How is your workplace wellness? Today is World Mental Health Day, and this year is a landmark anniversary. First held in 1992, today is the 25th day dedicated to raising awareness of mental health issues and fighting the still-associated stigma. This year’s World Mental Health Day is focusing on mental health in the workplace. Workplace wellness is essential to the happiness and productivity of employees and while we all know how important diet, exercise and sleep is, there is a lot more we can be doing to help reduce stress and maintain our mental health throughout our workday.
So here are a few easy tips to help improve your Workplace Wellness
- SMILE! Moods are contagious, so give a grin and really mean it when you say good morning to your colleagues.
- Practice gratitude. After you sit at your desk each day, write down three things you are grateful for. Don’t let yourself have your coffee before you’ve completed this each morning.
- When someone asks how you are, really think about how your feeling in that moment, you don’t have to launch into a big chat but it’s a good habit to help you switch off your autopilot.
- Ask someone how they are doing and be genuinely interested in their reply.
- Incorporate some mindfulness into your day. Just a minute concentrating on your breathing will help calm and focus your energy. Download a mindfulness app (one of my favourites is pacifica, it has some really good free meditations) and escape somewhere private even if it’s the bathroom! (Don’t forget to plug-in your headphones)
- Get outside! Just for a few minutes of fresh air can greatly improve your mood and productivity and even better if you can add in a short walk and some mindfulness.
- Use aromatherapy oil, either in a diffuser or an oil burner, if you work in an open plan office or customer facing, pop a few drops on a tissue and inhale deeply throughout the day. My favourite is tangerine, its fresh and citrus aroma is very calming to the body and mind.
- Take an appreciation break. Send a thank you email or even better a thank you note to a colleague.
- Recognise the physical signs of stress. Sometimes you will think that your fine but your body will tell a different story. Skin issues, stomach upsets and muscle pain can be symptoms of stress.
- TALK! Find a colleague that you trust and can go to with a problem. And remember nobody ever made a problem worse by talking about it.
This isn’t about adding more things to your to-do list, but rather acknowledging you need to maintain your mental health and improve your workplace wellness. But if you find you are struggling, please reach out and ask for help. Mental health problems don’t magically fix themselves, would you expect a broken arm to heal correctly without a cast?
Spunout.ie, reachout.ie and a lust for life websites have some brilliant resources for looking after your mental health.
Massage is great at helping to reduce and manage stress find out the benefits of massage
What are your tips for workplace wellness?
How do you look after your mental health in work?
3 Responses
Thanks for sharing this! Some great tips! Like the idea of aromatherapy oil on a tissue
The workplace can sometimes be stressful. Even the smallest thing like not having stuff organized can bring stress and frustration. These are good tips for dealing with workplace wellness. I will try some of them myself.