Gaming for mental health
Boost your super
Organising a WFH space
The science of positivity
How to remain social
Gaming and mental health
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Photography/illustrations: Pexels, Unsplash, The Noun Project
Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Hodges
Jacqueline Hodges, Siobhan Vale, Sushmita Sharma, Thomas Hall. Team Vision Voice, Belletrist Salon
Designer Kristina Mazalova Content Coordinator Sushmita Sharma
Editorial Enquiries 07 31 433 334 10 Ellenborough House, 126 Brisbane Street, Top of the Town, Ipswich, QLD 4305 em@10ellenmedia.com
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10 ELLEN MEDIA Embrace Magazine is published by 10 Ellen Media (ABN: 23 645 770 350) Articles express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Embrace or 10Ellen Media. The Embrace privacy policy is located at https:// embracemag.co/privacy-policy/ 10 Ellen Media’s privacy notice can be read at: https://10ellenmedia.com/ privacy-policy/ 4 | Embrace
About Embrace Embrace creates an attainable Shangri-La for women where they can live, prosper, and enjoy a healthy and balanced state of tranquillity. At Embrace, we believe that wellness is not only about physical or emotional wellbeing but a balanced harmony of mind, body, and soul as well as their interactions with other individuals. While we embrace the beauty of being, we also look up to embrace the opportunities of becoming. Our readers are women who are young, not only by their age but also within their heart and mind. Embrace offers engaging activities, inspiring ideas, entertaining stories, helpful informational tips, and everything that one needs to live and enjoy a well- balanced life.
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NEXT ISSUE 4 January
© Embrace Magazine 2020
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As we welcome the season of freshness, Embrace brings a new perspective to the beauty of living. With this edition, find your balance to embrace the wonderful beginnings and new opportunities of Spring.
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Consider Green buildings Energy efficiency when buying a property By Andrew Johnson
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wareness of information is essential when making decisions, so we can best understand the consequences of our choices, and have minimal regrets in the future.
“A green building is a building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts on our climate and natural environment. Green buildings preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.” (The World Green Building Council, www.worldgbc.org)
If the information is a new area of research for you, please consider the Green Building Council of Australia, www.gbca.org.au, which has some useful information covering commercial and residential projects. When looking at existing buildings as a home or an investment, those that stand out from the pack are those where the previous owner has understood ‘green’. This means that the owner included what they could and enjoyed a comfortable property. The efficient use of energy, namely electricity, gas and water are important when considering the ongoing running costs and comfort in your home or investment. Consider renewable energy, which in most cases could be solar energy on the roof. There is potential to add more in the future, so check your utilities or even to look at options to put back into the grid. It is always good to consider pollution and waste reducing measures in and around the building and enabling of reuse and recycling. Look at what exists at present and what else you wish to do.
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Look for good indoor environmental air quality, which is maybe simply having good crossventilation. When the property is closed-up, it is good to have ventilation options, air conditioning or systems available. It can be useful to ask about the experiences of the existing tenants and history of the property to obtain further clarity in order to decide. When inspecting a home, look at the materials used throughout – ideally non-toxic, ethical and sustainable, which may not be as obvious but ask the questions of the agent or owner and take notes. Look around the property – how does its design, operation and construction work with the environment and locality; how does it make you feel? Practising foresight and imagining yourself living in the property is really worthwhile when considering its design, construction and how everything works in operation. Consider the design of the building that can adapt to a changing environment – does it offer the flexibility and options needed for the future? My thoughts on green buildings and energy efficiency are a product of my history, experience and interest in the topic throughout my life and career across multiple industries and business sectors. My earlier career working for 13 years with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) spanned areas such as design, energy efficiency and tariff advice. These and many others were all important when helping customers make efficient and pragmatic decisions. When I walk through a home, investment or consider a design, I am always interested in the ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘what’ about the property. I am interested in how it makes me feel and what resonates as I walk in, through and around the property.
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Grow Feeling a sense of security and stability by being able to comfortably meet current and future commitments and needs. “Financial fitness is not a pipe dream or a state of mind. It’s a reality if you are willing to pursue it and embrace it.” – Will Robinson
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Boost your Super this Spring By Jacqueline Hodges
Spring is the time for new beginnings and new growth. So, now is also a good time to review and boost your super. Women on average retire with $115,000 less in superannuation than men, and one in three women retire with no super at all. Is it simply women are not as financially savvy as men? Well, not at all. The underlying reason for our lower retirement balance is much more human than that. Very simply, women are more likely to have a broken career pattern. We are the child bearers and nurturers, or the carers of other family members. While, not the only reason, it is this broken career pattern that has the major impact on our employment earnings and superannuation balance.
Our wages are lower, we leave our paid employment to start, grow and care for our families. We change our career ambitions as we embark on the part-time juggle or we leave the security of employment for freelancing in the gig economy as we choose to remain at home with our children. But we can choose to improve our superannuation balances. In this article, you’ll discover eight strategies to reboot your super this Spring. Earlier, this year our superannuation balances were hit hard. Lockdown brought lower valuations and a drop in superannuation balances of up to 12.5% according to Super Ratings. Yet, recovery continued and by the September quarter, superannuation funds posted their fifth consecutive month of gains. It is true that superannuation is a long term investment and Australian Super suggests we should expect a loss year at least in every 20 years. But superannuation is a large industry sector with $2.9 trillion under investment.
Australian Superannuation Sector 800 700
$ Billions
600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Industry Funds
SMSFs
Public Sector Fund
Retail Funds
Other funds
Source: APRA Statistics – June quarter 2020 and APRA annual statistics for no. of accounts
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Organising your Work From Home office space Before you know it, spring will be over and we will be complaining about the summer heat. But before we lose spring for this year, let’s take some time to declutter, organize, and freshen up your home office space. Whether you are a minimalist or prefer to work in organized chaos, a tidy office gives to your sense of wellbeing. Spring cleaning has been an annual cultural phenomenon for eons. But more recently as people acquire more and more clutter, we have witnessed the “Marie Condo” phenomenon. However, this year makes it even more important to spring clean your home office as ‘work from home’ became the new norm for everyone during the COVID-19 lockdown. 2020 has seen millions of Australians start working from home as businesses have had to adhere to social distancing requirements to ensure the health and safety of their employees. At first, adapting to working from home proved to be a struggle for many. Particularly those who had never experienced working from home before.
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You may be amongst the many whose office space was rarely used and extremely cluttered with personal paperwork that had become the “Closed Door Room”. We all know someone with a Closed Door Room, don’t we? You probably felt that working from their home office would cause a major hindrance and led to decreased levels of productivity.
Positives Less time commuting Spend more time with family Increased productivity Flexible Hours Comfortable clothing
However, you like most people around the world have had to adapt to these changes. You may have experienced a new found joy, relaxation and economy in working from home. You wouldn’t be alone if you felt you would prefer to continue working from home rather than return to the office. We conducted a survey around the office as to why people may prefer to work from home. Our team shares some of the positives and negatives:
Technical Issues Isolation and missing peers Decreased productivity Wanting to work longer hours Lost direction
Despite the number of people who may prefer to work from home, there are still many who struggle to adapt to these new changes. Many businesses are encouraging and enticing employees to work from home, so you may find it is important to keep your workspace organized.
Organise Your Office Space
So, as spring is the season for new beginnings and fresh starts, it’s a great time to give your home office space a spring clean to ensure you remain productive, organized and positive during the working hours. Tidying up and creating a space that makes you feel productive and organized creates a positive space that allows you to focus and meet your deadlines. All in all, your tidy office space will give you a sense of balance and a tick towards your wellbeing.
Negatives
It is important to ensure that all paperwork is filed away and not scatter around the desk or shoved into random folders. Place your documentation in a filing cabinet, alphabetical order this will help increase productivity as you will be able to find all documentation quickly.
Personalise Your Office Space Be creative while organising your home office space. Your workspace should reflect your personality and preferences. It is where you spend more than half of your day. It should be a place where you love to spend time. Here are some ideas for inspiration to declutter and re- organize your home office space this spring.
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