In light of World Mental Health Day 2022 coming up on October 10th, mental health and wellbeing are right at the top of the agenda and at the forefront of everyone’s minds when it comes to day-to-day life and mainly resilience in the workplace. Since the pandemic started it has been a much more prevalent topic due to it causing the highest rates of mental health issues. The importance of talking about mental health and resilience is becoming much more crucial. Working from home has become a high-importance request for employees and a nightmare for employers leading to the workplace disconnect becoming much more apparent.
These days we are seeing a lot more talk around the topic of “quiet quitting” and as Saxton Speaker Ben Hamer puts it “people are unsubscribing from the hustle mentality, burnout as people repurpose their commute time to doing more work, or just the general intensity and complexity of life and work these days.” Suggesting, employers need to step up or they will lose their willing cohort of employees.
Around 45 percent of Australians will experience mental illness in their lifetime, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance is critical to ensuring your ongoing health.
With the World Health Organisation has declared stress as the health epidemic of the 21st century, and with employees increasingly valuing wellbeing in a market where they hold the balance of power, we can expect to hear a lot more about this over the coming months.
There is no doubt that mental illness is a debilitating and costly condition. According to reports, Australians take 3-4 sick days a month for untreated depression each year, costing $10.9 billion in lost productivity, absenteeism, and compensation claims.
Promoting and supporting employee mental health and wellbeing in hybrid environments is one of the most critical aspects of business moving forward in this "new normal" world.
Workplace flexibility is becoming something that employees are much more aware of and according to Microsoft’s Work trend Index for 2022; employees are prioritising health and wellbeing more than ever, yet they are working longer hours and staying back late often. Due to the stressful pandemic times, people are becoming more aware that it is time to start putting their health and wellbeing at the highest level of importance in not only their careers but their social lives as well.
Some suggested tips to protect your mental health and well-being to boost your resilience in the workplace include:
- Prioritising your to-do list as much as you can, taking things one day at a time
- Schedule exercise breaks and stick to them! Try to get outside at least once a day for some fresh air (Setting reminders in your calendar could help to keep you on track and accountable)
- Make sure that when you go into meetings you have clear and constructive goals to allow you to focus on the important things and spend less time in meetings
- Create boundaries; start and finish times, as well as food/exercise breaks, should be consistent throughout your routine to offer stability
- If you are working from home, make sure you have a designated working space that meets all your requirements and try to avoid working in your bedroom or on the couch (these spaces are for your wind-down time and should be separated from your working space)
- Stay connected with your colleagues whether it be in the office grabbing lunch with them for a check-in or working from home keeping up the contact with virtual meetings or phone calls
- Make sure you have a digital detox in the evenings to refresh yourself from the day's screen time
A good thing to keep in mind is your working from home and workplace routines will be different and that is ok. Don’t forget to consider your situation and do what works for you.
Book a professional to educate your team on the importance of prioritising your mental health.
If you need guidance or suggestions in finding the right keynote speakers for your next event, Saxton Speakers can help. Contact our expert team on 1300 799 823 to book. Alternatively, you can enquire here for more information, our roster includes some of the best keynote and celebrity speakers going around.
