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27th April 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Emotional Intelligence, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Uncategorized, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

WFH VOL4: The importance of Balance

Balance — Why is it so important?

Think about this… If work is going well, but your social life is non-existent and seeing your mates is important to you… how would you feel?

 (Actually, this probably isn’t the best example considering the current climate)…

Ok let’s say work is going well, social life is great, but you have poor health…. OR, health is good, social life is great, work is going to plan but you have a toxic relationship at home – how do you think that you will make you feel?

What I’m saying is that it’s extremely important to pay attention to all your life domains if you’re to experience a peaceful, stress-free mind. Most of us do one to two things:

The first — You focus solely on all things going well in your life and ignore the things that aren’t. Which in turn leaves you with that constant unsettled feeling in background that you may be able to shake off now and then, but it will always find its way back to the mind.

OR —  You’re the person who solely focuses on the single thing that seems to been going wrong, which causes you to feel like everything in life is ‘going-to- pot’… That one thing is having full domination of all your life’s domains.

So you see, either way, we need to have an awareness of what’s going in order for us to achieve a peaceful balanced mind. The longer we bury our heads in the sand to ignore that ‘thing’ we’re not wanting to face, the bigger it will grow, the harder it will be to confront and the more frequent it will come back to visit us until finally, it will force us to do something about it… and being forced to do anything isn’t the greatest way to handle a situation.

On the other side on the same coin, that one ‘thing’ having such a negative impact on all the other life domains needs to be put into perspective. What’s going well in your life? What will you do about that one thing holding you back from stepping into your power?

Below is a simple exercise called The Wheel of Life. It’s a great way to get a snapshot of the level of satisfaction you’re experiencing in each life domain.

Note: I’d encourage you to try and fill this out with pre-lockdown-life satisfaction in mind.

 

Wheel of Life Exercise

Completed Version –

Balance

/ˈbal(ə)ns/

noun

  1. an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.

 

Allow your emotional state to be standing tall, upright, and steady. Gaining balance prevents overwhelm by giving you more control over your thoughts. It brings peace of mind and allows you to make better decisions… decisions that you’ve made by choice, in your own time, and from a calm place.

 

So how do we achieve balance, and peace of mind?

 

Step 1: Complete the wheel of life

The first step is to learn where the imbalance is. It may highlight a few unknowns, and it will for sure cause for action, but it will be well worth it. Of that I am certain.

 

Step 2: Put things into perspective

Put things into perspective and you may realise that it isn’t your life that’s not going well but in fact, just one thing that we can turn our attention to and aim to solve. Reduce the overwhelm by putting things into perspective. Allow yourself to acknowledge, reset, and start again from a place of understanding and calm.

 

Step 3: Be honest with yourself

We lie to ourselves way too often when we say things like… ‘I’m actually ok with ‘X’ not going so well at the moment, I have to focus on ‘Y’ right now’.

Please people, don’t fall into the trap of putting something off to focus on something else. Unless you’re truly ok with ‘X’ being how it is, do not ignore it. Face it head-on and your ‘Y’ will be a lot more enjoyable… along with everything else. Be honest with yourself as you will be the only person to suffer in the long run.

 

Use this time to find your equilibrium… Make balance be a post-lockdown goal.

 

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Personal Development reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging at times, gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; mason@projectmindwork.org

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep on top your physical and mental fitness; The Home 360º Programme

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13th April 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance

WFH VOL 3: Motivation

Keeping on top of your physical and mental wellbeing

 

VOL 1: Habits and VOL 2: Routine is about to be given the glue to help it all come together…

MOTIVATION, Such a big word, something that either comes in waves or doesn’t come at all. Something we all want more of but find it so so hard to maintain… Or do we? When does the need for motivation come into action? When we need to do something we don’t want to do. Right? Wrong! Everything needs motivation but many have just muddled up the order of priority.

We already have the motivation, lots of it. It’s just misplaced much of the time.

For example, how much motivation is needed to go to the pub after work on a Friday? Compare that to the amount of motivation that’s needed to go to the gym after work on a Friday. (which is the best time, as everyone else is in the pub). You see, you do want both of those things but going to the pub perceives to take little or no motivation. It’s become a habit/part of your weekly routine… Do you see where I’m going with this?

VOL1 and VOL2 of this WFH support blog covered the importance of habits and routines. Everything is about mindset, and with a slight mindset shift, you can literally change your life for the better. Let’s stick with the Pub Vs Gym analogy… You have attached the act of going to the pub with being easy and fun, and the act of going to the gym to be difficult and, well, just not fun. Let’s look at how you feel AFTER the pub… say on your way home or the next morning… how about when it’s a big one and you check your bank statement. Let’s compare this with how you feel once you leave the gym, a bit achy? yeah, but I bet you feel good. Proud that you made it, smug that you’re not in the pub? Imagine if this became part of your weekly routine, if the gym became a ‘good-habit’ and you started to see the weight coming off, the muscle definition coming through, the fitness levels improving? How motivated would you feel to continue this new you? I’d suggest that you’d be pretty motivated for your next gym session.

Motivation

/məʊtɪˈveɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

  1. a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.

 

I once read somewhere, something along the lines of “At some point, the pain of not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.”

What I take from this is that the short-term gratification will never offer you long term benefits i.e. deciding to be overweight and

unhealthy (Pub and snacks) Vs Deciding to in better shape and healthy (out of place/uncomfortable in the gym)

Think about the mental implications this can lead to also? Short-term insecurity Vs long-term self-loathing… I know, it’s harsh but I’m afraid it’s true. I have worked with many clients from both sides of the spectrum and the short-term insecurities never last long.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now and get onto the good part… How to get and stay motivated?

Step One: Look at the thing you want to achieve.

Have a goal in mind. Don’t be scared to make it big. Whether in fitness, business or personal development, have a goal in mind. We humans NEED direction. Like the saying goes ‘if you have no direction, you’re already there’.

Step Two: Find your motivation

Think of your ‘why’. Connect to your goal, connect to the future you. Keep that person with you at all times. Reminders on your phone is a good one.

Step Three: Light the fire

NEVER think about ‘the thing’ that needs to be done i.e. the going to the gym. ALWAYS think of the outcome i.e. the new body, the endorphin release, the pride. Visualise it.

Step Four: Change the relationship you have with the ‘thing’ you want to achieve

Remember motivation becomes easier once you change the relationship you have with that thing you’re wanting to achieve. The comfort zone becomes bigger, your repetitive behaviour will see to that for you.

A common mistake that many make is to look for something external to motivate them… maybe a video. The problem with this approach is that you’ll always be dependant on it. Be motivated by YOUR goals, they will always be there to give you that much-needed kick up the butt.

Step five: How to stay motivated.

You can’t… Well not to all things at all times anyway. I don’t think I’ve met a single human that has never had to dig deep and go through the steps again to get them back on it.

Falling off the wagon does not mean we can’t hop back on. People throw the towel in too early and confess that they’ve tried and failed. So if you fall off the wagon, just repeat the steps.

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Personal Development reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging at times, gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; contact@mindsetmason.com

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep on top your physical and mental fitness; The Home 360º Programme

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30th March 2020 In Emotional Intelligence, feedback, How to, Leadership, Stress, Workplace Health

The art of receiving feedback as a manager

By Crystal Mbanefo

Not so long ago, I created a survey asking people how comfortable they felt about giving feedback in their teams. Quite a few of the answers on the form quoted:

“Oh I can give feedback to my teammate if something they do frustrates me that’s fine! But obviously with a manager it would be different!.”

Today, I am going to talk about one of the hardest forms of feedback currently known to man: employee to manager feedback. As you may have read in my first blog post on feedback, this can be a daunting scenario particularly in stifling corporate environments where hierarchy is the be-all and end-all.

A great example arose a few months ago when I was discussing with an ex-colleague. She said to me:

“Ohhh I feel my manager is slowing me down! It’s been 3 months now that I’ve consistently asked for the completed documents. He keeps saying he will work on them and get them to me but he doesn’t! It’s so frustrating!”

I say:

“Well tell him, It can only help!”

She immediately gasps and says:

“Are you crazy?! Do you want to get me fired? He’s my manager! So what happens when I tell him and my feedback rubs him the wrong way? Then what? I get excluded from the team! How would that help me?”

Herein lies the challenge with giving feedback “upwards”. We are taught from a very young age that hierarchy is often (if not always) right. We are taught that the “parents are wiser and know better” or that “the client is king”. We are also very aware as adults that money is very important to our survival, so we stay on the cautious side, trying our best not to rock the boat.

The consequences of this?

Nothing improves.

The work remains in an inefficient state; the employee’s feelings about the situation could quickly evolve from frustration to anger and even to demotivation, burnout, or exhaustion. (Side Tip: As a manager, it pays to be wary when your passionate employee goes quiet. That might be a sign that something is off).

I’m over it!

Now you might think:

“Oh, so there’s no consequence for the manager then! The only person who suffers here is the employee since they are not in a position of power to give feedback upwards to the manager.”

Well, I think it’s not entirely true.

There are consequences for the manager when their employee can’t give them honest feedback and one of the biggest consequences is that it reduces the team’s productivity, motivation, and morale. When these are affected, the manager will struggle to attain the goal of leading the team effectively. The manager might even witness people ready to leave his/her team at the drop of a hat.

In a sense, the team members hold the key to the manager’s success because they have their ears closer to the ground and a clear idea of what activities or strategies are working well in the team on a daily basis. The manager is more in an over-seeing role, so being able to listen and gain insight from team members is crucial.

So how as a manager, can you create a feedback-friendly environment where employees can give you feedback honestly?

Here are 4 tips I have learned during my journey of personal and managerial development.

  1. Become an active feedback researcher:
Where’s my feedback? Anyone seen it?

YES! Instead of waiting for an employee to give you feedback that you were not expecting, go and ask them for it. Be willing to share that you want to improve your managerial style and you would like to know how you can improve. Something I’ve noticed about this technique is that it feels very empowering for the manager and also, the employees tend to have a lot more respect for a manager who is willing to question their techniques and constantly improve. Try this next time and share with us how it felt!.

2. Create a fear-free zone:

Have you ever heard of Massimo Bottura and the case of the broken lemon tart?.

Create fear-free zones by turning mistakes into creativity.

Massimo’s story is an incredible example of the growth mindset. As a manager, aim to create spaces where mistakes can happen, where things can “not” go according to plan, and where imperfection is welcomed.

Why? Because we are human; we are all imperfect; we are all flawed. The more we allow imperfection and create from it, the more we create environments where our employees feel safe. In the long run, this gives you employees who are willing to praise your amazing management techniques, and in turn, shout out about the company. Strangely enough, when you give them the freedom to be themselves, they will be willing to jump through hurdles to give you the best of themselves.

Come work here cos it’s awesome!

(Little parenthesis and a shout out to my current manager Eddie Andress and to my CEO Evgeny Shadchnev for creating and contributing to these holistic practices at work.)

3. Practice Active Listening:

I hear you, I hear you.

This is probably the most important one but it is highly overlooked. In this step, we are “simply” listening to what another human being has to say. We are not brewing up ideas to challenge their viewpoint whilst the person in front of us is talking. We are simply listening. We are putting any thoughts, private agendas or judgments on the side, and really listening to what they are trying to tell us.

If you’ve never tried this before, try listening to a colleague for 5 solid minutes without interrupting them and without brewing up judgment or ideas whilst they are speaking. It’s difficult at the start but once you get the hang of it, you may find out that you are more able to listen to your employees, to gain more clarity on their issues, to decide the best decisions to take.

4. Break free from ideals:

I want to break freeeee

Free yourself from the idea that you have to be perfect as a manager; that imposing authority is the only way; that you need to lead the troops…It’s old thinking. Move into the future of leadership where emotional maturity reigns: Be willing to accept that you too as a manager are human and thus imperfect and have space to grow and learn. Be willing to accept that you have blind spots just like anyone else. Be willing to recognise your triggers and how you can regulate these triggers so they don’t stop you from taking on good-quality feedback.

Did I hear you say “What triggers?”. Well, that will be the topic of my next blog post so stay tuned 🙂

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29th March 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Uncategorized

Keeping on top of your mental and physical wellbeing

WFH VOL1: Habits

Easy to pick up, hard to put down…

We’ve now completed our first official week in lockdown, and it seems that most of us have survived it with our wits still intact. But, how are we all feeling about the week ahead — Week 2?

(Quick shout out to those in the NHS working their butts off to keep on top of this pandemic, and a further shout out to the wellness professionals offering free classes to keep us all moving while much of the world stands still.)

I expect that this week maybe a little more daunting, especially as we start to look forward and consider the likely possibility that the 3 week lockdown period will be extended. Fear not, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, as bad as this thing is, it’s happening and if I’ve learned anything from my years of working with people in crisis is that acceptance is a powerful and useful tool.

We must accept that it’s happening, as we have no choice. However, we do have a choice as to how we wish to respond. Let us look at a few responses to the lockdown that I’ve heard over the last week:

“I’ve just been taking it easy, I like the extra time in bed and making the commute to the kitchen”

“I’ve had a few glasses of wine each night and catching up with friends via video call, it’s been nice”

“I’m going to need some more Netflix recommendations”

Do any of the above resonate?

We are in a time of crisis and I agree that we have to make ourselves feel calm and comfortable to keep our panic levels down, but on the other side of the same coin — when will your physical and mental fitness work its way back into/into your everyday life?

Surely you must have thought about it, and probably decided that this week (week 2) may be the week you start, if so, use this post as a reminder, if not, use this post as a sign that your wellbeing must take priority if you’re to get through this with minimal physical, and minimal emotional damage.

habit

/ˈhabɪt/

noun

1. A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

See, even the definition says that they’re hard to give up. Solution? Don’t pick them up in the first place. Now is your opportunity to pick up the habits that will serve you well. Good Habits — Just as an FYI, this post isn’t just something to get you through the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the chance for you to literally decide and design the (elusive) version of yourself that you were looking for before this whole thing hit us.

So over the next few weeks, we’ll be supporting you by providing some of the fundamental tools and practices needed to get you through the next few weeks to ensure an easy transition back to the ‘new version’ of normality.

I’ll be introducing new topics each week to cover a 360º approach to your wellbeing i.e. Your mind, body, and spirit. Next week we’ll be looking at Routine, their importance, the benefits, and how to implement.

If you’d like to jump ahead and grab a free eBook — Be your own life coach — simply follow the link. Re your habits, consider these 5 steps;

An easy trick for this is to close your eyes and visualise your perfect day — What time do you get up, what do you have for breakfast, what does your morning routine look like. Do this for your week, and your month. How awesome is that you?

We’re talking habits, not addictions here although there can be a fine line. Habits can be ingrained into or subconscious, but bring mindful of them i.e. bringing them to the conscious mind is the first step to letting go of them.

A little NLP technique for you — Take your list of habits, and simply acknowledge when they arise. By having the awareness of when the habits arise/their triggers — we allow the conscious mind to beat the subconscious to the punch.

Go back to your perfect day exercise — What did you do regularly. What habitual behaviours did you exhibit and contribute to your day, week, and month?

Just to give you a clear distinction between the two — A habit is an action we do often in a regular and repeated way. Routine is a regular way of doing things in a particular order. The main difference between habit and routine is that habit is a recurrent with little or no conscious thought whereas routine requires a high degree of intention and effort

In the meantime, I encourage you to start this very moment — we have a lot more time on our hands and this is the very same time we’ve all been asking for since forever. If you’ve ever said ‘Only if there were more hours in the day’… now there is so use them well, use them wisely, use them in the name of personal development.

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session (An amazing way to start your day)

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Live Meditation – Every Friday 07:30pm

App –  Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging. Gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; contact@mindsetmason.com

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep your physical and mental fitness out; Check out The Home 360º Programme

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18th February 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Personal Development, ROI in Wellbeing, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

Wellbeing “Hacks” for your company

Wellness aka Wellbeing… It’s way more than a hot topic. It is now an actual thing… a necessary thing.

But I guess the question is – to all my HR, L&D, Head of People people, Employers, and anyone else who’s been given the responsibility of looking after the health of your employees – What does wellness mean to you?

Do you believe there is real value in keeping your people well maintained and in good health? Let’s (for the sake of this post) say that you do agree with us and that looking after your teams will have a positive impact on all aspects of the company, including the bottom line – What are you currently doing for your employees?

Yoga?

Massage?

Workshops?

All, none, or some of the above? What’s the engagement like? Were the offerings asked for by the employees or did you just give it to them? Finally, is your company one of those that has a ‘Wellbeing Day/week or even month’ and offer nothing else for the rest of the year?

I realise I’m asking a lot of questions here, but I’m hoping that these same questions may start being asked internally.

Yes, I know, It’s true… There may not be instant gratification for the leaders, c-suite, or shareholders, etc and it may take a minute or two to see it’s true value, HOWEVER, there is now proof, actual hard data, real evidence that investing (properly investing) in wellness programmes will allow your company to enjoy an ROI as this one-of-many studies suggest. 

Going back to the barrage of questions I asked; Many companies may call a wellness provider in to deliver some wellness stuff without knowing what wellness actually is, or may simply wish to tick a box. We encourage you not to be those guys.

True wellness is a 360º thing, i.e. mind, body, and spirit. Mental, physical and spiritual health (more on spiritual health in the near future) needs to be addressed if we are serious about making a real positive impact. Mind Work believes that the ‘Mind Matters Most’ which is why we encourage companies like yours to initiate any wellness solution by having a better understanding of where your employees’ minds are at.

 

No need to panic as there are a few simple mini-hacks for companies of all sizes to implement starting from next week:

 

Hack 1:

Hold more 1:1’s and mean it. By ‘mean it’, I mean the line managers need to show up i.e. ask the right questions and really listen to the answers. We all just want to be heard right? True communication is a fundamental component for your employees to feel that they are valued.

 

Hack 2:

Internal Comms – Simply send out emails suggesting wellness/stress combatting articles. Some may read them, some not, but it brings the topic up, shows you’re aware that people may be suffering in silence… It shows that you actually give a sh*t.

 

Hack 3:

Simple but effective – Surveys. Again, be sure to ask the correct questions if you’re wanting the results to genuinely reflect the wellbeing or your employees. Gear the results towards the physical and mental health of your teams, not towards performance and company culture.

 

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in contact: mason@projectmindwork.org

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22nd July 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

Start the work

Here we are again, another week at work. Despite how you’re feeling this morning, being here at work is actually a good thing, and among all the challenges we face here day-day, I encourage you all to be grateful. Now I’m not saying to be thankful for the difficult people and conversations that you may face, or for you to be happy about the workload and the late-night you may have to pull to send it off. Nor am I asking you to enjoy the anxiety and stress that builds up all too frequently. But, just to acknowledge the simple fact you have a job that you’re being paid to do it, and of course, not to forget you have the ability to leave if you wish… Yep, I know that last one is pretty loaded but ultimately it’s the truth.

That being said, although you can get up and walk out if you like, that’s not what I’m suggesting here. Leaving your job is a conversation for a whole other blog post, one which would include buzz words such as ‘values’, ‘purpose’, ‘fulfilment’ and all that good stuff – But for now, we’ll keep on topic.

I have an idea to offer you that can be used to make the job less of a struggle. We all have bills to pay, which means working/having a job is a must (So let’s just accept that for now)… but before doing others work i.e. the type that is supposed to take place between 9-5 but always ends up being later – the real work needs to be done on one’s self.

That’s correct, what I’m talking about here is self-work/personal development. After all, if we spend most of our waking day working for someone else, does it not make sense that the rest should be spent working on ourselves? Invest in yourself and watch your stock grow!

Why do I need personally develop? I hear you say. In my humble opinion, it’s through personal development that true happiness and more importantly ‘fulfilment’ is found. So if our days consist of work followed by television, the pub, oh and a visit to the gym a couple of times a week to make ourselves feel better – then, of course, we’ll eventually hit the ‘Unhappy Wall’… Hard!

If you’re not looking after your mind, body and spirit (yes spirit) then work life will have a larger negative impact than necessary. I touched on this in last weeks post in Step 3 – but thought I would try and encourage you to take it a little further and approach your personal development as THE most important aspect of your life, after all, if you’re top of your game you’ll be of better service to everyone, both inside and out of the office. 

Personal development can be anything from improving a talent you already have or learning a new one, aiming for your potential, swapping negative habits and thought patterns for positive ones. It can be something simple like time management and finding a routine that serves you… for routine, a book named THE MIRACLE MORNING is a game-changer.

My question to you is ‘What do you currently do in the way of self-improvement?’ Or maybe you don’t need to improve, maybe you’ve got it all sussed out and happy to be exactly the same person you are today until the end of time? If so then I’ve wasted your time and you may discontinue reading now, BUT if you have the self-awareness to realise that some work could be done, then let’s focus on that.

When we decide to work on ourselves, external situations become less important, have less control over us, it loses its power. You become your prime objective, you are your no:1 motivation, and almost bulletproof to all the BS that we often see around us. 

The problem with ‘self-work’ is that many see it as exactly that – ‘Work’. The truth is, it’s unlucky that it will happen overnight, or even over 2 nights… studies say that it takes 66 days for a new habit to become a behaviour, but what’s 66 days out of a lifetime? Another great thing is that you do not need to go through this change alone. There are plenty great coaches out there (Myself being one of them – visit www.mdr-coaching.com for more info) that help clients stick to their goals, overcome their challenges and to hold them accountable to ensure success.

The brain is plastic, (not literally) The brains plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change throughout life. The human brain has the amazing ability to reorganise itself by forming new connections between brain cells (neurons). Therefore allowing us to lose habits and behaviours that may have been great 10 years ago but no longer serve us.

So in conclusion, please don’t let your life revolve around your work, your work MUST revolve around YOU. In order to take control of your life, you must build a relationship with yourself, your mind, your thoughts and your actions. Be active, not reactive, be the cause, not the effect.

Wishing you all a lovely week. 

Until then, Ciao for now.

If you have any questions on anything discussed, please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Contact me direct via mason@projectmindwork.org   

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14th July 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Stress, Workplace Health

Less stress in 3 simple steps

Lovely people! If you’ve read my last few posts, you’ll know that I’ve made my thoughts pretty clear on what ‘wellbeing-at-work’ really is and should be – especially as I am seeing more and more that ‘employee wellness’  is being disguised with or replaced by a half-hearted ‘one-off wellbeing day’ or ‘one-off wellbeing week.’ What will a short term wellbeing initiative achieve, not sure?!

Anyway, it’s Monday, YAY! Another week of early starts, ‘motivating meetings, juicy deadlines, exciting emails, time-saving lunches at the desk, office politics, lovely late nights in the office…all the ‘delights’ of corporate life!

How does this make you feel? Totally fine, I hope. Or does it bring on that knotty feeling in the gut…you know the one! Or does your chest start tightening, and maybe you’re little short of breath and your mind is racing? Some would call this anxiety!

Ok, so I know this is all a bit heavy for a Monday morning, but I can assure you, it doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom. I will help those feeling the fear by planting a few seeds that will grow into feelings of calm, peace, acceptance –  making the rest of the week (almost) a doddle.

How though? I currently work with people on a one-one basis or in a team scenario to reduce (in the aim of elimination) the stresses and anxiety levels that many experience on a daily basis and not just on a Monday, the whole week, month, year.  We work together to find simple ways in which de-stressing practices can be assimilated into your average day without any dramatic changes needing to be made.

Before I go into the practices that are designed to make your (let’s say) week a little easier, I’d really like to emphasise the point that those feelings of stress and anxiety are NOT normal, they are NOT part and parcel of a job and they should NOT be accepted as so.  We often hear clients say things like ‘…yeah I’m stressed, buts that’s normal.’ This mindset is dangerous and a fundamental cause of the increase in avoidable mental health issues.

This mindset keeps us holding on to ‘little stresses’ that may seem so minor, or little that you think you can deal with easily. But, all of these little minor stresses got stored. They are the straws piling up eventually breaking the poor camels back. Don’t be the camel.

So, here are three easy steps to make the week a little more, erm…. for now, let’s just say manageable.

  

Step 1

Is to mindfully acknowledge the feeling of stress. recognise it, tell yourself  “it’s ok,” sit with it for a bi,t and understand that whatever the external cause was, it’s now your choice on how you deal with it.

You have a few options. You can let the stress lead the way and dictate a response (which 9 times out of 10 is an emotional one), or you can bring a little calm back to the mind, logically think about the situation that’s causing the stress. If it is something you have to do… either do it or don’t. All the stressing in the world won’t change the outcome. If it is something that has already happened,  it has already happened. You can amp up your stress x10 if you like, but I c guarantee it will not resolve anything. So, you choose how you wish to proceed.

The list of possible stress triggers to some may be obvious or if I listed them here, would be too long and stressful for some to read, but the same principle remains.

The mindful acknowledgment of our stresses is a powerful tool. It allows more control over our actions, our reactions. This positive behaviour change will be noticeable almost immediately. It reduces the size of the ‘thing’ that would usually trigger the stress, but most importantly it will reduce the amount of time your body/mind spends in stress-mode, and lessen the risks from the myriad of health symptoms that stress can lead to.

For more on this, have look back on my post from a couple of weeks ago.

 

Step 2

It is all about you, it really is. So step 2 is – ‘time for YOU’. Why wait until the pressure is unbearable before you decide that you need to step outside and take a breather? Try setting a reminder for a 5-10 minute break every 90 – 120 minutes.

You will be amazed at the increase in focus and productivity this brings. Give your mind a break, just like you would need to sit down after running around for hours on end, don’t make your brain do all this leg work without any break, let it take a seat before you put it back on the treadmill.

Remember, this is your mental health we’re talking about, so it’s not to be taken lightly.  Here, Debbie Hampton discussed this beautifully ‘Why you need to give your brain a break‘

 

Step 3

Dare I encroach on your personal ‘out-of-office’ time? I do because this really is where the magic happens, but also where a little graft is needed. At Mind Work, our ethos is the ‘Mind Matters Most’, and we all need to understand that it must be treated as so if it’s to be kept fit and healthy.

What’s your meditation? Find it. Sitting in quiet crossed legged for periods of time has tremendous benefits, but let’s just take it one step at a time. Find your meditation, find your zen, walk in a park, workout, read something that makes you feel good, build that brain muscle. Going home and watching junk TV like Love Island is literally like taking a dump in your head. Avoid this.

We always hear the term ‘you get out, what you put in’ the mind is no different. I encourage you to think about this seriously. This also means that what goes in needs to come out, like pretty much everything else. So I’m sorry to say that a trip to the pub won’t do you any favours in clearing out the mental negative-junk that your poor brain has consumed throughout the day.

Everyday stresses are stored, and they build up gradually without you noticing, and by the time we do realise we’re stressed/ anxious or unhappy, we’re often already in the hole with an uphill to climb ahead of us.

Look, I have helped many people out of some really deep holes, so if you feel that’s where you are then fear not because it is impermanent. I promise, there is a way out and it is within your power to get you there.  However, prevention is better than cure right? Why wait for the shit to hit the fan before you start taking steps to improve your mental health, to personal development, to being able to live a happier, better-balanced life?   

 

Make the decision to make the change and look into employing these three simple practices into your days. So, lets recap:

Step one

Mindfully acknowledge the stress/anxiety. Sit with it, understand its cause, react with rational thought.

Step two

Give yourself a mental break. Rest the brain often, avoid overworking the mind.

Step three

Find your meditation out of the office – take your mindfulness home with you, find your release, not your suppressant.

 

Wishing you all a less stressful week ahead. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

You can email directly via mason@projectmindwork.org

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21st March 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, ROI in Wellbeing, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

Wellness, Are Companies Really Getting It?…

Credit where credit is due, there are many companies attempting to give this wellbeing malarkey a go. They’ll have the yoga sessions, a workshop, maybe even an app for some reason? Although we do not think this is enough, Mind Work we are still happy to see as it shows a degree of awareness. It’s undeniable, wellness for employees is a hot topic.

 

That being said, it seems that many have not yet quite grasped the whole reasoning behind the “wellbeing for employees movement”.  A ‘Wellbeing Week’ once a quarter simply won’t cut it. As with anything, commitment is a necessity if you want to see beneficial results for your company and more importantly, your employees. We know that a happy workforce will reflect on your company’s overall output so why do so many fall short when it comes to giving wellness programmes the respect it deserves?

 

Company wellness programs are failing, and one of the reasons are that they’re not ‘Programmes’ at all. Similar to the new years resolution of going to the gym and taking one spin class per week and jumping on the scales to be met with the 2 lbs you added, before declaring it’s not working. Don’t get me wrong, the employees (whom of which the programmes are designed to serve) themselves must also take their fair share of the responsibility with an attitude that seems to imply that they feel like wellness at work is something done to them rather than for them. These programs are often superficial/for show – they don’t elevate company culture, inspire commitment, or even tie to the company’s business goals. Any program that alienates, annoys, and distracts those it means to serve will fail to deliver results in the long-term.

 

Here is a great example of this from Henry Albrecht – Founder, CEO & Board Director at Limeade

“There’s no shortage of “wellness gone wrong” examples, starting with the programs that held people accountable for achieving biometric values but never gave anyone a hint that the company understood or cared about their lives. And frankly, for every egregiously punitive approach, there were (and still are) 10 programs barely skimming the surface of their potential. They’re feel-good distractions embraced by those already in the club. As corporate investments and priorities, they rank somewhere between the company party and bean bags in the conference rooms. Do they even matter?

Most corporate wellness (now often called “well-being”) programs have so far failed to deliver on their potential. But the good news is, with a more holistic well-being and engagement model, employers can achieve much bigger results than companies and employees have envisioned to date – results that go well beyond health and health costs to something richer: true work engagement.”

 

There are a number current reasons to why programmes don’t seem to be working. Three of which Henry Albrecht highlighted as being ;

 

1. Wellness Programs Don’t Work the Way Our Brains Work

Although the narrative indicates that the health of employees seem to be the driving force behind the reason of implementation, I think it’s safe to say that the main reason that these programmes have found their way into companies is in order to reduce the costs that poor employee health, both physical and mental rack up i.e. make the company more money (which is totally fine of course).  On one hand we have the fact that healthier people will cost less to insure and less likely to take days off. The influencers embraced this, and the idea spread. There was a second and more suspect premise embedded, though: that you can pay people to comply. Those who don’t participate won’t get the same insurance benefits, effectively shifting costs from willing participants to unwilling ones. And it worked… in a short-term way.

Ultimately, however, this punitive Industrial Revolution mentality often created more resentment than value. It sent a clear message of accountability, which on the upside saved some lives and caught some serious issues early with its focus on important preventive care protocols. No one wants to be told that they need to improve their health to avoid financial penalties; that message absent an immersive cultural commitment to whole-person well-being breeds resentment and won’t help companies with long-term engagement and retention.

And these are much bigger, higher-value goals than lowering health costs.

Even when messaged positively, telling people the “right” thing to do and holding them accountable for doing it “or else” is fundamentally out of touch with how people think, work, and act  – and what they want. What exactly do employees want? Barry Schwartz and others have shown that people crave a sense of purpose at work, as well as community, belonging, value, autonomy, and mastery. The science of motivation is the relevant science for voluntary programs. Prioritising these things has the potential to boost the bottom line while making employees happy, too. What’s more, creating caring and supportive companies – with high expectations – will help us take on the widespread isolation and suffering we face as a society.

 

2. “Wellness” Is Largely Irrelevant to the CEO

If you ask a Fortune 500 CEO about corporate priorities, you’ll generally hear a standard list that includes increasing revenue, profit, market share or stock price, serving customers well, globalisation, technology disruption and maybe winning that Great Company award. Some might even go out on a limb and mention attracting great leaders, retaining top talent, or even creating a great culture as a way to achieve these other goals.

Where is employee well-being on the CEO list? Is it even in the top 20? Is it “a given” but not explicitly measured or managed? Wellness isn’t seen as a strategic part of culture creation that can increase engagement and ultimately lead to a company’s success. It’s a check-the-box, unimportant thing that ends up buried at the bottom of a long list of employee perks. For many companies, it’s program number 21 from one of the least influential departments: benefits.

I see this disconnect every day with our customers, both in under-appreciated human capital functions and in the C-suite. And it’s not surprising given the way we’ve sometimes done these programs. But there’s no reason for this to happen anymore. Consider these findings from Limeade:

  • 88% of employees with higher well-being are engaged at work, compared with 50% of employees with lower well-being.
  • 98% of employees with both higher well-being and a higher perception that their company supports their well-being say they want to be working at the same company in one year.
  • 99% of employees with both high well-being and organisational support would recommend their employer as “a great place to work.”

It seems like focusing on an energetic and engaged workforce has potential, but…

 

3. Wellness Programmes and the ROI issue 

Wellness programs have historically been chartered with lowering healthcare costs – but proof of their results has been tough to nail down. One reason is that health costs fluctuate for reasons unrelated to health – like network design, unnecessary surgery, generic drug strategy, economic incentives for hospitals to do more procedures, and other “supply-side” issues. The second and third reasons are the ‘how our brains work’ and ‘irrelevant’ reasons outlined above. But there’s an important fourth reason, too: we have been looking in the wrong place.

Research shows that employee engagement and turnover are much bigger drivers of a company’s financial success (or lack thereof) than medical costs. And well-being has a direct connection to these outcomes.

Taking a broader look at the results associated with an engaged and energised workforce should have the potential to convince a CEO or CHRO to take a more strategic approach to employee well-being. Having a model to help the C-suite see these connections is the key to breaking through the noise.

 

In Summary 

So with all that being said, why is it still such a struggle/almost controversial for companies to invest in wellbeing programmes along with engagement? CEO’s and decision makers should be putting this stuff at the top of their agendas instead of continuing to subscribe to the ‘old-school’ systematic protocols that have been ingrained into the both the companies and the individuals running them.

A new approach from the forward thinking C-Suite is the only to build sustainable businesses in a time where burn-out is on everyone’s lips and more people are quitting their jobs than ever before . Just like that start-up culture prides itself on being ‘agile’, your wellness programmes should be strategised in the way.  Actually including them into the model and the culture of the business instead of a nice-to-have add-on. A genuine focus on not only employees physical health, but mental states of wellness that encompasses their purpose at the company, community, belonging, work well-being, emotional well-being, autonomy, mastery, their energy, and even financial well-being. These are the true pathways to enjoy continuous innovation, loyalty and keeping companies happy in good times and bad.

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16th January 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, ROI in Wellbeing, Stress, Workplace Health

2019 Corporate Wellness Trends

In 2019 we are hoping for employee wellbeing to continue to grow and for more employers to look after their employees by understanding that it’s the best way for them look after you… We’ve saying this for ages, it just makes sense and something you or your boss must get… If your employees are happy and healthy they’ll be more productive and more likely to stay with the company longer.

We’re now going to use this time to offer you/your employer an insight to what 2019 looks like in the way of corporate wellbeing. It we cover how best to use wellness programmes while ensuring working well with your employees to reach your targets. We shall. also be covering:

  • Wellness programmes strategy
  • What we mean by ‘Wellness’
  • Technology and personalisation
  • Investment

 

Corporate wellness

It’s not a new concept, and many execs may understand the concept of wellbeing and maybe even its importance, however, many are still caught up with the ingrained systematic models preventing the true benefits wellness programmes can have on companies. Having wellness within your company should be a priority, and thankfully, it is in many organisations and becoming ingrained within their cultures. It is these companies that are seeing  an increase in productivity, a decrease in absenteeism and assisting in strengthening the corporations within their respective markets. Mind Work are pleased to see the growth on investment in corporate wellness but would like to see the implementation more thought-out with clear goals in mind.

 

Employee demand

Ideas about wellbeing are changing in many areas of the world. People are less cynical and skeptical about how things such as mindfulness and meditation can impact general wellbeing, and there is a growing demand for health and wellness support from employers. This includes corporate fitness centres, nutrition programmes and coaching programmes. The mindset shift is proved when companies remove programmes and there’s an outcry from staff.

 

Change in corporate culture

There is increased diversification with different programmes being offered. We’re transitioning from talking about wellness in a traditional sense — eating right, exercising more and making sure you’re taking necessary medication — to looking at holistic health and the trend towards talking about wellbeing as wellness.

Mind Work’s programmes approach health from a mind, body and spirit perspective. Within this, it’s not just exercise, nutrition and medication — the physical side — but also behavioural health, social connectedness, sense of purpose, character strength, meditation and mindfulness. We’re using these components that comprise wellbeing to make sure that we offer solutions that will help individuals achieve a better state of wellbeing.

Employers are starting to embrace this as well — going beyond traditional corporate wellness programmes to address emotional health, from both work and personal perspectives, and the need for social connections.

 

How do you measure success?

Although we are heavily focused, and ambassadors of human interaction with our programmes, we have developed software that allows teams/employers to track mood alongside productivity in real-time. 

Up-front analysis of an individual’s needs is essential: defining personalised care at the right time. The second element is measuring whether they are achieving their health goals, being more productive at work and are less absent. Is the employer seeing lower turnover of employees, are they seeing better performance as a result?

This is the way the industry is moving as a whole: looking at individuals holistically and providing well-being solutions that meet them where they want it, when they want it.

 

Risk assessment

Corporations large and small should be looking at their demographic to understand where there are areas of risk. This needs to go beyond eating right and exercising, to include ‘do you have a part of your population that can’t pay their bills?’, ‘do you have a part of the population that’s unhappy at work or is really struggling in the workplace or at home?’. Work to understand their character — strains, strengths and traits. Are these people in the right jobs based on who they are? Is their personality a good fit for where they are? Are they struggling with their boss or co-workers?

Understanding a lot of these will involve a shift for many corporations and they will need support in this. They’ll also need help deciding what to do with this data, how to build the best health and well-being packages for each person.

 

Technology and personalisation

There is an increasing demand for personalisation in many industries and digital tools are helping to deliver it — and at scale.

Currently, corporate wellness can be personalised to the level of specific groups rather than individuals. Many people think personalisation means ‘individual’ — ‘me and my specific needs’. And while we use a lot of data and insights – your age, basic health details, even personality information about what makes you happy or sad — this is only used to define which wellness programme is best suited to you. This means individuals are enrolled in a wellness programme with like-minded others and those with similar well-being issues.  However, as we discover more with data and build out solutions we will have programmes that have more and more bespoke aspects — tailored to individuals.

There are so many new digital wellness and well-being tools on the market, but the key is that, for them to work, they need to be entertaining, interactive and engaging — and they need to mean something to the individual.

The other keystone to wellness tech is consolidation. There are so many apps and services and sites for every different need, person and condition — it’s overwhelming. How does a person know what’s good or bad, or what they need for their current state of health? Health care companies need to better help members navigate the options and help employers choose and implement the right tools for their members.

We work with our clients and their teams to ensure that the services we offer are for them and coincide with the main objectives.

 

Increasing investment

Investment in corporate wellness is shifting. More corporations are supporting wellness programmes, adding them as part of their benefits — including components of wellbeing and incentives programmes

For the corporations already offering wellbeing initiatives and programmes, it is unclear whether a significant amount is increasing their funding of these programmes. But they are definitely shifting their budgets into different areas of corporate wellness and expanding their offerings. This is often to offer a more diverse range of programmes — often based on learnings from previous programmes.  

How much should companies invest in wellness programmes? While firms can’t do enough to support employees to make sure they’re living as healthily as they possibly can, there is always going to be an employer benefits ceiling as far as budget allocation is concerned. And so, it’s important not to waste the budget. Companies should seek to learn and improve their programmes to support the best health outcomes for their employees that, in turn, boost productivity and profitability.

 

Barriers

As mentioned previously in this post,  the adoption of corporate wellness is growing but there remain challenges.

One challenge is how we prove success. The outcomes from programmes and tools are long-term — life-long — so it’s very hard to measure whether one specific programme or group of programmes has been successful from a health and health care standpoint.

Companies want to know: ‘Is this mindfulness programme actually reducing my costs?’ In short YES. If you’re the type to understand that instant gratification isn’t the best approach for your long-term plans. 

Please contact us to arrange a chat with one of the team and discuss what Mind Work may be able to do for your company.

 

 

 

sources:

1 Artiga & Hinton, 2018
2 Shankya, H., & Christakis, N. A. (2017, February 1). Association of Facebook Use With Compromised Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study. Retrieved from American Journal of Epidemiology: https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/185/3/203/2915143
3 Killingsworth, M., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind. Retrieved from American Association for the Advancement of Science.: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/330/6006/932

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3rd December 2018 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

Consequences of Stress in Your  Organisation

Here are some of the impacts that stress can have on a business or organisation: 

 

Absenteeism, presenteeism and ill health. Employees who are stressed may be absent from work due to stress, they may come to work but not be able to perform their duties to the normal standards and they may suffer from other health problems developing from the stress (e.g. long-term chronic, mental health and other conditions and potential addictions). These factors will significantly impact the business or organisation due to lack of resources, the loss of knowledge and experience and the impact of this on other employees. There may also be health and safety incidents as a result of stress.

 

Morale and motivation. The above will, in turn, have an impact on employee morale and motivation, both in terms of the employees who are struggling with stress and the employees at all levels in the organisation who have to pick up their responsibilities.

 

Staff turnover, recruitment, and training. As a result of the above, staff turnover may increase and experienced employees may leave the organisation. The business or organisation will then have to recruit new employees with the associated time and costs of this recruitment and training.

 

Productivity and efficiency. Employees who are stressed and coming into work are likely to be much less productive and efficient than usual and this combined with employee absences, low morale and motivation and staff turnover will have a negative impact on overall business and organisation productivity and efficiency.

 

Customer service. It is very difficult to maintain customer service levels with staff absences, high staff turnover, morale and motivation issues and low productivity and inefficiencies. Stress can therefore result in customer service issues and problems, with customer complaints and potential loss of customers.

 

Communication and relationships. Where employees are stressed another impact can be on communication and relationships in the business or organisation. People who are stressed can be angry, irritable and withdrawn, which together with low morale and motivation and high staff turnover, can impact team dynamics, communication within and outside the company and both internal and external relationships negatively.

 

Business and financial performance. All the above will result in a deterioration in the company or organisation performance, in terms of sales, profitability and cash flow.

 

So what can a business or organisation do to prevent or minimise the above impacts? Here are some ideas:

 

Understand the data. A good starting point for any business or organisation is to evaluate the level of stress of its employees by gathering data such as the level of absence, long-term illness, staff turnover, Human Resources or Employee Assistance Program calls and health and safety incidents as a result of stress and softer data such as employee feedback, management experience, customer feedback etc. This can be done through surveys, group and team meetings and one to one meetings. You may also want to seek external help with this analysis.

 

Risk assess the business or organisation. Alongside the above it is a good idea to risk assess the organisation to understand the current situation in all areas (both what may be creating stress for employees and the impact of stress on the organisation).

Areas to consider include:

– The working environment such as the physical surroundings, equipment provided, and heating and lighting (e.g. an open plan working environment may be creating stress for employees due to high noise levels impacting concentration).

– The culture of the organisation such as support for staff, values and beliefs and management practices (e.g. Management not accepting that there are stress issues and not providing any support to employees or a practice of everyone having to stay until the boss leaves could be creating stress).

– How employees are treated such as clarity of job and role descriptions and objectives, communication on a team and one to one basis, training, expectations around working hours and deadlines and career opportunities (e.g. ambiguous and unclear job and role descriptions and objectives or lack of training or too much or not enough work for or responsibility given to an employee could be creating stress).

– Resourcing such as employing the right number of people to meet the company’s requirements and having the equipment to do the job properly (e.g. employees may be stressed because the organisation is understaffed and they are working long and unreasonable hours).

– Scheduling and planning such as poor project planning or management chopping and changing their requirements of their employees (e.g. Unrealistic deadlines and work schedules can create stress for employees).

You will need to personalise any risk assessment to your business or organisation and may want to seek outside help to complete it.

 

Mind Work are able to come in and work alongside your team to assist you in understanding the data, set goals and determine a strategies and solutions in order to increase company productivity and ultimately, profitability. Alternatively, there is some useful advice available at the UK Health and Safety Executive website.

 

Support individuals with stress management. As an employer you can support your employees to prevent and manage stress. This may be through open conversations with line managers, providing Employee Assistance stress support services, stress management training (such as our online video based stress management course for business owners, directors and managers and listening to employees concerns and taking action to improve things for them.

 

Make organisational changes to prevent and reduce stress. The risk assessment will highlight areas that need to be improved or changed in the organisation in order to reduce or prevent employee stress. This could be anything from changing the culture of the organisation to recruiting additional staff. You can get some ideas from the areas mentioned in the risk assessment areas above.

 

Hopefully the above has got you thinking of the potential impact of stress on your business or organisation and what you can do to prevent and reduce stress.

 

Author: Liz Makin

 

 

 

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