Posts by Thea O'Connor

When I encourage people to create a work ethic that is more in tune with the design of their bodies, I present a diagram that shows how our biological rhythms change over a 24-hour period. It shows how precious the morning can be, for it’s in the morning that our mental alertness and our capacity…

Recently, when I was researching an article on meetings for the Law Society of New South Wales, I came across this finding:  worldwide, workers nominate ‘ineffective meetings’ as the biggest culprit when it comes to wasting time and zapping productivity. That was according to a Microsoft survey of 38,000 workers. Could it be that it’s…

We often hear people talk about sugar as being addictive, and maybe you have felt that yourself. Health professionals are often reluctant to say you can develop a true addiction to this sweet substance. However this may change, as neuroscientists learn more about what happens in the brain when we eat high-sugar foods. A new…

Last week, when bike-riding up a hill, some loose gravel on the road caused my tyres to slip a little beneath me. It was enough for me to fear losing my balance so I put my foot down. The problem was, it wasn’t so easy starting again. Being half-way up a steep incline, I wasn’t…

Self-Monitoring Increases your Chances of Success Are you planning or hoping to develop a lasting health habit? If so, what strategies will you need to adopt to stay the course? While there’s no single answer to health behaviour change, there are some essential ingredients you don’t want to leave out. One is learning how to…

Getting support when cultivating a new habit increases the chances of long-term success Have you ever tried to quit smoking or give up alcohol, when your partner, family or friends continued the habit? Or tried to make healthier food choices, when everyone else is tucking into takeaways and soft drink? And what does it feel…

Do you ever talk yourself out of doing the healthy things you plan to? I know many people who would answer ‘yes’. And that’s including me. So I’m going to share here how I did some health coaching on myself to (mostly) stop sabotaging my best laid plans. It involves a simple technique that you…

I don’t know about you, but at this time of year, I get a bit bored with all the advice about how to stop ourselves from overindulging over Christmas. As if calorie-consciousness, discipline and restraint were the only way to save ourselves from our voracious appetites. Today I have a different proposition for you: That…

Witnessing the unbridled energy and joy of a dog running along the beach is delightful. Watching a certain breed of jogger (the determined, grimacing types) can be painful. The dog is more pleasurable to watch. It’s also the one more likely to keep being active for longer. According to sports psychology, the factors that motivate…