I’ve been a technician for almost 23 years, and I can tell you that my best performance in the shop occurred only when my health and fitness levels were up to par with my knowledge and understanding of the vehicles I encountered daily.
Unfortunately, it’s the nature of the industry, for a technician to place his or her health, well-being, and nutrition on the backburner. It seems “productivity” always takes precedence. Well, I challenge you to consider that your performance in the shop, both in body and mind, will grow exponentially if you put yourself first.
Determining what your body needs to function properly and offering your body and mind just that will cause performance to skyrocket and mood to elevate much higher than just the mere idle it can typically be found at.
Garbage In…garbage out
As inconvenient as it can be, I challenge you to start your new path on a weekend. Take the time to plan out a few evenly spaced meals for each day. Choose wholesome foods and make small changes to the amounts of processed and sugary food/drink you typically ingest each day (don’t make yourself miserable, “baby steps”). In time, you will stop craving junk food and ravenously look forward to your nutritious, less calorically dense, “real food”.
I recommend spending some time in the evening (perhaps with your spouse, children, or significant other) choosing meals to prepare in the following days. I find PINTEREST to be specifically helpful, keeping my diet diverse and allowing me to get the nutrition I need to function properly. I will add that every meal I prepare is delicious and satisfying...Relaxing and tons-of-fun to prepare, too!
Switch from soda, fruit juice, and other sugary soft drinks, to water. Add some fresh lemon to keep it interesting. I enjoy all the different flavors of unsweetened seltzer which helps to break up the monotony.
Take time to recharge
Remember, your body is a machine. It is capable of hard work but needs time to recuperate. Consider ending your day an hour earlier. I recommend at least seven hours of sleep, for proper recuperation.
Wake up earlier to allow yourself time to prepare and eat a proper breakfast. It may be uncomfortable to eat in the morning for many of you, but in just a few days, you will be thanking yourself for “breaking the fast”.
I urge you to begin and maintain an exercise program. One that incorporates elevating your heart rate for at least 20 minutes, some strength training, and stretching as well. You will be surprised just how quickly your mood and ability to obtain sound sleep will change. And for those of you that chose to exercise in the morning (as I do), you’ll find you won’t rely so heavily on caffeine to get you going, either. After about a 2 week comittment, you will be excited to exercise each day, and wont want to miss it.
The adversary…alcohol
Believe me, I will be the first to tell you how much I looked forward to an ice-cold beer (or four!) each evening. But alcohol cannot help you, it can only slow you down. Consider cutting your consumption in half for a while, at first; then, Slowly eliminate it from your life.
I was a very heavy drinker, and alcoholism runs in my family. But I decided to have only one drink per evening. After I adapted to that, I had one drink every other evening. Reducing consumption again, to one drink on the weekend. Now, I struggle to finish a glass of wine. I realize this will be difficult but what helped me accomplish that task was to substitute the alcohol for something else. My kitchen cabinets are now chocked-full of an assortment of decaffeinated herbal teas. I look forward to that every evening, instead of the alcohol.
I’m not trying to preach anything to anyone. My only goal is to show you how I maximized my productivity, longevity, and overall happiness as a technician in today’s automotive industry, and in life, generally. I care more about your success and overall quality of life than you probably realize.
Do yourself a favor and try implementing some of these changes in your life, slowly. I’m confident you will be pleasantly surprised by the result of the changes you have chosen to make. And, if you find yourself in need of support, I’m an email away and happy to assist you. Reach out anytime!
