By Mary Burns
Vice President
Orlando Central Florida Chapter STC
Vicepresident@stc-Orlando.org
The View from Number 2
Last year I signed up for a month-long “wellness” challenge called Healthy Brain Habits. I received the promise of extra bucks in my health savings account and a list of memory-boosting activities I was to choose from five days a week.
I enjoyed checking off stress management exercises, “adequate rest” occurrences (rarer than I like to admit), and the Sunday crossword as a “mind challenge.” I became aware that many of my everyday tasks as a technical communicator could have qualified as brain-healthy. Analyzing dozens of specifications for a release and editing documentation based on them is surely the equivalent of “read an informative book.”
“Learning a new skill” is also something I do regularly in my job, as is sharing facts with others, which benefits memory. Best of all, according to the activities sheet, a study found that using writing skills to make every word count can help ward off Alzheimer’s: “The more ideas you can pack into your written sentences, the lower your risk.”
So as 2015 brings a new year of working in or aspiring to a profession with a built-in brain fitness factor, it’s a good time to consider career fitness! I hope you will join us for Jack Molisani’s presentation “Be the Captain of Your Career.”