Top tips for optimum wellbeing at work People who are drawn to the third sector tend to be rescuers – often getting a sense of wellbeing and self worth from helping others. While it’s one of the reasons you are good at your job, it can also come with the risk of burnout if you don’t look after youself. Here are some ways you can make sure that you stay well at work: 1. Pay attention to how busy you are. Being too busy is counterproductive and is often a strategy to avoid dealing with other difficulties in life. Take a step back and notice your mood. How does it feel when you take a break?
2. Lone working and spending a lot of time at a computer, or on the phone can affect mental wellbeing. Make sure you take time to meet people in person and seek out opportunities to have a break from being at your desk. 3. Make space for downtime at work and at home. There's a pressure to be present online 24/7, in addition to the dopamine drip of electronic 'likes'. Protect your free time, you need it to recharge. Take regular breaks from the screen, even if its just for a ten-minute walk around the block.
4. If we pay attention to how we experience emotion in the body, often we will notice incongruities. This is because we often say one thing and communicate another. Tension and anxiety ends up stored in the body, and is identifiable in symptoms such as tensed shoulders, feelings of something being stuck in the chest, sitting on the edge of a chair, clenched muscles and tapping feet.
5. If you find yourself feeling tense then step back from what you're doing. Just the simple act of taking a mindful choice about what we do next is enough to alleviate anxiety. Take a long slow breath, holding the breath to the count of three and exhaling, relaxing the muscles in the face, jaw, shoulders and stomach.
Chloe Goddard Mcloughlin is an integrative psychotherapist at Ranmoor Therapy (MBACP) in Sheffield. For details visit www.ranmoortherapy.co.uk 10
