The Future of Wellbeing Podcast:

Join us as we delve into the world of workplace wellbeing with a focus on where we are headed in the years to come. We will explore the relationship between wellbeing, performance, and commitment to the organisation, as well as the significance of measuring wellbeing.

Episode 9 Guest:

James Hewitt, Human Performance Scientist at J Hewitt Performance

James is a performance scientist, speaker, and author, with over 15 years of experience in human high performance. James is also an active researcher at Loughborough University, ranked as #1 in the world in Sport, Exercise, and Health Science. His research focuses on high-performance knowledge work, with a particular interest in how we can achieve high performance, without compromising our health in the process. James’ work includes consulting for Formula 1 drivers and teams, advising Fortune 500 C-suite executives, and novel experiments to provide cutting-edge insights for some of the world’s most demanding and top-performing organisations.

Topics:

• 00:00 How are you today?

• 03:33 Caffeine, Ice Baths, and Placebo effects

  • [Seth Godin talks a lot about Placebo,

  • And here's also a great talk by Rory Sutherland on this topic.

  • And here's James Hewitt's article on Ice Baths]

• 08:33 Cold Water Therapy and Ice Baths? Do they work?

  Ultimately, as with any intervention, it comes down to the Risk-Reward ratio, and the Cost-Benefit ratio (Financial Cost, Time).

• Wellbeing solutions are as unique as we are. So unless we try something, we won't know if that solution works for us. 

• 11:24 What's a Human Performance Scientist?

• 14:50 Cognitive Endurance Athletes. Effort-Recovery paradox. The problem with relying on lagging indicators when things go wrong. And what's the opportunity for employers?

• 21:50 Sustainable Performance Thresholds. Wearable Solutions in the workplace, and how they help people calibrate their intuition.

  • [Reference to Microsoft's study: "Research Proves Your Brain Needs Breaks"]

• 28:57 How often do you remember to let the magic of the moment wash over you? 🌹

• 32:16 Micro-breaks and their characteristics: relaxing, active, social, and natural components.

  Also, did you know that loneliness can be as harmful as smoking 12 cigarettes a day, while good social relationships have a similar positive impact as physical activity

• 38:38 Why invest in Wellbeing. The challenges. Understanding the wellbeing measures in an organisation: Phycological Sense of Wellbeing (i.e. Satisfaction), Physiological aspects of Wellbeing (i.e. Sleep), and the Psychophysiological resources people (i.e. Heart rate variability (HRV) monitors).

• 43:58 The increasingly important factors of Human Sustainability, Human Potential, and Human Capacity. The value of Wellbeing both as an Outcome, as well as a Driver of other outcomes.

• 46:25 The Future of Wellbeing lies in integration and accountability.

  • [Reference to the HBR articles "Stop Wasting People’s Time with Meetings" and "Dear Manager, You’re Holding Too Many Meetings"]

• 55:58 James' mood-boosting track [Aerodynamic, Daft Punk] and the meaning behind it, as well as the science

  • [Reference to the study "Effects of music tempo upon submaximal cycling performance"]

• 56:55 If the Future of Wellbeing were…James' version   💙 🍕 🐈