{"id":27761,"date":"2021-08-06T13:51:20","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T13:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/?p=27761"},"modified":"2024-11-20T18:55:25","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T18:55:25","slug":"9-ways-to-stay-sane-and-improve-your-mental-health-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/9-ways-to-stay-sane-and-improve-your-mental-health-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Ways to Stay Sane and Improve Your Mental Health at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Employee\n

As the recent pandemic starts to decline, most of us will find ourselves heading back to work. Whether you\u2019ve loved working from home or you\u2019re dying to get back to the office, going back to a traditional workspace is going to need some adjustments.<\/p>\n

Even if you feel more productive and sociable in the office, a traditional workplace is going to cause challenges at times. Most advice for traditional workspaces focuses on how to be more productive, ignoring a more serious concern – mental health.<\/p>\n

The fact is that working in a traditional workplace is not good for our mental health, leading to the semi-serious statement: \u201cThis place is driving me insane!\u201d So, let\u2019s take a look at nine ways to stay sane and keep your mental health up to speed.<\/p>\n

1. Stay active<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you work in an office, you\u2019ll likely spend most of your working day at a desk. Unfortunately, long periods of sitting still are incredibly bad for our health. Back problems, repetitive strain, chronic pain, and much more can all be caused by long hours of poor posture and a bad desk chair.<\/p>\n

To avoid this, try setting up your desk and chair with proper ergonomics<\/a>. Ergonomic is more than just a word used to sell desk chairs. It means that a working setup (the desk, chair, computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, and more) is designed to help you work in the most comfortable and healthy position possible.<\/p>\n

However, you\u2019ll need more than just an ergonomic chair and desk. Try and stay physically active as best you can, taking regular breaks.\u00a0Exercise can improve your mental and physical health, and leaves you feeling refreshed and happier. For additional support and strategies, explore resources like Different MHP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Set boundaries<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to get into bad habits when we work from home. If you\u2019re not able to set up a home office, you may have to do your daily work in your living space. This can lead to your work time seeping into your free time and home life.<\/p>\n

Setting boundaries involves keeping your work life and home life separate. This can be tricky at times, especially if employers and coworkers expect you to be on call almost twenty-four hours a day.<\/p>\n

For example, if you work from nine AM to five PM, be present and focused during your working day. Make it clear that after five PM, you won\u2019t be available to answer emails or complete tasks. If overtime is necessary, your employer can speak to you about it and you can come to an agreement.<\/p>\n

Understanding that there\u2019s more to life than our work – even if we love our job – is a crucial part of good mental health. Family responsibilities, social engagements, chores, and much-needed downtime are all essential parts of our life. Allowing work to crowd out everything can leave you feeling miserable and empty, and full of regret at missed opportunities.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve kindly but firmly set your boundaries in place, stick to them. If you answer one coworker\u2019s email at eight PM, other coworkers will expect you to make an exception for them, too. It\u2019s also important to respect the boundaries of your coworkers and employers.<\/p>\n

3. Acknowledge and implement emotional intelligence<\/strong><\/p>\n

People often take an \u201ceither\/or\u201d attitude to emotional intelligence and rationality. It\u2019s a common fallacy that if you\u2019re emotional at all, you can\u2019t possibly make rational decisions. Of course, this isn\u2019t true. In fact, effective problem-solving often includes emotional decisions as well as solid reason.<\/p>\n

Using emotion to present problems to a solution (by expressing yourself in a positive, compelling way) is more likely to get the results we want than using a dogmatic, matter-of-fact approach.<\/p>\n

When it comes to problem-solving, balance is key. A purely rational approach may seem to solve the problem, but might in fact leave people feeling dissatisfied and unhappy. However, a completely emotional reaction can actually make the situation worse. Understand that it\u2019s OK to use your emotional intelligence, then use your reason and logic to work with your emotions to create a workable solution.<\/p>\n

4. Avoid drama<\/strong><\/p>\n

Offices can be hotbeds of scandal and drama. Unfortunately, gossip, harassment, and bullying can all get footholds in an average workplace. Overly competitive behavior can also cause serious issues.<\/p>\n

Understandably, you won\u2019t get on well with everyone all the time. However, a tense or toxic workplace will not only impact productivity but can seriously damage your mental health. Waking up with a sinking feeling of dread every morning before work is going to take a toll on you. Anxiety, depression, or even social anxiety can develop as a response to an unpleasant workplace.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the responsibility of your employers to manage their employees and keep the workplace safe, friendly, and professional. However, you can also do your bit to keep yourself sane.<\/p>\n

Try and avoid malicious gossip, or forming cliques. It\u2019s a workplace, not a high school. Try and communicate any grievances as soon as possible, if you can\u2019t just let it go. Try and stay neutral in other people\u2019s interchanges.<\/p>\n

5. Focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Constantly focusing on your weaknesses is not a positive way of approaching growth. All too often, expending energy and focus on our weaknesses (and those of other people!) only highlights what we can\u2019t<\/em> do.<\/p>\n

Adopting a strength-based focus can help you hone yourself as a person, without zeroing in on your flaws. Developing your strengths will help you in your future endeavors, and gives you a more positive outlook now. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses helps with keeping your mental health balanced.<\/p>\n

6. Balance self-acceptance and growth<\/strong><\/p>\n

The key to good mental health (and sanity!) is self-acceptance. Just about all of us could benefit from giving ourselves a little more self-love and support. However, this doesn\u2019t mean we throw any prospect of growth and improvement out of the window. Focusing on our strengths and accepting ourselves doesn\u2019t mean we ignore our flaws.<\/p>\n

For example, you might notice that you have a tendency to be short-tempered with your coworkers. Work environments can be stressful, and this could quickly become a serious problem.<\/p>\n

While you should still love and respect yourself, that doesn\u2019t mean you can ignore this flaw. Working on yourself as a person and improving yourself is a good thing. In fact, we spend our whole lives growing and changing as people. Putting effort into improving yourself is good for your mental health. Positive change comes from a place of high self-esteem.<\/p>\n

7. Respect your coworkers<\/strong><\/p>\n

A positive, professional work environment is an absolute necessity to staying sane. To an extent, a good work environment relies on the behavior of your coworkers. A good employer should take care of the work environment, but that\u2019s not always the case. Unfortunately, we all bear responsibility for keeping our workspace professional.<\/p>\n

Showing respect, courtesy, and kindness to your coworkers can go a long way to keeping your work environment comfortable. It\u2019s easy to show respect when you\u2019re being respected in return – but things get tricky if your coworkers are unfriendly. Our natural response might be to lash out, or try and get revenge.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s tempting, but a fatal decision. If you take an \u201ceye for an eye\u201d approach, the situation between you and your coworkers is only going to get worse. The atmosphere in your workplace will deteriorate, and so will your mental health. A stressful work situation can put a dent in even the healthiest mental outlook.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee that acting respectfully will convince your coworkers to respect you in return. Even if your behavior seems to have no impact, it will make you feel better about yourself. You can go home every day, secure in the knowledge that you acted like the bigger person.<\/p>\n

8. Take mental health days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taking a day off from work to relieve stress and burnout can go a long way to helping your mental health. Weekends are often filled with chores, responsibilities, and socializing, and we can often find that we\u2019re not taking any time at all to relax.<\/p>\n

Taking a mental health day is likely something you might have to sort out with your employer. You could try scheduling a day off ahead of time or taking a sick day. Unfortunately, not every employer recognizes mental health days. If that\u2019s the case, you may have to use weekends to destress.<\/p>\n

A mental health day should be more than just a day off. Here\u2019s what to get out of a mental health day:<\/p>\n