Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

The 4 am Report


Feb 26, 2020

WAKE UP!! It’s time for the 4 AM Report – your weekly “before the dawn” look at what keeps you awake at night when it comes to your marketing efforts. And today we have dragged a special guest out of bed to join us.

Zannat Reza is founder and chief storyteller at Thrive360, and she spends her waking hours helping organizations strategize and create memorable food & health content that inspires, educates and empowers people to live their best lives!

We’re chatting about:

  • How much sleep is OPTIMUM SLEEP!
  • What the heck is Slow Motion Multitasking?
  • The power of good food choices.
  • Why brain-blockage occurs and how you can un-dam your mind.
  • And how marketers are missing out on a HUGE demographic! 

And guess what happens when you pick up healthier habits around eating, stress and exercise…? YOU SLEEP BETTER!! 

And so it all comes full circle.

Pour yourself a coffee (or tea, or whatever strikes your fancy in the early AM  – we don’t judge!), put your feet up and relax, then click here to listen to the entire inspiring podcast! 

Or, read on for a sampling of what this week’s 4 AM Report is bringing to the breakfast table!

Sleep = Productivity

“Sleep is super important when it comes to our productivity. We know that we need to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night. BUT sleeping too much is just as bad as sleeping too little. So, if you're thinking great, I got 12 hours of sleep. That's almost like saying, I'm only sleeping four hours! There’s actually a sweet spot - seven to eight hours. And we know that if you're getting too much or too little, it actually affects your decision-making ability.” 

Stay on Schedule!

“We want to take some time to develop what they call good sleep hygiene, and breathing and introducing some mindfulness can actually help you fall asleep. What they recommend is trying to fall asleep around the same time every night, doesn't matter if it's a weekend or weeknight. Routine helps. Now listen, obviously, life is life. Right? If you've got a special party or whatever, on the weekend, I think we can bend those rules, right. But I think generally speaking, we want to get to bed at a good time. And we know that by being mindful, being aware of what's going out, going on around what we're doing. Reading actually helps lower stress hormones.”

Slow the Heck Down, Why Doncha?

“Try Slow Motion Multitasking, because we know that, like, multitasking at a crazy rate that does no good that's not productive at all. But slow-motion multitasking is doing one task. If you hit a blockage, stop - move on to something else, and obviously not in a frenzied sort of way. But by doing it in a slow way. It actually helps boost your creativity.” 

Keep Moving

“I was at a meeting and I suggested ‘Why don't we do a walking meeting?’ And then there's, there's this huge silence!! Okay, this is not really popular, but it just took one other person to say, yeah, you know what, maybe we can try that for our next one. And so, you know, I talked about cardio in terms of moving, and you do some sort of like strength training, whether it's weight or even yoga where you're using your body weight, that actually helps lower sort of age- related muscle loss. Okay, so we're, you know, once you hit 40, the age of 40, your muscles start breaking down at a faster rate than your body actually builds muscle on a daily basis. So, you know, keep up the cardio, just move your body. That's kind of the bottom line.”

Ok Boomer My Ass! We’re All Getting Older

“So, people are getting older and a much faster rate. If you look at Statistics Canada, we know that by the year 2030 one in four Canadians will be above the age of 65. From a marketing perspective, I guess we've looked at this a few times, and keep coming back to the same thing, which is the lack of inclusivity in the way in which we communicate, and whether it's, you know, a lifestyle thing, an age thing and race thing, whatever it is, it's just not really seeing that there's another way to tell the same story. How, how can we change the storytelling around this? Well, I think, you know, for marketers, it's being mindful of the kinds of images and words that are being used right, like this whole Okay, Boomer thing that drives me nuts like what does that really mean? Right? It’s old and out of touch. People say that to me. No.”

The Decade of Healthy Aging!

“The 2020s is the decade of healthy aging. And so really, my call to action is listen, as the world's population is getting older – there are opportunities no matter what you do, whether you're a marketer, whether in health, whether you're in another industry, financial industry, there's lots of opportunities to be part of that solution. There are all these challenges, but we can all play a part in fixing it!” 

We hope we’ve delivered a little food for thought with this episode – if so, get yourself over to Apple Podcasts for more 4 AM Report insights and subscribe to us – because we know you wanna!  

***

About Zannat

For the past 20 years, Zannat Reza has helped organizations with their health storytelling. She brings science-based credibility and creative energy to the table. As a healthy aging advocate, she is the deputy ambassador of the Toronto chapter of Aging 2.0, an organization that accelerates innovation to address the biggest challenges in aging. Zannat is also a veteran media expert and appears regularly on CBC News Network.  

Thrive360

Twitter:

@ZannatReza_

***

Still can’t sleep?

We would also love to know what’s keeping you up at night! Email us your problems – your issue might be featured in our next episode!

Any of these problems *speak* to you? Click here to subscribe in iTunes to hear about more things that haunt us or to keep an eye out for any of your problems. We might find a solution for you (or at least share your pain too!) We have more episodes with great tips, jokes and conversations – don’t miss it! 

If you get a chance, leave a review on iTunes so that others can find this podcast too! Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” We’d love to hear what your favourite part of this episode is in the comments below. Thank you!