How can you protect your mental health at work?
For employees, finding the balance between work and life is a daily challenge. As a result, they often work logging in and out on time, avoid working on weekends and make time for out of work activities. But does it end there? Here are other ways to protect your mental health while you’re at work:
Set Boundaries
Boundaries are personal. Some people feel more comfortable with their walls up, and others are more open. None of these makes one employee better than the other. If anything, this just shows that boundaries are determined on a personal level. So take the time to decide what yours are. You can even list them down according to the facets of your life. When you do, let your manager or team know. Then, you can talk about how to work around this. This can cover an array of things, like your work dynamics or work practice.
Once you figure this out and have talked about it with your manager and team, you can feel more confident and comfortable. The openness it brings can even contribute to how you feel with your company. Remember to take charge of your mental wellness. Advocate for it as best you can.
Avail of Employee Assistance Programs
Different companies have different employee programs dedicated to the mental health of their people. Some companies have a free gym membership, HMO coverage with mental health services, or free resources you can read. Whatever it may be, maximize it. You don’t have to wait until you need it. Taking care of your mental health should not be the last of your priorities. Much like taking care of your body, your mind is an important asset and a vital part of your work life. So let’s make sure that we put reasonable effort into keeping our minds healthy, too.
Do you want your company to sign-up for a therapy and mental wellness program? Then, reach out to Safe Space today!
Find a Safe Space
What even is a safe space? It is a space free of judgement where we can talk about our feelings and thoughts. It is a place where support is accessible and promotes positive change in our mental health. What varies for each of us is what makes us feel safe. That’s completely fine.
The first step to finding a safe space is knowing what it means to you. When you figure out what this is, look around. Try different things that may make you feel safe. Read resources, talk to professionals, or attend therapy. Learn the best coping strategy for you and work on it. If it’s something that you need help with, don’t be afraid to ask.
How can companies support the mental health of their employees?
Mental wellness is an integral part of an employee’s life. It even determines how well they perform in their tasks. This reason is enough for companies to take the time to develop strategies around mental health empowerment. Here are other methods you can implement to create a holistic solution for your team:
Encourage Mental Health Breaks
From a management standpoint, mental health breaks are days dedicated to mental wellness. Employees may use this to pamper themselves, make time for their interests, or do activities that help them relax. This allows the employee to realign and not get overwhelmed with the amount of work they need to get done.
This is important for the employees because it allows them to create healthy coping strategies with stress from work. When they realign and get back to work with a refreshed mind, they are more productive. This has a significant impact on businesses. Therefore, it should be one priority of the company in managing their people’s workload, work schedule and creating and maintaining a positive work environment.
Check-ins as Core Management Strategy
Companies have been employing multiple strategies to make sure that the outputs of their employees are in line with company standards. Of course, we have supervisors and line managers doing just that. But who manages the environment and makes sure that employees are still feeling happy and satisfied?
Occasional surveys from human resources don’t cut it anymore. The stress of the pandemic has taken a toll on everyone. All of us have found some form of struggle with lockdowns and quarantines. Inevitably, this has affected the way we work or the quality of work we produce. The most straightforward thing companies can do is to check in with their employees personally. For instance, managers can set up a 15-minute weekly call to ask their team if they’re okay or struggling with anything else unrelated to their work.
Apart from knowing the problem and addressing it early on, the management can also use this opportunity to show their employees that they care for their overall state and growth.
Build a Positive Culture Around Therapy
Apart from implementing rest days and breaks, companies can also arrange activities or talks on mental wellness. This includes conversations on mental resilience (such as Safe Space™ do), group workouts, or company hangouts. However, none of these is absolute nor perfect. The inescapable truth is that we are all still susceptible to mental illness. When this happens to our employees, it is essential to build a supportive environment.
A positive culture reinforces the importance of seeking help. It doesn’t allow prejudice and promotes healthy conversations about mental wellness. When we create and maintain this environment, we show genuine care for the employees, giving them the courage to seek help. This is especially true if they know that instead of being judged at work for attending therapy, they will be commended for their effort to try to feel better.
Of course, creating a conducive environment for mental health at work is a collaborative effort from the employees and the management. It does not magically happen overnight, and it may even take a lot of trial and error in finding the right policies to support it. Nevertheless, we mustn’t stop trying.
