Win the Workday with Brain On!

I am excited about Deb Smolenski’s new book titled “Brain On! Mental Fitness Strategies for Sharpening Focus, Boosting Energy, and Winning the Workday”.

Two big reasons for my excitement are:

• The book is very relevant for the times we live in where knowledge workers are struggling to maintain mental health given the overload of information and choices.
• I had the opportunity to collaborate with Deb to create book illustrations – particularly bringing ONYX to life. ONYX is a brainy brain character that takes you along the journey of being Brain On!

Competitive environment at work, an overload of information, a never-ending stream of competing priorities and debilitating rate of change takes a huge toll on our mental health. We learn technologies outside of us but often fail to fully understand the most complex piece of tech we are equipped with – our brain!

Part 1 of the book does a great job at clarifying that human brain can be divided into two regions – “Emotional Brain” that is associated with Amygdala and “Thinking Brain” that is associated with Pre-frontal cortex. Deb Smolensky then offers methods and techniques to balance emotional brain with thinking brain to achieve what Deb calls as “Energizer” state – where you have highest level of mental fitness and you don’t fall into a crisis mode even in the face of challenges.

Part 2 offers two key ingredients to manage our brain for having an “Energizer” day. The first is prioritizing and acting on your strengths-based goals and second is managing the energy of your brain. Part 2 offers excellent brain booster exercises, strategies and tips to refuel the brain energy and avoid burn-out.

Part 3 provides an organizational framework to build a culture that values employee’s overall well-being from various aspects of culture (inclusion, communication, growth, respect, curiosity, culture, policies, practices etc).

Bottom line: Taking care of our own mental well-being in the age of distractions can be a daunting task. Brain On! is an excellent guide to help you strengthen your inner game – your relationship with your brain – in order to thrive at work, have a fulfilling life and live each day with energy and enthusiasm.

Also Check out:

• Raise the Bar: A collection of 68+ HD sketchnotes with timeless insights on leadership, learning and change.
• Register for the upcoming “Visual Thinking and Sketchnote” workshop to reconnect with your visual thinking super-powers for better learning, communication and collaboration.