Are you busy juggling multiple demands at work? How are you ensuring you take time to look after you? Here are six quick tips to help you thrive.
- Have a Daily Non-Negotiable
Make an appointment in your calendar (and set an alarm in your phone) to get out for that 15 minute walk, sit and eat lunch in a relaxed setting, or read your book for 10 minutes with your favourite cuppa.
Small breaks in the day help your biochemistry reset and switch you out of fight-or-flight mode, that demands and deadlines can trigger.
- Avoid Time Confetti
Block chunks of focused time to work on key projects to avoid days filled with time confetti (where you shred useful blocks of time into tiny pieces). Switch off all alerts and remove visual distractions. Set a countdown timer and get in flow on that key project so you can knock it out of the park.
When you’re done, ‘snack on exercise’ or have a dance party. Movement boosts your mood and energy ready for the next block of focused work.
- Celebrate the Small Stuff
Sign off the day by sharing your wins with a colleague (or your notebook.) Reflect on the day’s highlights. This double’s your happiness factor as your brain doesn’t distinguish between these great things happening and you reliving them.
- Set Clear Boundaries
Have personal policies like:
- I only attend meetings with a clear purpose and agenda
- 6-8.30pm is family time
- I get outdoors for a walk every day
- I don’t check emails before 8am / after 6pm / on the weekend
- I stay off my phone on Sundays
Get good at clearly and respectfully communicating your boundaries (rather than long-winded excuses.) As Tony Gaskin says, “You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce.”
- Dial the Right Things Up and Down
Sick of listening to negative news on repeat, doom scrolling or watching people’s highlight reels on social media? Take practical steps to limit the negatives. Choose one reliable source of news and tune in just once a day, once a week, or whatever frequency suits you. Remove social media from your phone and access it only via your laptop.
On the flipside, ring-fence time for uplifting content such as inspiring TED talks, podcasts, articles and magazines (like this!)
- Switch on Your Internal Motivation
Want to nail that fitness habit?
Rather than picturing yourself out there pounding the pavement – your lungs aching, muscles burning, instead, picture yourself running back up the driveway feeling proud, elated and energised.
You need to ‘picture the satisfied feeling of completion’ to switch on your motivation to get started. This works for anything you’re putting off. Imagine the joy of working at that decluttered desk, holding the published book in your hands or getting those tax records sent off.
Which of these six quick tips will you start with?
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Lauren Parsons is an award-winning Wellbeing Specialist who helps leaders boost both staff wellbeing and productivity. With over 20 years’ experience in the health and wellbeing profession, she is a sought-after speaker, coach and consultant.
TEDx speaker, author of real food less fuss, founder of the Snack on Exercise movement and host of the Thrive TV Show and certified Emotional Culture Deck practitioner.
Based in the Manawatu, she travels regularly and specialises in helping organisations create a high-energy, peak-performance team culture, where people thrive. Get your complimentary copy of Lauren’s ebook “5 Keys to a Positive, Energised, High-Performance Culture” here.
Thanks for reading this article, I appreciate your time.
To find out more about how I help individuals and organisations thrive, feel free to check out the Workplace Wellbeing or Helping You Thrive pages.
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