With the holiday season over and the new year upon us, it is a great time to assess what wellbeing initiatives you take to look after yourself during the working day. Assess if they are working, and, if not, how you can improve bad habits and start a new, healthy routine.
Wellbeing is certainly a buzzword, but put simply it can be defined as the moral or physical welfare of a person or community. This element of physical welfare, or physical activity per se, is crucial to achieving wellbeing in the workplace. This is because there are numerous benefits to physical exercise in the workplace including higher productivity, a reduction in sick days and an increased retention.
The UK Mental Health charity Mind backs up these benefits, with their research showing how higher wellbeing measures at work equals higher productivity and happier staff.
If you’re unsure how to improve your wellbeing at work, don’t worry. At Myles Wellbeing we have researched the best ways to ensure that employees are in an environment which promotes wellbeing.
1. Take Time Out
Taking time away from the office or your screen can recharge your brain battery and promote a better work-life balance. Here’s some ways to take a time out:
Flexible Working
Flexibility in the workplace is becoming more common, and so if your workplace offers such a scheme, definitely seize this opportunity. Four-day work weeks are emerging with great benefits and hybrid working allows employees to smoothly transition back into the office.
Post- Work Relaxation
After work, take time to do something that you enjoy to relax after a long shift. Whether that is through cheffing something up in the kitchen or going to the gym, just give your mind respite to allow itself to prepare for the next day.
Take your lunch break!
When you’re in the work-zone, it can be hard to take a break when you want to finish a piece of work or reply to the morning’s emails. You might even eat lunch at your desk while still reading the document you’re working on– this is still not a break.
Research has shown that only one in three people step away from their work to respite for lunch. Other workers will skip the important meal, or just snack throughout the working day while still at their desk. In the long run, this will cause employees to burn out, even if at the time you feel as if you are being more productive. Work apps such as Slack have the option to set a status, so set it for lunch and take that well deserved break.
2. Physical Activity
Exercise, or any physical activity, boosts wellbeing in the workplace. Exercise reduces stress, since sweating releases endorphins that help relax your mind, and it also reduces fatigue by improving circulation which provides an instant rush of energy, to name a couple of benefits.
3. Community
In an age where working from home is becoming evermore frequent, a sense of community is key to maintaining wellbeing in the workplace. Regular team building is really useful, either through group chats where you share random thoughts and daily encounters or meet-ups outside the normal workspace.
Apps, such as our own Myles Wellbeing, are also great for team building. Friendly competition never hurts anyone, and an app which promotes physical activity in doing so, is even better for the aforementioned benefits. With a leaderboard, you can compete with your work friends in a fun and (quite literally) rewarding way, allowing you to find your top three athletes in your workplace whilst ensuring you also reward the most improved employees, not just the fittest.
4. Sleep
Physical activity is great, but sleep is vital to wellbeing. It is recommended that adults aim to get at least seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Sleep is essential to pretty much every process in the body, and our brain carries out many of these during sleep. If we do not get enough sleep, our physical and mental functioning– including concentration, productivity and alertness– will be negatively affected the next day.
To ensure you are getting enough sleep, try out a sleep tracker to see how many hours of sleep you are getting each night, or establish a realistic bedtime and stick to it every night, even on the weekends, to reach your sleeping goal.
5. Mental Health
Looking after your mind is just as important as looking after your body. Research from Mind shows that one in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England, and so ensuring employees have support in the workplace is key.
If employees are struggling with their mental health, there are many free resources and tools for your workplace to help. For example, the charity Mind offers a free guide to their Wellness Action Plans to help start a conversation with your workers about their mental health.