Your wellbeing at work
Did you know that $10 billion is spent on stress related workers compensation claims each year in Australia? It’s important we all help build resilient workplaces that have a focus on wellbeing so we can increase our productivity and all increase our health for the long-term.
At Bookssorted, we value wellbeing and productivity and we put in place steps to help our team and our community minimise stress and increase their workplace satisfaction.
Here are five of our top tips for increasing your wellbeing at work.
Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness has a lot of buzz around it of late, and for good reason. With our increasingly connected world and our tendency to multitask in almost all our waking hours, our stress levels are rising and it’s doing us harm. A secret tool to help combat stress is mindfulness.
Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh describes mindfulness as “the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment”. In the workplace, this mindfulness can bring us back to a single task, removing distraction and helping us maintain perspective and be productive. To effectively practice mindfulness with each task, find ways to limit distractions by letting people know when you are in ‘do not disturb’ mode and by removing temptation to multitask. A good way to do this is to turn your computer and phone notifications off and even set your phone to flight mode so incoming calls go straight to voicemail and don’t interrupt your mindful work moment.
Meditation
Taking your mindfulness a step further and practicing meditation during your work day can help you calm your nerves and be prepared to handle any curve balls that may get thrown your way.
There are many apps that can help you meditate or you can even practice meditation by going for a walk and focusing on your breathing and your scenery — no phones or other distractions.
A short three-minute meditation focussing on your breath can be enough to bring you back to a calm state and tackle the day with a focussed mind.
Don’t eat at your desk
Eating at your desk not only results in a messy keyboard and workstation, it results in you not having a break in your day.
It’s hard to eat at your desk without checking emails, responding to that request or adding a little more to the report due at the end of the day. But as many studies show, this kind of multitasking does not allow you to do your best at either eating lunch or working.
Chances are you will overeat or eat too fast while your working at the same time. You won’t enjoy your lunch and you may even feel ill. In terms of work, you’ll likely make an error or not respond in a way you would like to as your mind is not completely on the task. This may cause you to re-do the work later, meaning you’ve saved no time at all.
To increase your productivity, it’s important to take breaks. Take your lunch to a lunchroom, outside or anywhere where you can simply eat and not be tempted to multitask with work.
Help to create a healthy workplace by leading by example and also encouraging others to opt for a no-work lunch to maximise productivity inn the office.
Exercise
Exercise should be a key part of your day. This could be a walk outside the office at lunch, a run before work in the morning or a gym session in the afternoon. Whichever exercise and time you prefer, be sure to commit to it and notice how daily activity helps you feel – minimising stress, increasing energy and resilience.
Our CEO, Christine, swears by her morning run for helping her process anything on her mind, gain clarity and focus for the day, and producing the energy to be her most productive and effective.
Utilise our leave account
In November, we blogged about our leave account, which we see as an important step to helping reduce burnout by allowing contractors to put away a portion of their income into an account that we use to pay them in their break from work. It’s just like having paid leave and it allows you to take a break when you need it and be stress-free on your holiday, knowing you will be paid as you usually are.
Find out more in our ‘Take that holiday’ blog.
Let us know your tips
What tips do you have to help increase workplace wellbeing? Let us know through our Facebook page and tag #BookssortedWellbeingTips — we’ll be sharing your tips throughout the Lifeline Canberra Lock Up Your Boss initiative period.
Find our why our CEO, Christine is participating in Lifeline Canberra’s Lock Up Your initiative and help support her efforts to raise important awareness of workplace wellbeing and the important work of Lifeline Canberra through her Lock Up Your Boss webpage.
Feeling stressed?
If you’re feeling stressed, like you need someone to talk to, or like you can’t cope, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Their telephone crisis supporters listen without judgement and can help.