantially detrimental to personal wellness. Your body needs physical activity in order to function correctly. In terms of your physical wellbeing, exercise helps to control your weight. While you shouldn’t engage in personal body-shaming, maintaining the correct weight can help you avoid health issues like diabetes. It also tends to result in a longer lifespan. Even if your weight isn’t an issue, physical activity is able to prevent issues like high blood pressure by assisting your blood flow. Your energy benefits from movement as well. The cardiovascular system in your body is made stronger through exercise, which increases your endurance. This gives you the ability to withstand longer periods of activity and wakefulness. Outside of bodily wellness, exercise is also a boon to your mental health. Focusing on working out distracts from other problems in your life. Physical activity also releases endorphins in your body. These hormones tend to make people feel a sense of happiness.

Change Your Diet

Adjusting your eating habits may be excruciatingly difficult, but it can make a huge difference in your wellbeing. No matter how much you love food items like frozen dinners and pizza, it may be time to find replacements. Your body runs on food. Therefore, putting the right fuel in is key. In extreme terms, a healthy diet can mean the difference between life and death. Overly fatty foods have the potential to create numerous health issues, many of which are fatal. In fact, studies have found that consumers of red meat have a higher risk of getting cancer. These negative effects might not happen immediately, but a longer lifespan may be harder to achieve for less conscious eaters. It’s never too early to think of your future and plan ahead. In less extreme terms, a diet affects your day-to-day experiences. 

Eating greens provides more energy to your body. On the other hand, sugar and fats can cause you to crash and require a nap. For example, having a protein-filled salad for lunch instead of mac-and-cheese is more likely to keep you vibrant. It may take a while to find the right diet for you, but your body is sure to appreciate it.

No matter where you are in life, these methods contain the ability to help you. As long as you stay consistent in carrying each one out, you’ll have a higher likelihood of leading a fulfilling and joyful life. Don’t let yourself neglect your own wellbeing. Nothing is more important than your personal health. Not even work. Despite what you might think, you deserve to have time devoted to your wellness.

Impaired sleep can seriously affect your quality of life and productivity. Behavioral changes implemented under the guidance of an experienced clinician can improve sleep quality and help you feel more alert and functional on a regular basis. Sleep is a third of your life – make it count!

Alaska Sleep Clinic is the most comprehensive multi-site sleep lab in Alaska with clinics in Anchorage, Wasilla, Fairbanks, and Soldotna and we continue to expand our services to those with sleep disorders. Angie Randazzo, PhD, is a specialist in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with expertise in sleep disorders. No other CBT sleep specialist provides care in the state of Alaska. She is available to Alaska Sleep Clinic’s patients via tele-medicine, through SleepTM.

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Alaska Sleep Clinic's Blog

Our weekly updated blog aims to provide you with answers and information to all of your sleeping questions.

Brent Fisher, MBA, FACHE, FACMPE
President and Chief Executive Officer

“Alaska Sleep Clinic has a history of providing the most comprehensive sleep medicine services in the state of Alaska. Its potential has only begun. I am here to take these high-quality, comprehensive services to all Alaskans.”

Experience

Brent Fisher has held leadership positions spanning a wide variety of complex and start-up organizations: manufacturing (pharmaceutical & medical device), software development, hospitals (academic and community), medical groups, consulting, hospice, military, engineered devices, engineered plastics, and private equity.

Publications and Organizations

His writings have been published in various magazines, trade journals, and medical journals, including the Physician Executive Journal, Healthcare Executive, Modern Healthcare, Group Practice Journal, New England Journal of Medicine, and Journal of Healthcare Management (Best Article Award).

He has served on the Board of Directors of professional associations, civic organizations, and businesses.

Hobbies and Activities

Brent enjoys being with his family, serving in the community, hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting.