Last time I talked about ‘success without wellbing’ and asked if it was true success. This blog is about giving you the tips you may need to be able to work on for the mental side of things to keep the wellbing high. Here we go in no particular order:
Take regular breaks
“Take care of your mental health by setting boundaries with your work and by taking breaks. Set boundaries with your work by making sure that you don’t overwork yourself and give yourself time to rest. Also make sure that you are not working on anything too stressful or emotionally demanding, if you are try to take a break when the feeling of overwhelm starts coming up, but if it doesn’t happen, then just make sure that you have at least have a 30-minute break every few hours.”
Declutter your workspace
“If you become overwhelmed with tasks, a challenge, or a hurtful comment; try to pause, and take a few minutes to tidy up your space. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your physical space, running a dish to the dishwasher or clearing up a stack of papers, or your digital space, cleaning up your inbox or organising a file folder. This practice of clearing your space to clear your mind is known as mise en place in the cooking world and it is immensely useful.”
Aim for progress over perfection
“As a recovering perfectionist, I strive for B+ work, and I remind myself that work done on time is better than striving to do something perfectly and not finishing at all. To help accomplish this, I time block everything. Give yourself a certain amount of time to do everything on your to do list. Try to prioritise them by most to least important and get the small stuff done first.” Some prefer to get the big stuff done first – so find what works best for you.
Reframe your stress
“One way to that take care of your mental health at work is by not entertaining the word ‘stress.’ Instead, You could replace it with challenges or experiences. Our world is filled with all types of chaos and things that are totally out of our control, as well as things that we can control. It is highly important to take this step back, reframe your stress, and breathe. Science even says that stress we see as beneficial to us does less harm to our bodies”
Plan something to look forward to after work
“Mental health is important, and the rise of remote work took away a lot of the human connection we once felt at work. You may find it helpful to plan a get-together with friends, usually to exercise! Rather than connecting with them virtually, plan a human, in-person connection. You can reconnect with old peers, invite new contacts, and just explore new places outside or around the city.”
Talk to your manager about taking a mental health day
It takes a lot of courage to share your vulnerabilities at the workplace. If you hit a rock bottom, tell your boss how you feel and why you need some time to myself. These are not planned vacations, but days when you many not be in your rhythm.
Take stretching breaks
“To take care of your well-being while at work, you could wor on getting up from your desk, set a timer, every hour and doing a few postural alignment stretches. You should find this re-energises both your body and mind. Aim to couple this with distant eye gazing exercises to give your eyes a screen break and to focus on something much further afield – think, balancing your eye muscles out!
Set the tone with a diffuser and plants
“Each morning you could use a diffuser with a citrus scent to refresh your workspace. Plants are great to have around you, try and take little breaks during the day to take time to water them. That allows you to go outside for at least ten minutes, breathe fresh air, walk a little, and have some ‘me time’ away from the computer.”
Pause to take a walk
“Go for a short walk during lunch break. You may find it extremely beneficial to have a real break for lunch time; getting out of the room and spending a short time outdoors really helps bring my stress levels down. It allows you to truly disconnect from work for a while, have a rest from the screen, the noise, and sometimes tensions. When you come back from my walk, you’ll feel more relaxed and more energised which helps with motivation and focus.”
Remind yourself to stay present
“You may have found it helpful to remind yourself that wherever you are, be fully there, totally present. Work-life integration has become scrambled with the growing access to digital technology. When at work you can seek to be fully engaged, and when at home with family you can shift to be present and engaged. Mind the resistance and be fully present where you are. The next step is letting go. Whether holding on to the pain of the past or clinging to precious memories of the ‘good ole’ days,’ choose each day to let go. It’s by letting go that we are able to actually be fully present and not pulled into the pain or pleasure of the past or fear of the future. Practice this today: Be present, and let go.”
Inspired by Thrive.com