Having a mother that works in social services has meant that putting my mental health first has been drummed into me for as long as I can remember. World Mental Health Day pushes the awareness of mental health into all of our lives and the importance of looking after your own wellbeing.
This year’s theme for Works Mental Health Day is workplace wellbeing. The corporate environment can be high pressured work environment which can induce high levels of stress. Whilst I thrive on being put on a bit of pressure, I am fully aware that excessive pressure and stress does not lend itself to my wellbeing and my work product.
I have a few personal rules which I try to apply to my working day:
Don’t sweat the small stuff!
When I was younger I would overhear my parents and their friends discussing their work life and its associated stresses and one phrase was always repeated amongst themselves, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff!’. Though I am yet to read Dr Richard Carlson’s book Don’t sweat the small stuff, the key takeaway is clear, let go of the things that are not important. It is so easy to get caught up in things that will bear no weight on you in the future. If we hold onto every small thing that aggravates us we are left carrying a heavier burden than necessary. The application you had open crashing again may feel like more than small stuff but in the grand scheme of things it should not be something that you care too much about. It is easier said than done and probably mostly in situations where you are in the middle of a sentence and Word decides it does not feel like being open (we have all been there).
Structure your day
Fail to plan, plan to fail. I like my lists but there are times I act like I don’t need my lists to structure my day. Those are the days where my stress levels are higher than necessary. You can stop being overwhelmed by your work load if you structure your day properly. I tend to put calendar appointments for each task for days where I know I need to be disciplined and get through the work at a good pace.
Take your hour
Weirdly this still feels controversial. Desk lunches are still a thing and personally I am not here for it. When I worked in Guildford I would take a walk along the canal when it was nice, take a spin class, browse the shops or simply just be away from desk for an hour. Unless there is a pressing deadline that cuts into my lunch hour, client meeting or I need to get a response out to the other side swiftly, I make sure to have my full lunch hour. I never used to but I learnt that it does not work for me and frankly, I am surprised it works for anyone. The only crumbs I think are acceptable to find at my desk are the crumbs from cakes brought in by colleagues.
When you start to take your full lunch break after cutting it short it does feel weird. You feel a bit guilty. My first proper legal job was in-house and we were encouraged to take our full lunch hour. We often ate together as a team or with other colleagues in the business in the staff canteen, went on walks around the grounds and sometimes went for lunch as a team off-site in the local town. I firmly believe that breaks are vital to producing the best work. Even on busier days, I still take my hour knowing that I need that slight break to power through a day that is likely to be longer than usual.
Off load
Sometimes the small stuff builds up or the big stuff just feels massive. Stress is inevitable therefore figuring out how to off load is vital. My two off-loading mechanisms are talking about it until the cows come home or take a spin class. My parents are talkers which often means there are my first point of call when I feeling super stressy. We exchange stories on what has been stressing us and by the end of the conversation we are all pretty chilled about the situation we were moaning about.
On days or weeks where it’s generally busy, I book myself onto an evening spin class because 1, it adds structure to my day and forces to me to get out of the office by a certain time and 2, because any pent up feelings are played out in the sprint sections of the class.
There are so many way you can off load, another way I used to unload was by journaling and after my parents get sick of my phone calls comprising of me moaning (they won’t) and I might get back to it.
Switch off
After venting about your day I try not to think about work until the next day. It is so important to create that separation otherwise you end up spending your down time working. Granted it is easier said than done but when the thought of work creeps in, I try my hardest to keep it at bay.
Sleep
My last firm ran a couple of sleep sessions where an external expert came in and coached us on how to get the best sleep. At the time I was studying the LPC LLM part time whilst working so as much as I loved sleep I was not getting enough of it. Lack of sleep can wreak havoc on our systems and actually cause stress. I remember feeling constantly tired, waking up tired and just feeling like a shell of myself. The small tips we were given at the talk worked wonders. Bad habits always creep in but when I need a reset the first thing I work on is my sleeping habits.
Continually focusing on my own wellbeing has made me a better worker. Despite graduating five years ago, I still feel like a rookie in the working world and the fact is I am. Burnout is real but can be avoided if you invest time in yourself.
Caroline
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