Eat right, sleep tight, and ditch the labels: Industry leaders share tips to master the life seesaw

New Delhi: If you are someone who just waits for the weekend when Monday strikes and hopes the weekend never ends, maybe it’s time for some course correction when it comes to physical and mental well-being.  

In the high-octane world of advertising and marketing, balancing the scales between work stress and physical and mental well-being can feel like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle.  

BestMediaInfo.com asked industry leaders to spill the beans on how they manage to keep their sanity intact while riding the rollercoaster of deadlines, pitches, and creative chaos. These marketing mavens share their top-secret strategies to ensure they don’t just survive but thrive in this fast-paced arena.  

A podcaster, a YouTube creator, a business executive, and a full-time mother, Shailja Saraswati, Chief Content Officer at Omnicom Media Group, finds time to do it all. Her secret? Twenty years of practicing meditation and healing exercises. 

"I can call myself healthy when I feel peaceful, at ease, and energised from within; only then can I use that energy outside," said Shailja Saraswati. 

Limiting yoga to just mindfulness and increased awareness would be deemed shallow. Etching the importance of meditation for optimum well-being, Shailja Saraswati describes her twenty-year journey as a "quest for a spiritual connection."  

"I have a hunger for seeing the world beyond what is visible. After I matured in my career, I always had this question in mind: earning money, going to parties, travelling, having a fancy job—all of that is great. But there has to be a more meaningful life beyond all of this. There has to be a balance." 

What would happen if someone combined fitness and fun? Known for hula-hooping, Niraj Ruparel, Emerging Tech Lead at WPP & GroupM India, shared key insights about how having fun while working out is vital as it takes away the monotonous nature of daily workouts.  

From the horse’s mouth itself, Ruparel said, “Only 30% of my daily fitness regimen is focused on working out, and 70% is on eating a healthy diet. Despite including cardio, weights, agility, and strength training, in my routine, my personal favourite way to maintain my health is to hula hoop.”

Shifting gears, Ruparel explained how hula hooping is enjoyable and beneficial for cardiovascular health, balance, and coordination. “Also, it can aid in more flexibility and provide strengthening to your core muscles. But to get the most out of hula hooping for health, you need to utilise a heavy, adult-sized hoop and practice frequently,” Ruparel further added. 

Speaking of how hula hooping caught his eye, Ruparel said, “When I was a regular student at the academy, a fellow dancer introduced me to the hoop, and I haven’t looked back since then. Going back, I'm really happy about the day in class when I first happened to discover hula hooping. It gave me a new interest and enthusiasm that I'll have for the rest of my life in addition to helping me get better at dance,” quoted Ruparel.

If life is a seesaw, then time management is like your childhood friend sitting on the other end, helping you balance the weight. Most workaholics face burnout in the face of relentless pursuit. Cautioning against such mindless, deadline-changing behaviour Shailja Saraswati mentioned how losing touch with your emotional self can cause hormonal imbalances, low self-esteem, long-term morbidities, and a “perpetual feeling of irritation.”  

Echoing similar sentiments, Sanjay Tripathy, Co-Founder and CEO of BRISKPE, advises freshers to "be relentless in their pursuit, but focus on producing high-quality work. It's better to commit to fewer projects and excel in them rather than spreading yourself too thin and delivering subpar results." 

Contrary to Tripathi’s point of view, Rammohan Sundaram, President of Integrated Media at DDB Mudra Group, shared about his fitness journey a few days ago on LinkedIn and wrote, “Life is short and we have many aspirations but going after all of them is foolishness.”

Adding more to the pool of thoughts surrounding fitness, Sundaram said, “If you are not healthy, then you can’t take care of other’s needs and in leadership, the most important factor for me is the people who trust and work on your vision.” 

Sharing a personal anecdote on his LinkedIn, Sundaram said, “Today, I am at 80 kg, fit and raring to go every morning. But about a year ago, I was 103 kg, bloated, and had a terrible feeling about myself. This was the time when one of my closest friends died due to high blood pressure, leading to a cardiac arrest. That shook me because I was a regular at the gym for as long as I can remember but had a very bad lifestyle and bad eating habits. I cut all of it with my willpower, thanks to my DNA and God’s grace.”  

It’s not a rare sight to see an employee come home mentally exhausted, often unable to find the energy to participate in healthy relationships at home. If work emails and WhatsApp messages post-working hours make you feel agitated and anxious, it’s high time you redraw the boundaries. 

According to Tripathi, “By maintaining a proper schedule, you can signal to your colleagues your working hours and the best times to reach you. In today's fast-paced environment, taking time for your health has become a luxury, making it essential for employees to establish clear boundaries.”

Feelings of anxiety, anger, and agitation often overwhelm us at work, leading to emotional distress. But what if there was a way to keep your emotions in check and gain better control over them? Shailja Sarawati’s mantra for emotional regulation is, “I can be ice, water, and vapour when I want to be.” 

Just as water transitions seamlessly between ice, liquid, and vapour, people can align their moods to fit the situation by practising daily meditation and mindfulness. Step back from the labels that define you and the persona you polish every morning. 

When these labels are removed, people start to see themselves for who they truly are. Contributing to the discussion on emotional management, Shailja Sarawati said, “We get stuck to our personalities. We give ourselves labels like ‘I’m a happy person, so I have to be humorous all the time,’ and end up restricting ourselves. Meditation helps you realise that you are more than public perception and certainly more than just a LinkedIn profile. It not only provides a bird’s-eye view of the situation but also helps you choose the right emotional state for each scenario.” 

To navigate the myriad happenings of the day, it's crucial to go to bed early and get proper sleep. Modern work routines can drastically interfere with our body clocks. Going to bed at 2 a.m. because of a client presentation might seem normal, but it severely impacts brain activity, energy levels, and mood. 

Tripathi’s approach to sleep, which he calls “closing down,” emphasises the importance of mental relaxation. He says, “To be honest, it's sometimes difficult to get a good night's sleep because there are so many thoughts running through your mind. So, if I wake up in the middle of the night, I try to remove those thoughts using meditation before I hit the bed. Sometimes, I don’t force myself to wake up early and allow for that long-awaited sleep time.” 

Harshil Karia, Founder of Schbang, integrates technology into his sleep routine, excelling at continuous learning even when sleepy. He listens to sleep stories as an alternative to reading. "I listen to sleep stories as an alternative to reading. They provide wisdom and are designed specifically to help you fall asleep."

Harshil Karia is also the co-founder of Level Supermind, a mind performance app, alongside Ranveer Allahbadia, also known as BeerBiceps, and Aayush Anand.

It is often said that the body is a vessel of god, and therefore, one needs to be careful about what they fill it up with. The concept of “understanding your plate” is fundamental for a healthy lifestyle. Pushing the button on indigenous foods and Ayurveda, Shailja Sarawati said, “In Ayurveda, the stomach is considered the centre of health. There is “Agni” (digestive fire) and imbalances in it can lead to the production of toxins. Controlling the diet is something where most people find themselves in a tough spot. Your energy levels will be low if you eat at irregular times during the day and you cannot perform at an optimum level if you do not eat right.” 

Reaffirming the importance of a balanced diet, Sundaram too wrote in his LinkedIn post, "Diet is a super important aspect of stay fit and at 48, it was very difficult to stay away from cravings, sugar, non-vegetarian food, etc. I stopped all of it, I don’t eat sweets anymore. My diet plan is simple yet powerful. I wake up and have a full glass of hot lemon water, followed by two eggs, double-tossed bullseye, and two slices of bread. My 1:30 PM lunch consists of 5 chapatis and protein-rich vegetables with no compromise on taste.”