With World Mental Health Day (10^th October) being right around the corner, we at Make Me A Plan couldn’t miss this opportunity to talk to you about creating some healthy habits at work and why they are SO important.

Did you know that we will spend around a third of our adult lives working, that’s an average of 90,000 hours over a lifetime and with most of us currently virtually working those hours just keep rising.

You may think your mental health is a personal issue and doesn’t affect your work but mental health problems tend to cause a ripple effect into other areas of your life, in the workplace the most common impacts are;

-       Absenteeism

-       Downward trend in productivity and enthusiasm

-       Lowers your morale and comradery

But, to flip that coin to the other side, doing work that doesn’t inspire and fulfil you can also impact your mental health.

Taking care of ourselves is so incredibly important, you cannot build a bridge from broken material. We cannot pour from an empty cup, I can give you analogies like this for days. The information you should take from this is to take a stock check of you and how you’re feeling?

Are you more tired lately?

Has your get-up-and-go got up and left?

Are you struggling to focus?

These are all signs from your body that you need to turn your attention inward because a check engine light is flashing, and you didn’t notice because you’ve had your head in a screen.

So, what do we do about it?

1. Set a shut off time for work. So crucial. Give your mind (and eyes) a break. 
2. Drink your water. Wild, I know. But you’re made up of 60% of it so it shouldn’t be a surprise by now.
3. Check on yourself, as often as you check your Instagram (or Facebook, or emails)

Are you okay? Is there a check engine light on? Does the inner you need a little extra love? 

1. Check in on your friends, colleagues and loved ones. We’re all struggle bussing through these consistently inconsistent times. Be kind, say hi, remind people that we still work with real humans on the other end of the screen.

Recognise that it’s harder to see the impact of your work when you work alone. There aren’t colleagues to give you a compliment at the kitchen over microwave rounds, we don’t get a passing “Great work on XYZ” from a manager as we make our way for a cup of coffee. That doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing a good job or that the work you are doing has suddenly become insignificant