Beyond Busy Episode #97 with Colette Heneghan
Graham Allcott 00:04
You're listening to beyond busy show where we talk productivity, work life balance, and how people define happiness and success. My name is Graham Allcott. I'm your host for the show. And this is our final episode of 2020. And my special guest is Colette Heneghan. Colette is the co author with me of the book, How to Have the Energy. So be talking all things nutrition, we'll be talking about her last year or so of getting very little sleep with young Iris, and just parenthood in general. And we talk a lot about the process of writing this book, which we're really excited to share with you. So “How to Have the Energy” comes out in the UK on December the 24th. Now, it's actually been brought forward slightly it was due to be the seventh of January, and then we found out that Amazon will bring it forward. And it's also going to be in a few bookshops on the 24th of December already. So you can get it in bookshops, you can get it from bookshop.org If you don't want to buy from Amazon. And we'd love you to preorder it from one of those places so that by the time it comes out, there's a bit of buzz and it's you know, hacking the algorithms and getting up the charts and stuff. So go and preorder your copy of how to have the energy if you are in an area where you're lucky enough to have bookshops open go into a real bookshop and preorder it order it there. And it'll be in those shops from the 24th of December. So check out 'How to Have the Energy'.
And then let's get into the episode.
Here is my conversation with my co author Colette Heneghan.
How are you?
Colette Heneghan 01:39
I'm great. Thank you do really well on this lovely November day.
Graham Allcott 01:44
So you've been having tech, Gremlins and life Gremlins and I've been having tech Gremlins as well, this morning. So we're hoping the day is gonna get better.
Colette Heneghan 01:54
The podcast is gonna make things all better. Yeah, absolutely. No pressure.
Graham Allcott 01:58
Sounds good. And we're here to talk about our book release, How to Have the Energy, which apparently is going to be in some shops from Boxing Day, but officially comes out on January the seventh 2021.
Colette Heneghan 02:11
That's news to me about Boxing Day, actually, that's good to know.
Graham Allcott 02:14
Well, and Andrew from our publisher icon sent me that in an email. But then Amazon still has it as the seventh of January. But I think it's like they're trying to get it into a few shops for, you know, post Christmas, New Year new you and all that stuff.
Colette Heneghan 02:29
Oh, it's perfect for New Year New Year's. So that's it, that's good to know,
Graham Allcott 02:33
indeed. So we're going to talk a bit about the backstory of how we came to write this book, and really focus on helping people to have the energy for not just work but also like, and I have to say, like me working with you really changed my ability to have great energy in the work that I do. And I often explain it to people like I used to get a slump in my afternoon at sort of half, three, four o'clock. And for a long time in my 20s my. My way to solve that was to go and buy a whiskey bar from the newsagent around the corner and then pour a really strong coffee. And then sort of keep myself going for a couple of hours and then just crash at like seven o'clock. Yeah. And I've really learned through working with you how to do that much more sustainably. ie not looking for sugar and caffeine to boost me but looking for natural energy that is much more sustainable. So let's get in and talk about that. So I suppose the first question is, how did you come to start being interested in nutrition? And just tell us a bit of your backstory real quick?
Colette Heneghan 03:52
Absolutely, yes. So just like you that was one of my strategies was, you know, using caffeine and sugar or just like high carbohydrate food that was easy on hand to fuel myself. So I didn't start life out as a nutritionist as a coach, as in the capacity at all that I'm working now. I was working within a sales career global sales career for a telecoms company, traveling a lot, managing a team, or doing lots of great staff, but under lots of pressure, and mealtimes for me and food was very much an afterthought. So something that I would grab along the way or skip to save time, because of course, you know, that was all a cost to to my efficiency and productivity, at least that's what I thought. So I was making bad choices on a regular basis, I guess, in terms of taking care of myself. I wasn't necessarily doing that very much. I was taking care of business and and so how it changed for me was that I really realized that I will say no to a lot of things personally socially family wise, and I just really didn't Have the energy for stuff. And, and so this, this really became a bigger thing for me to be carrying around. And, and not doing the things I just realized that, you know, on a Saturday, I used to spend most of the day just recovering from the week. And so I made, I made some small changes in my life got really inspired reading about things like food and health and how we could do small things for ourselves to make a difference. And in doing so, actually resigned from that career, and went back to uni and started all over again, and study in health and then into nutrition. And the rest is history, shall we say, and that's where I am now. And so most of my work, Graham, as you know, is with people that were like me, so they're working, they have an action packed week, action packed schedules, probably juggling family life, too. And they're looking for ways in which they can integrate tactics, tips, lifestyle changes that are not going to change their day too much, but will change their, their their energy. And and so that's for the past decade, that's what I've been working on. You know, yeah, we've got to make this more simple. It can't be all of these special diets, it can't be all of this, like really difficult things to pick up and a master. We don't have to all be these incredible chefs or, you know, Instagram famous to create a lunch that includes avocado, and we just need to be able to know, right? If I look at that now, what's going to make sure that I'm going to be on the ball for the rest of the day for the afternoon. And to have the the the life to do the things I want to do. And now as a working Mum, that's what I do.
Graham Allcott 06:43
Yeah, for sure. And when we started working together, I got in touch with you. And we'd met a couple of times before and I said, and I think I said to you, can you tell me which vitamins to buy so that I have better mental health, more energy, and you were like, let's start with what food you eat. I go from there, which is what we ended up doing. And then. So you basically became my coach for probably about six months or so it wasn't?
Colette Heneghan 07:11
it was Yes.
Graham Allcott 07:13
During that time, what was most interesting to me was how I started to feel like I had much more energy very quickly, like within a couple of weeks, I could really see a difference with it. But also, I wasn't massively having to, like overhaul my diet or do anything too radical. It was often the things on WhatsApp, you were saying, hey, just add in a few nuts to this play or just, you know, switch out this. Normal spaghetti for black beans, spaghetti, but you know, just things like that, that felt quite simple to do. And it wasn't a huge, it wasn't a huge set of changes. It didn't involve me spending loads more of my time, which I didn't have on cooking. But yeah, it was those small things that made a big difference. So has that always been a big part of your approach?
Colette Heneghan 08:03
Totally Yes. Because there's if you look into like the nutrition marketplace, there's loads of information. But actually, what we need to move from is that kind of information to doing and the translation from that just I didn't feel was there because it wasn't there for me when I was in that that old world. So I would pick up a magazine, there be an article, nothing, I can't apply this. I'm just too busy. That's for people that have loads of time, right? You know, that's for people that don't have lives like me. And so, yeah, I've dedicated a lot of my work to the translation piece. So how do we actually make this happen every day? And, you know, so even on those really bad days, when we're just, you know, the going is really got a tough, actually, that's probably one of those days for me today. How do we ensure on those days that we still have good food in we can make some we can make some strong choices for our positivity and her energy, but equally is not going to require lots of thought and, you know, distracted me from the other things that I need to do. And so that is absolutely the approach and, and I think that's, you know, really worked for me so far. And obviously work with you because I translated this into little bite sized points for you to do and for you to be able to apply to your busy life, as you know, our, you know, parent, business owner, and all of the things that you have within your busy weeks.
Graham Allcott 09:30
Yeah, for sure. And some people might be listening to this if you're a regular listener to be on busy and thinking. Haven't we talked about this before? And we did about a year ago, because this book, we're basically re releasing it. It was originally called Work Fuel. And we had we were quite I was kind of under pressure at the time to create like a series of books around productivity ninja. And I think because That was it that kind of felt like it was going to be a good idea.
Colette Heneghan 10:04
You felt it felt? Right. Like it fit it, didn't it? Yeah,
Graham Allcott 10:07
it felt like it will fit it. But I think somewhere we got, we kind of got a bit stuck between the idea of a productivity ninjas guide to nutrition and then the idea of work fuel. And I think basically, it didn't sell very well is the is the, I guess the the very quick Radio Edit of the horse. But like, I think the reason for that was, you know, we would go into book shops, and it was just on really weird shelves, right?
Colette Heneghan 10:34
can't find it. Yeah,
Graham Allcott 10:36
I'm glad to be on the business shelf, sometimes it'd be on the self help shelf. Sometimes. I think at one point it was under like, science.
Colette Heneghan 10:45
Yeah,
Graham Allcott 10:46
one bookshop I went into, and so like, it was really difficult for people to find it didn't really feel like it fitted anywhere. And what we've done is just basically taken the essence of that book, made some updates to it. And then we're releasing it with a much more I think, clear title, which is how to have the energy, I think, a much clearer cover, I think the covers great that we've finally come up with. And I was talking about this on my mailing list a couple of weeks ago, anyone listened to this, if you're not signed up, I do this thing on a Sunday night called 'Rev Up for the Week' where I just send a positive thought for the week ahead. And I talked about that story of okay was called work fuel didn't sell very well. So we've, we've kind of repackaged it and we re launching it. And someone replied to my email saying, I love how you just owned the failure of it, and you didn't shy away from it. And you know, so it feels like an important story to tell. And what were your because also like your first book as well. So what were your reflections on releasing work fuel first time round?
Colette Heneghan 11:54
Yeah, I think hindsight obviously, is always a great thing. And as you say, at the time, productivity ninja was a great is a great seller, it's been an international best selling book. So to be associated with the book we thought was, of course, that is going to be an absolute great thing to do. And however, unfortunately, we kind of fell somewhere in the middle of our two markets, which was busy, busy people that are looking for productivity, but looking to kind of feed themselves better. And I would just didn't capture that market. So in hindsight, yeah, perhaps the productivity ninja just didn't kind of resonate when it came to food in the same way as it did to work. And, and yeah, and for me, if you look at the reviews on any of the different platforms, people consistently mentioned that their energy is better people that have contacted me, that I've actually bought the book and then taken the time to send me a nice note, they've mentioned that that's the energy is better. So we know that the output of doing the things that we have written about is is energy. So I think we for a title now 'How to Have the Energy', I don't think we can get any clearer on what it is that we're trying to work on. And yes, so I really hope that that this time, people can look at it and get a good feel of what it is they're buying into, and perhaps maybe answering a question for them right now. And obviously, we're in a bit of a special time, unusual times as we're currently in. And in my work as a coach, the key thing that keeps coming up is people are feeling tired. And the working from home elements of that, perhaps are now starting to wear thin and and looking for ways and tactics, routines to really help them and all the time, I'm going back to how to have the energy work for your principals to help people. So I really, I really feel like we've got a moment. But yeah, if we could go back and change it back to March 2018. It was and then obviously, that would be great. But we're so so blessed that we're able to, to look at it differently this time. And there has been some tweaks to the book, which we'll talk through in the in the way in which we think we can get across the message more. Practically.
Graham Allcott 14:14
Yeah, you're phoning me up panicking on was it Friday, last week, and it was about four o'clock. And you're like, Oh, yeah. I was like, yep, just always a difficult thing. Because then it's like you're asking me Can Can I call Eleanor, our joint editor and tell her the very last minute we want to change some stuff, which is never a good conversation to have. But Ellen was cool, right? Yeah,
Colette Heneghan 14:39
yeah. I guess these unusual times that we find ourselves in, try not to use certain words that are repeated all the time media when I'm talking about these times, but you know, the world has changed and into a point where we are working differently and using different strategies for work and I think So I think it's really important that the next release actually has taken that into account. So we have a little bit of that context applied. So that those were the the final changes that I was talking about. And on Friday,
Graham Allcott 15:13
well, let's talk about working from home in a minute. I just wanted to also say on the title of the work fuel, if you break it down into two words, neither of those words are particularly aspiration
Colette Heneghan 15:23
is a good point. Yeah, that
Graham Allcott 15:26
is what I think how to have the energy like, Yeah, I don't have the energy, you know. And for somebody who sat there, getting that 4pm slump, to be able to look at it the other way around and say, Man, I wish I had the energy or I'm not doing that thing because of the energy. And it's like, Okay, well, we can help you to have the energy. And then you know, so it feels a bit more of a kind of aspirational promise in the title. So it's delivery. Yeah, like, yeah, like you were saying before, though, if you look at the reviews on Amazon, you know, the people I mean, you know, we did sell a few 1000 as well. But like the people when they did buy the work fuel version of the book, called it things like it's a hidden gem, it's changed my energy levels, like, people did really love it. Right. So I think that's why I felt like, this is an important thing to try and get out to a much wider, bigger audience.
Colette Heneghan 16:16
Definitely. Actually, there's been a number of reviews that have said, I actually bought this book by mistake. This is on Audible, I think. Yeah, I think there's two or three on Audible, I said, I work. And I'm not just spending all my time read reviews, by the way on it. But they said, I bought this book by mistake, and Boy, am I glad I bought it and and you're like, oh, wow, they actually thought the title meant something else. And so this is when we know we've, we've definitely got to do something with it. And
Graham Allcott 16:44
yeah, that's when you know that the title was broken.
Colette Heneghan 16:49
The content wasn't? Yeah, you know, we spent a long time working through that. I've spent years mastering, you know, some of these translation pieces. And it's work time and time again. And so we know it's tried, tested and successful. And we've now got it in book form, please people, you know, we want to get this into your hands. And for it to be useful. How do we do that? And so, yeah, How to Have the Energy. Hopefully hits that mark better this time.
Graham Allcott 17:17
Yeah, my, when people talk to me about business books, and obviously, I've written a few. And also for this podcast, I end up reading a lot as well. Mm hmm. I think for me, there's always like three things that make a business book successful. One is, you've got to have content that people actually relate to and use and, you know, can actually be informative or helpful in some way. But actually, that's probably the least important out of the three. The second one is you've got to have a good title and a good cover. And I think that whole thing about never judge a book by its cover is just wrong. I think books are totally judged by that cover.
Colette Heneghan 18:01
I've got many bookshelves filled with books for their covers.
Graham Allcott 18:07
And then, and I think particularly, you know, a lot of people have said that to me about productivity Ninja, which obviously did sell really well, still on continues to, is that people say, Oh, you know, I was just in an airport. And that book jumped off the shelf to me, because of because of the cover. And I think having a good title. And a good cover is just so important. And, and the third one is you've got to kind of hit as light guys as well, right? So that's not really in your control. Particularly when, as an author, you're kind of starting the project two or three years before it comes out properly. You know, you've really got to try and hit that hit the right thing at the right time. And there's an element of luck to that, right. But for me, it's only about, you only get to make that luck or take advantage of it. If you've got those other two things in place of having a good cover and really good content that kind of knocks people out. I wish
Colette Heneghan 18:58
he took me through these three things, you know, at the start
Graham Allcott 19:02
of our journey. I think we I think we thought we're here with a good time.
Colette Heneghan 19:07
Yeah, and like you say, isn't aspirational, but actually for is functional? It is it does what it says on the tin and I guess it actually does give you fuel for work in whatever capacity that may be whether you're working at home with your children, whether you're working in an office with colleagues or the you know, you're working to get fitter. The fuel is there then in a different manner, you know, to to kind of access but I think Yeah, the aspiration element, and what we all wish for is perhaps not the functionality of things, but yeah, so just something a bit more simplistically, but
Graham Allcott 19:47
it's also for me, I knew if we because we work for ourselves, Mm hmm. Then if our work is boosted, that, you know, probably puts a few more pennies in our bank account. It's probably you know, there's probably so Many things about that that are really attractive. But you know, for most folks just rocking up and doing a nine to five job for a company, the idea of work fuel, it's like, I'm going to pay for a book that is actually going to benefit somebody else, which is my boss, right? Whereas how to have the energy like that benefits me like having better energy benefits. This is true. That's about the nine point plan. So that I guess the, the, what's central to the approach are a few things that really focus on habits, because I suppose what we wanted to do in the book was, was to do two things. One is like, here's all the practical stuff you need. And we've got recipes in there. We've got some really good rules of thumb different ways to think about carbohydrates and proteins and all of that stuff. But we wanted to also link it like you're saying at the beginning, as something that bridges that gap between knowledge and information and have it changed behavior change. And so really, the idea with with a nine point plan is to kind of say, here are the principles that you look at everything through, right, the lens that you look everything through? So should we just talk through, like, maybe we don't talk through all nine right now, but like, let's talk about a couple of those key points, parts of the nine point plan. And I suppose the first one to mention is choose how you want to feel. So you want to talk about them?
Colette Heneghan 21:20
Yeah, definitely. So the nine point plan is our nine point high energy plan. Now so these are the nine things that if you are aware of a new youth as growing described as a lens, then they're absolutely going to age you to make strong decisions that are going to power you gives you the the vibrance and vitality that you you want to have. Hence the reason, our first one is actually giving you the empowerment of you choosing how you want to feel. So that's that's the first one is choose how you want to feel. And for me, that feels like a real strong way of setting up my day that no one else is dictating to me my energy levels. And if they aren't as much as I want them to be, perhaps there's something that I can do within my power to change that. And for most people, that is true. And so when we look at our cupboards, our fridge, you know what's on offer in the coffee shop, we can say, ask ourselves really quickly, well, how do we want to feel?
Graham Allcott 22:27
And and looking at different foods through that lens as well, right? So sometimes you when you pick, when you're at the counter in Starbucks or whatever, you know, you can probably look at a lot of those cakes and think, oh, that'll be nice, that'll be a little treat. But actually, they're not going to make you feel that great. Exactly. So looking at food through that way that I found that really helpful. Rather than thinking, you know, often I would choose stuff out of functionality, like if I'm on the go, and I'm busy. It's like, what can I eat in the quickest possible way, quickest possible time. And sometimes you choose things based on temptation, or having a sweet tooth or whatever. But like, often I wouldn't be thinking, I'm going to choose this thing, because I know it's going to, you know, really just give me a better payoff in terms of energy. So I think, you know, that was a really helpful thing for me is just to start using that, you know, using that mindset when I was making those choices, and I think once you start to do that, you start to see big results, right?
Colette Heneghan 23:33
Yes, exactly. So without all even the other data and the other finer kind of points and tips and strategies. Just having that as that forefront of mind is really elegant and powerful for your choices. And, again, we are not using the word every time because sometimes it's just not going to wash, you're going to set you're going to go, I don't give a crap I'm going to feel later, I just want that, you know, and and so what you know, this is, it's not all of the time, it's most of the time that counts. And so most of the time, this will work. And I think when we started to unpack the things that really worked with you and I, and then with the other kind of clients that I've worked with over the times this was a real, really powerful mantra that lots of people took away was just having that power to choose how you want to feel. And being able to just look at whatever the food options are, whether you're in a restaurant, whether you're on a flight somewhere, love to be on a flight somewhere at the moment, but whether you're very nice going somewhere warm and sunny, and that you could just make that choice for yourself. And so that mindset is the foundation then of your high energy
Graham Allcott 24:52
and sometimes that's about willpower as well isn't it and the time I always have you in my head is When I get to the biscuits and chocolate aisle in the supermarket, so there's one, one of the little simple tips in the book, which is really great. It's just when you go to supermarkets shop from the outside, so if you think about most supermarket layouts is like all the kind of fresh stuff, all the stuff that doesn't need to sit on a shelf for six months, or three years or whatever, in a, you know, 10, or a vacuum pack 10 years around. Alright, so that's a really good little tip. But if I do go down the biscuit Island stuff, one of your little things that always have in my head is your idea of don't use up your willpower at home. Do you want to just talk about that? Yeah, yeah, so one of the key elements of, of being able to choose what you want is that the moment we find in ourselves a lot of the time at home, so if the only options you have for lunch is a pack of biscuits go home, what are you going to eat for lunch, equally, if you're going through, particularly, you know, challenging day, and the biscuits are calling your name from the cupboard, because you know, you bought in yesterday, then what are you going to eat, you're gonna, you're gonna go for the biscuits, and you will eat them. And, you know, I don't blame you, because willpower only goes so far. And you notice also within the work that you do around productivity, that you can only trust willpower to a certain extent. And we have a little pot of willpower that we spend every day. And we probably spent up quite a lot already on zoom calls, or whatever nowadays. Let's not try and use that for our food choices, too. So you eat good food, when you have good food in whether that's in your fridge, in your cupboard, in your bag, in your glove compartment in the in the car, she spent a lot of time on the road, in your briefcase, whatever that may be in your changing bag with your kids, you eat good food, if you have it. So you've got to be buying this stuff consistently, in order for you to actually eat at those appropriate moments. Because there's going to be a time when we're hungry than we thought it was going to be. The day is over and all of these different things that just life throws those quite naturally, that's going to happen time and time again. And we can't always mitigate for those happening. But what we can mitigate for is just having good stuff in Yeah, and your your tip about don't use up your willpower at home, I take as being sort of it works both ways. So what that means is, I need to make sure I don't put loads of temptations in my fridge. So I don't buy chocolate and biscuits and stuff like that. And I just have to have really strong willpower to not put those in my basket in the shop once. And then that means for the next week when I'm at home, I'm not going to be constantly tempted by those things, looking at these things. But it also means that if I'm out and about in a restaurant and I want to have a dessert, then I'll have a dessert. And sometimes if I'm walking past the shop, and I crave a whisper bar at that point, I love the bar, right. And so I think you know, doing the doing that, that sort of consciously in the way that you shop, and you know, not bringing the stuff into your house that involves having to use up willpower to keep
Colette Heneghan 28:15
again and again and again.
Graham Allcott 28:16
Yeah, means that means that it's just easier to just, you know, end up with a more high energy, balanced, healthier diet. And but that probably leads us on to consistency beats intensity, right? So that's, again, one of our one of the points of the plan. So what what do you mean by consistency beats intensity,
Colette Heneghan 28:38
like I kind of alluded to already, you know, doesn't have to be all the time and also equally doesn't have to be this like massive overhaul of your life, your kitchen, your shopping habits, your tastes even because you may not even like some foods that are perceived as healthy and that kind of thing. So a lot of the kind of jumps that we have to get over to meet lifestyle changes, or we often say Oh, it's just too much. And you know, it's too overwhelming. Well, actually, it's not the small things that you can do every day will always be to doing a you know, a green juice cleanse for seven days, or the fact that you went to the gym for so seven days in a row, but then never did anything for the rest of the month. If you instead was just doing 10 minutes, something every day for that month that is going to change your life that is going to change your physicality. The same thing for food. If there's a small thing that you can do every day, consistently, that's gonna really change you and your approach because it often has a knock on effect to other choices as well. But that's going to have the bigger difference than to just, you know, one day juice in smoothies or certainly in spiralised or food or you've suddenly gone keto or you've you fasted for three days. This kind of high intensity, lots of investment and from your time, energy, perhaps even pocket as well. And the small things, those are the things that are going to pay off in the long term. So the tortoise really does beat the hare, when it comes to lifestyle changes, and especially your food changes.
Graham Allcott 30:15
Two other things I want to talk about from the book. So in Productivity Ninja, I talk about ninja preparedness. And we talked about be prepared in this book as well. What are some of the really because this is really where it gets magical for me is how you can just, rather than cook a meal for two, you can cook it for six. And it's the same effort basically, same amount of time, standing next to your cooker and watching what's in the walk or whatever. But then you've got, you know, four portions of that meal to have over the next couple of weeks, he puts them in your freezer and that kind of thing. So tell us more about some of those things that you can do. That could just really help you to be prepared. Mm hmm.
Colette Heneghan 30:59
Yeah. Well, the one that you just mentioned there, that is the concepts of leftovers not being an afterthought, but actually being, you know, the thought of the meal. So the pre thought, as you're chopping, if you're going to chop one. So
Graham Allcott 31:11
next over rather than Yeah,
Colette Heneghan 31:13
so you're thinking about what can I do next? And again, that's another if you'd like mantra or question to ask yourself, this, we explain in the book a little bit further, which is what what can I do next, as you're preparing for that meal. So if the ovens on, you might have thought for something else, and then you don't have to put the oven on perhaps for the next, the next meal, or, you know, the next day. So just thinking about those next overs in a bit more of just regular fashion. And it always pays off, always pays off, and just throw in whatever that may be into into the oven at the same time. As you've got other things on I talked about, you know, putting things like potatoes and sweet potatoes, oboe genes, cause Yes, and these things can just be thrown in hole into an oven that's already getting hot. And then these things are cooked for another meal.
Graham Allcott 32:00
I know, you couldn't have that stuff in your fridge, right squashes and sweet potatoes and stuff. And then just you've got them to throw into a salad and just bulk out salad. And
Colette Heneghan 32:07
yeah, that has to be eat some warm, they can make a you know, base of a gorgeous salad, it can be a side dish for something else, maybe you buy a piece of cooked meat that's already done, but you add veggies to the side that you've done yourself. And it's all about making it easier for yourself. So when you, you start to think about that ninja preparedness, being prepared just means that you you think about that in a you know, proactive fashion rather than,
Graham Allcott 32:33
oh look, I've
Colette Heneghan 32:34
made more than I needed tonight. It's like, I made more than I needed. Because I planned to and and just that just been part of how how you live. And again, this also comes back to the fact that you're going to have good stuff in so you've got your shopping list and we talked about that as well within the book, you know, how to make a good shopping list. You know, we bought you need to buy weekly versus monthly, etc. How to have things like really good 10 options in really good frozen stuff, because frozen in your freezer is your friend loads of meals that you can pay within 10 minutes that's in your freezer. And all you need is a you know, a hub to to to utilize these nutritious things. So it's those those those kind of really bite sized things. Just having a good look good stop freezer may just be your takeaway from that. But that will serve you time and time again in terms of being prepared.
Graham Allcott 33:28
Yeah, and all that's in the book, isn't it like we've got a shopping list in there. We've got loads of recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I think the other thing that changed for me is just being much more strategic with my freezer. Both freezing stuff that I've already cooked and also just having you know, frozen vege and and then in the cupboard having like tins of you know butter beans and chickpeas and kidney beans. I'm vegetarian so you know most of what I eat, you know, the proteins often come come from the kidney beans and chickpeas Yeah, rather than
Colette Heneghan 34:00
vegetarian or not that they are a you know, a staple for from for most kitchens, I would say if not all have those in those 10 options. And then if you do eat fish having lots of tin fish as well. So things like salmon and mackerel tinned are just great options to add to a meal that certainly transforms it from okay to this is going to make me feel great later.
Graham Allcott 34:24
Should we just talk about eat the rainbow and bioenergy plate? Because I suppose a lot of people might be thinking, Okay, so what exactly do I need to eat? Or like what's the rule of thumb when I'm looking at a meal? So we we've tried to capture that really in the high energy plate and the whole idea of the rainbow. Mm hmm.
Colette Heneghan 34:40
Yes. So So let's start with the plate then because then it can lead into the rainbow. And so wanted to visually capture. What this means is, again, we don't want to be kind of complicating matters for people and that was really clear in all of the work that I've done is that you know, people just confused, where should we start, there's so many kind of myths around healthy eating and what we should or shouldn't be doing. So it was just the people had a visual representation of a plate, and how the proportions of the plate could be made up. And again, this isn't, you know, isn't precise in the in the sense that it's, you know, you're counting your macros and your micros, to get a certain aesthetic, this is we're trying to feel energized and well. So if you look visually at your plate, you know, you look at a plate of food in front of you. And think about the fact that half of it should actually be rainbow plant. So this concept of the rainbow thing has become more available recently, more and more people are talking about the the the importance of having a diverse diet for one, but also a colorful diet for health and health and immune health, especially is top of the agenda at the moment globally, I'd say. So I've seen a lot more about it on social media being talked about, you know, more mainstream media as well. So eat the rainbow, what does it mean? grain? What does it mean, you tell me I've hopefully coached you on this one?
Graham Allcott 36:11
Yeah, well, actually, I remember, at one point I was because what we were doing is I was sending you photos of every meal on WhatsApp. And then you were commenting on. And one time I put together a salad and I was thinking I was feeling pretty smug about it. But when I sent it to you, everything on there was green. Mm hmm. And yes, you can get a certain amount of nutrition by eating your greens, right, that there's a reason why that's a sort of, you know, cliche that your mom will tell you, you know, to eat your greens. But I do think, you know, like, what you really taught me was that you can get different kinds of nutrition and, you know, different values of foods by looking at the different colors of stuff, right? So on that green plate of salad, why didn't I just had a Kara, or some beetroot or some red pepper or, you know, just taking those, those different colors. And you know, and just the simple idea that you get a broader range of nutrients by having a broad broad range of colors on the plate basic,
Colette Heneghan 37:09
exactly, you've encapsulated it perfectly, that's the each color as different gifts to give us in terms of that, you know, different nutrients that are within there. If you're really wants to know what a purple, you know, represents within a beet root, then that's obviously somebody want to go down those lines and in the book, we have given some of that detail.
Graham Allcott 37:29
But you don't need to know that that's the thing that
Colette Heneghan 37:32
you also don't need to know that you just need to know eat the rainbow. And you need to know that how much it needs to be about half your plate roughly every meal, not just one meal, but every meal. So breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And and sometimes your meal isn't presented like a plate, you know, kind of portioned out, maybe it's a curry, maybe it's a soup, but if you just mentally kind of figure out all this, this is a virgin chicken soup or virgin bean soup. So it's got Yeah, probably roughly, at least half of it is going to be these veggies of different colors, then that's great. And it's just about being able to think of it like that, because there's also two other elements to play just so just to elaborate on that a little bit further, half of the play is these rainbow plants are thinking about getting those in those different colors each time. And not seeing it as kind of a labor but as an upgrade. So changing the way you see adding things as the upgrade on your energy. And then the other two quarters of the plate and protein, and also smarter, smarter carbs. And we've talked about those in the book, what smarter carbs are, but essentially then the non processed kind of carbohydrates. And so the if you think about all the whites of our lives, that were that are available towards the white pastors, the white breads, and the kind of bread that the ducks don't eat. I say that because I don't think they're just the ducks in our area. But having a little toddler we spend a lot of time feeding the ducks. And we take some quite nice food down for them some seeds and also some peas they like as well. And your areas too posh if the dog is too posh. Yeah, but you'll see a big pile of this white bread. And this one's like What's that? And and you know what? what it can be there a few days and it still looks the same. And that's really quite worrying that no one really wants to eat it because they're quite clever. avoid
Graham Allcott 39:26
that. Avoid that and smarter carbs.
Colette Heneghan 39:28
Yeah, the smarter carbs. You know, the more if you think about whole grains, there's stuff that is as got a few ingredients within it. Or it's not been adulterated at all like the beans that you've described. You know, it's just the bean, the ingredient is chickpeas, or kidney bean, for example.
Graham Allcott 39:44
And a lot of myths around carbs isn't there. So I think we've become a culture that sees carbs as like the enemy. And you know, no carbs till mobs or that. Yeah. And I think also people, there's certain Foods that people have given a bad rep to like they're told that they shouldn't eat potatoes
Colette Heneghan 40:05
anymore. Or bread.
Graham Allcott 40:06
Yeah, that's a bad guy bread, you know. And so you like you can eat well, with potatoes, you can eat well, with bread, it's just about making good choices, right?
Colette Heneghan 40:14
Yeah, it's just about thinking about that, you know, the process. And that goes into it a little bit. And we do have one of the the points in the high energy plan is about being labeled Sufi. So if there's something that you're buying regularly, you know, we used to call it the daily bread. For some people, it still is daily bread, and that's fine. It is for me, for sure. I love I love bread, but I just buy the good stuff, it's got a weight to it, it's got three ingredients, it's actually made locally versus, you know, got a long shelf life in the supermarket. But even if you are buying supermarket breads, you can get similar kind of presentations of bread, when it's got a whole list of ingredients, maybe 25, you know, suddenly that you've gone off the off topic if you like, and which, you know, when I'm talking about food, I could sometimes do that, because I'm so passionate about it.
Graham Allcott 41:03
I love I love my sourdough bread. But the problem is, I just don't love having to cut it. And I believe, like, if I had to start a business tomorrow, it'd be really well sliced out. No one near me sells that. I just think I might have had this.
Colette Heneghan 41:21
Yeah, I'm gonna buy your really nice bread knife for Christmas this year.
Graham Allcott 41:28
Because I dated a chef for a while. So I ended up having to buy good knives and things like that. But it's just a labor isn't it feels like, feels like too much.
Colette Heneghan 41:40
And for the listeners. This, this is an invitation into Graham's mind here. And this is what I had to work with at the start, which is where the guy at work? Is there any pill that I can take, so I don't have to eat? And, you know, just to me, I
Graham Allcott 41:54
didn't see it at the beginning, I think I said you, I'm the kind of person where if I could get my full range of nutrients in a pill or a powder, then I'm done. Yeah, I'd totally skip all the things. That's why that's why stuff like m QL. And those kind of products are really appealing to people, isn't it because they just solve the problem without having to think about it too much. But they, I think we do they do
Colette Heneghan 42:17
it to a certain extent. And this is what we've experienced. And obviously, we still work together. And we still talk about food, guys. So when I met Graham, obviously he was talking around food as fuel, especially, you know, and looking to avoid meals and avoid all of the kind of joy perhaps that comes and for some people in preparing meals. And however that that kind of has been cultivated a little bit because our brains don't work in a in such a linear fashion. So as soon as we start to care for ourselves, maybe care for the plate a little bit, what's going on it, and it actually goes from builds from there. And I still have all of the images that Graham sent to me as he was sending me photographs of his new food place. And you do see like this progression of thrown on plate versus actually he's put like a sliced egg on there, and that side and some cherry tomatoes border in it. And, you know, the avocado is just that, and it was just getting better and better. And it looked better and better. And I don't think intentionally you were thinking I'm gonna make this look even better. It's just a side effect of having these beautiful ingredients as I would describe available. And then having, you know, the opportunities to do that. It doesn't take that much longer to put that there and that there because, you know, there is an element that, you know, I say we're not linear. And just living off a powder, as human beings is not anything that's going to happen soon. Because food means so many different things. To us, it's a social life, it's a bit of comfort, it's history in our family, you know, what we associate with our grandparents, etc, etc, there's got so many other elements to it, that we just can't solve it with a powder or a pill. And but at the same time, we can also really enhance it by being a bit more engaged when we're preparing it. And I think that's what you did by accident.
Graham Allcott 44:13
Yeah, by accident because I think once you start being just slightly more mindful about that piece that we talked about at the beginning that choose how you want to feel, then you kind of want to show that to yourself on the plate and then if you know you're taking a photo of it, then you just get a little bit more conscious of that as well. It's like I've I've picked something red here. I want to make sure the beetroots in the photo or whatever it might be and so just think over time and I definitely felt like I learned to enjoy my food more through during that process than before. So I like I sort of became more of a foodie I would I don't think I'd ever really say I'm like a full on foodie, but I've definitely treated food as more And function since since working with you, which is Yeah, at one of those kind of surprise. Side effects, if you like, yeah, the main thing for me was about better energy and better mental health and definitely got there and through the book. And before we finish, I wanted to talk to you about working from home. And obviously, that's been a big change this year where we originally wrote this book, for a lot of people who are on the go and busy. And, you know, there's chapters in the book for things like how to shop and how to thrive on the go, and stuff like that. But there's also a lot in the book about working from home. And that's become a lot of people's more regular reality this year. So if you're someone listening to this podcast, sat there, regularly working from home and finding it difficult to juggle the cooking and the work and making that sustainable and healthy, then what tips have you got for those people to really help make working from home? Yeah,
Colette Heneghan 45:58
I think it's a really valuable point right now, we're months into this practice now as well. So maybe we've even established new norms that that aren't serving us, I know that there's a small percentage of people that have established new habits that are really, really good, and they're eating much better. But a lot of the people that I've spoken to the first thing is the fact that they're eating in a more disordered manner. So when you're going to work and you have like some structure, you maybe get the same train or the same boss, or you start similar time, because you're going somewhere. And then First of all, your first meal of the day maybe is at a similar time each day, then same thing, perhaps for lunch, she may be even if she was eating at your desk, you might have the social cues where the people eating or the fact that maybe someone asked you to go for lunch, and so there's going to be some order to the day. So the first thing that I could say for anybody that's working from home is can you apply that rigor to the day around your food, so perhaps you've got, you know, a schedule for the different calls that you're on. But can you actually say, when you're going to have your meal times, because the routine element for your body, the your digestion, your brain, all of these things really thrive on routine. And know that not necessarily everybody loves that or thinks mentally they do. But from a physiology perspective, our bodies really like the fact that they know they're going to get fed, if they don't get fed for a long while, they actually go into panic mode, to kick off the stress response. And if you're working through that, that's going to make you less agile, it's going to make you more volatile, it's going to, you know, that whole aspect of hangry, you don't even realize in how you're reacting to stuff, but you're just hungry, and now you're mad at somebody. And so getting some rigor to the day. So the first thing I would say is, can you apply some scheduling to your meal times, and especially Don't be skipping meals, because that's a real common theme that I've seen is that people have been skipping lunch and just working right through until the night and often working much more hours than they used to now working from home.
Graham Allcott 48:02
Yeah, cuz you work in the commute time as well, right. And then and then the time where you would have even just nipped out to prep for 20 minutes and stuff, you're working that to two people working much longer.
Colette Heneghan 48:13
Yeah, so get a routine going and schedule those meal times and don't skip them. So you know, you're having breakfast at a similar time each day, and, and also the way you eat. And we cover this in the book in quite in depth, but the way you eat is just as important as what you're eating. So we just talked about the when of your eating. So it's a regular and planned, but the way so away from your desk away from that work environment that you're in all day, you know, you're leaving it less often likely that you know nowadays than you used to, you just have the cues to leave the desk or go and chat to a friend or colleague, etc. So make sure you leave your work area, your work environment and actually take the time to eat.
Graham Allcott 48:54
And I would say if you're working from the kitchen table, as a lot of people,
Colette Heneghan 48:57
yeah,
Graham Allcott 48:59
maybe produce that food in the kitchen, but then go and sit somewhere else go and sit exactly the bedroom on the stairs or in the living room somewhere else, basically just to just to switch it up. Because I think even just moving to change, change the view and be just looking at something else will just help you to relax. And when you say how you eat is as important as what you eat. Like, a lot of that is about stress, right? And just making sure that you're relaxed as you're starting to digest food. Yes,
Colette Heneghan 49:27
exactly. And without getting too into the detail of it. When you're more relaxed, your body can digest food much more effectively and efficiently, which means more energy. That's what we're talking about. Now we're talking about the game of energy, choosing how you want to feel if you're relaxed, if you're in a low stress state your body is going to take that food and do lots of more incredible things with it. Then if you didn't exactly the same meal was on a conference call was on a zoom call whilst doing emails etc. and and so this slump that you described that you had in your previous life, you know Before you had this mindset, then that's what's going to get you later. So I always say, stop for meals, take lunch, lunch is not for wimps, that's part of the high energy plan. That's one of our points. And what that will do is that will pay dividends for the afternoon. It is not a cost Your time is an investment in your productivity, your mind and your mood for the rest of the day. So, take a lunch,
Graham Allcott 50:25
for sure. And then the last thing I wanted to ask you about is, I guess the biggest change in your life since we originally started writing this book a couple of years ago. And that big change has a name.
50:39
It's called Iris.
Colette Heneghan 50:40
Yes, my daughter.
Graham Allcott 50:42
So how old is Iris?
Colette Heneghan 50:44
Now? Iris is 17 months.
Graham Allcott 50:46
Wow. I've just got to ask you about how dealing with, you know, being a working mom, a lack of sleep and everything else that that, you know, being a new parent involves? How has that affected your own approach to nutrition? And yeah, what's been your experience with that?
Colette Heneghan 51:09
Yeah, I think Firstly, I underestimated the challenge for the parents. Sorry about that in the past. I never really imagined the sleep deprivation to still be going on into toddler years How naive I was. And, and I, I thought that I would just get a sleeping baby. Didn't happen. And as what I ordered, didn't happen. So yes, I have been battling with sleep deprivation, for at least the past year or so now. And and that does really does change the way our appetite is geared. So our body then wants certain types of foods. And I think we can all guess what that food is. It's going to be your high carb like high sugar, high fat foods that you really like snack foods, biscuits for one, snack bars.
Graham Allcott 51:56
Like it's a bit like when you're hung over, isn't it that totally is same kind of thing as the sleep deprivation without the party. There's no party, when you're hung over a lot of being hung over that feeling is actually about the fact that your body hasn't rested and slept well. Because of the alcohols. It's not just the alcohol itself. So it's actually coming from a very similar place physiologically, but like, you know, when you're hungover or tired. It's for me it's always about biscuits and chocolate and chips.
Colette Heneghan 52:24
Yeah. I'm from Manchester, so chip butty? That's what I would have, yeah, Chip chip bomb cake, as we call it, but we won't get into that, because that is a whole other podcast. Absolutely. But I think Firstly, it is to be kind to yourself. And, you know, honestly, I've eaten more biscuits in the past year than I had in the previous 10. So there you go. No matter how much nutritional knowledge you have, or how much of a strong mindset, if you're really tired, and you've got this small person begging you for attention, you will find this stuff. And, but the key thing for me has been not having it in the house. So if I really wanted that stuff, I'd have to get her ready, get out. And that's harder to In the meantime, have eaten an apple and half pack of almonds. And guess what I've forgotten about it. So having the stuff in has been the real important thing. And I now see this with my daughter, Iris actually how this is translated into her habits too, because she, she's not so fussed about our own meals, but she's mine. And so obviously, I have been quite cunning, and try and pretend to always eat with her and and then just in the beaten off my plate. But my habits have become hers, you know, so one of her favorite snacks is knots. And because I've always got them with me, she's just naturally, you know, loan that habit off me now, you know, taking it away. So it's a really good example that we set as well. And, and more than ever, I'm this role model to this little girl. And so not skipping meals, not starving myself and ensuring that I'm making good choices for myself is then impacting this little person's brain for their lives that lives ahead as life ahead, even. So, it's really important that I've had this stuff in and making those shopping lists, or has and just using the shopping list that I created for the book has been really powerful anyway. And you know, my other half he works off that all the time for our shopping. If it's not me that goes. And so between the two of us, we do always have an option, even if it's not the one I want at the time, so I'm so tired and all they want is a piece of chocolate cake. And the fact that I didn't buy chocolate cake in means that Yeah, I've got to get as both ready and get out and I have to tell you, there's been some days when I've done that. And we've gone out and we've got the stuff and I've eaten all the cake,
Graham Allcott 54:57
but then consistency beats intensity. That's the whole thing. Exactly, you know, you're allowed every now and again to have some cake like, half the cake. Yeah.
Colette Heneghan 55:05
And, and when you give yourself that permission, it doesn't it's not as attractive as it would have been, it's not a forbidden thing for you. So, it's not so much of a thing that you kind of really last after. And because it's not forbidden, it's like, if I really want it, I'll go and get it. But actually, that's in the cupboard, so I'm going to eat that first. And that's the fact of the matter, ultimately, and for any parent that's been through, it's got young, small children like me, or is a new parent as well. And that these tactics that are within the book are really, really powerful. And I had to eat my own advice, day in day and day in day out, and the tiredness really is a massive challenge to overcome. I'm not saying that it's easy, it really isn't. But the fact that I had nourishing food meant that I was the tightness isn't making me sick, isn't adding to the tiredness, you know, by not actually feeding myself well. And all of those things are so important for for being a mom and and having the power to do what I want to do with with with my daughter,
Graham Allcott 56:13
indeed. And yeah, she she's a little charmer as well, right, whenever she's sort of in the background on the zoom calls. And,
Colette Heneghan 56:21
and she is Yeah, yeah, she's a little superstar. As much as she terrorizes me, she is amazing as well. But I definitely underestimated the lack of sleep guys, whoever's listening to this with with children. So I'm sorry. When you told me how tired you was, I didn't know how tired you were. I said I did. But I lied.
Graham Allcott 56:49
And you're still working with organizations around all of this stuff, too. Right? So should we just finish by? Before we talk about the boom? How can people get hold of you and talk to you about perhaps helping their team? Mm hmm.
Colette Heneghan 57:03
Yeah, yeah. So. So a lot of my work is done working with teams and writing kind of approaches to help people feel more energized in the working day. So a lot of the principles we've described today are things that I work on in workshops. But I also look at the human stress response and strategies for better sleep, and how we can make this more available within the workplace in terms of, it's more acceptable to talk about this stuff, and that people are openly taking care of themselves and creating an environment for that. So yeah, my company is optimum living, and we are a well being consultancy. So we work with lots of big clients such as BT, Vodafone, and other IT organizations. And so optimumliving.co.uk is our website. But I'm also on Instagram as Colette Heneghan and I post as regularly as I can, as a working mom on their top tips and advice. But you can access You know, this, these kind of insights in a much more tailored way for teams and for organizations through through those channels.
Graham Allcott 58:18
And I think one of the ideas for the book was I really felt like, you know, I was lucky enough to have some budget to be able to pay you to do, you know, one to one coaching with me, and it changed my life, but I'm just aware that, you know, a lot of people don't have the resources to be able to do that, or perhaps their organization isn't kind of, you know, forward thinking enough to be bringing you in. So the vision really was to put all of the stuff that really matters into into a book, which is actually even though I think the retail price is 9.90 I think it's already like six quid on Amazon so they're obviously trying to jump ahead and sell it cheaper is what a bargain that's
Colette Heneghan 58:57
just like a sandwich somewhere that is
Graham Allcott 58:59
six quid. Yeah,
Colette Heneghan 59:01
the price of one lunch can change your energy energy levels for life and your eating approach for life and and not just for you, but for perhaps the people around you, like I just described with my my daughter, but bargain six pounds for sure.
Graham Allcott 59:18
So we'll put in the shownotes we'll put the links to how to have the energy the book on Amazon. And we'll also put the link in there for bookshop.org as well for those of you who don't want to pay Mr. Bezos, too much money
Colette Heneghan 59:34
also I've I've written
Graham Allcott 59:35
tax evading Bezos
Colette Heneghan 59:37
I've written a couple of articles recently about working from home so I can share those as well. So I gave just, you know one of my key tips which is that routine, and you know, having those scheduled meal times not skipping meals, but there's more in the articles if people would like to access those too.
Graham Allcott 59:55
Cool. Thanks, Collette. Yeah, we'll put all of that in the show notes which is a getbeyondbusy.com And just to say Colette thanks for being on beyond busy again, you are the first person to do beyond busy twice.
Colette Heneghan 1:00:06
Oh my goodness, look at that.
Graham Allcott 1:00:08
There you go. So you should feel honored. Yeah, I
Colette Heneghan 1:00:10
am totally honored. Yeah.
Graham Allcott 1:00:12
And I don't know about you, I'm just really looking forward to this book. Getting out there into the world and helping people.
Colette Heneghan 1:00:17
So yeah, me too, can't wait and can't wait for people to be sharing those stories like they have with work fuel, but perhaps on a on a bigger scale. So it's a Yeah, it's been an interesting journey so far, and can't wait for this new chapter 2021.
Graham Allcott 1:00:37
So have you enjoyed that one, that was obviously with the view to just putting that book on your radar at the time that it's about to be released out into the world. So head off to bookshop.org, head off to Amazon, and pre Order, order your copy of 'How to Have the Energy'. And if you're lucky enough to live in an area where the book shops are open, go into a real bookshop and buy a real copy of the book. So if you want to find out more about the work that I'm doing, if you go to Grahamallcott.com, you can sign up for my rev up for the week email list. So you just fill in the little form on the page. And if you want more about the podcast, obviously just head over to getbeyondbusy.com. At getbeyondbusy.com, you'll find links to the previous episodes, the show notes from this episode more about collects work, all that good stuff. So get beyond busy.com for more about the podcast. And just as we reached the end of the year, this is my my last duty really of 2020 is just to sign off this podcast, and just want to just wrap up the year a little bit. So yeah, it's been a long year. And just want to say thank you for all of the interactions this year and for just enjoying and consuming these podcasts and, and letting me know what you think of it. So keep in touch and keep those messages coming. Always happy to get emails, Graham at think productive.co.uk I hope you survive through the year, it feels like there's definitely a kind of malaise of, you know, depression and exhaustion and people just really running out of steam towards the end of the year feeling that to myself. So if that's you, then just take a breath for yourself. And, you know, just give yourself a breather. Don't give yourself too much of a hard time. And just allow yourself that little moment to just acknowledge Yeah, it's been a hard year, it's been difficult. And in order to, to really be set for 2021 and raring to go. We need rest and recuperation. So be kind to yourself and let that happen over the next few weeks. That's my invitation to you. It's been a tough year. I so want to say a quick thank you to a few people before we finish. Thanks as ever to mark Stedman, my producer on the show. And for all your support this year market spin. Just definitely, I mean, it's certainly been the busiest year for this podcast yet we've we've had the most number of episodes, we've done the most work on it. And it feels like we've really wrapped ramped up our production in lots of ways. So thank you Mark, for your help with that. Likewise to Emilie, there's so much work that goes on in in this podcast behind the scenes, you know, just it kind of looks easy, you know, just line up an hour with a guest and just record it and there you go. But there's a lot more to it than that. And all the work that Emily's been doing this year has really helped us to really hone this operation around beyond busy, take it weekly get more marketing and publicity happening for it. So it's been a lot happening. So I want to say just a huge thank you to Emilie, and also to Riz and Charisse, members of Team Graham Allcott. Both working away on beyond busy Episode 100. And getting lots of other exciting stuff in the diary. So thanks also to his injuries, and also to Apple and Klein and Jess for all your help with marketing this year, really helping me up my game and get this podcast out to more people. So that's been really great. And to Elena and everyone around think productive. It's been a year that could have completely derailed us just with everything that happened earlier in the year. And I feel like we're coming through as a leaner, hungrier, better, more innovative and just, you know, better placed organization. So really happy with where think productive is finishing the year compared to where we started and where we could have been and looking forward to lots more in 2021. So I'm off to drink far too many cups of tea over the next few days. Currently curled up at home reading Matt Haig's book, The Midnight library so, which I've been meaning to do for about two months and it's just around in my house. finally getting the time and space. So whatever you're doing this Christmas in New Year, make sure you get some rest. Make sure you get that recuperation and self care and just give yourself a break. Because we've been in crisis mode all year. And sometimes you really need to spend some time transitioning out of crisis mode and finding that equilibrium back with normality again. So it has been a really difficult one. It's a nice one to get out of the way. And to say that by the time next to it, it will be 2021. And lots of really incredible plans coming your way. We have the compilation for beyond busy 100 which I think you're going to really love. And we're starting off the year with a really great guest So, Guardian columnist Oliver Burkeman, who has for years been writing this column, this will change your life. And as a result, he probably knows more about self help books for good and for bad than anyone else. So I thought that'd be a really nice one to start off 2021 so we're back with Oliver in a couple of weeks time.
So until then just want to say thanks to everybody for for listening this year for drop me a message this year. And always happy to hear from you so Graham@thinkproductive.co.uk or just @GrahamAllcott on Instagram. Would love to hear from you. Have a great Christmas have a restful and recuperating break.
See you in 2021.
Take care bye for now.