We all know it’s important to look after ourselves but often we concentrate on our physical selves and neglect what’s going on in our heads. This is especially important at work, as stress has a huge impact on our mental wellbeing. Some stress is good, even beneficial; too much can cause a lot of damage, especially if the effects on your mental health go unnoticed and unacknowledged.
The World Health Organisation has predicted that, by 2020, depression will be the second cause of ill health worldwide. As the charity Mind (www.mind.org.uk) pointed out recently, this doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be millions of more people who will develop depression – it means that many more of the people who are living with depression will have found the courage to speak out.
So what does it take to be happy at work? The answer, of course, is different for everyone but a number of organisations have come up with some very useful suggestions that might help us all stave off feelings of stress and isolation – feelings that can lead to more serious problems down the line.
The New Economics Foundation (see http://www.neweconomics.org/projects/entry/five-ways-to-well-being), for example, talks about the importance of properly connecting with people (particularly important in the days of social media). They suggest simply choosing to talk to someone instead of emailing, sharing a lift with a colleague, or just taking five minutes to really find out how someone is.
Physical exercise, too, has proven benefits for mental health – just taking the stairs rather than the life, or going for a walk at lunchtime, is a great start.
And then there are the less obvious examples. Research into happiness (published in the Journal of Social Psychology in 2009) has shown that committing one act of kindness towards others once a week for six weeks results in a measurable increase in wellbeing. Learning, and especially reaching a goal, also gives a strong boost to wellbeing.
And then there’s Mindfulness, which has become more and more popular with companies in recent years. The idea behind mindfulness is that it helps you to ‘switch off’ your analytical thoughts (which can easily spiral out of control) by encouraging you to concentrate on your surroundings and senses. The simple act of taking notice of what’s around you is a good start – how long is it since you really looked around you on your commute to work (assuming you’re not driving, of course!)?
While our core offering at Space2BE is ‘Executive Coaching, Leadership Development and OD / Talent consultancy’ we think that there’s little more important than a happy and healthy workforce. That’s why we’ve partnered with some of the UK’s best experts in the field of Corporate Wellness and developed products that are designed to make sure that everyone in your organisation is ‘fit to focus’. People who are at their best in body and mind, work at their best.
“Health is a serious economic strategy. It’s not a cost to the employer, it’s an investment.”
Dr Dee Edington,Health Management Research Centre, University of Michigan
