1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Mar 19, 2020
We may have all seen the five ways to wellbeing on paper, on posters or on intranets in our offices or in workshops. We refer to them in our Mental Wellbeing for HR workshop and I talked about them on Tuesday in a webinar for the PWN where I shared my experiences with burnout.
I'm used to working from home, but I'm rubbish at following 'orders'. At the minute I can still go the gym - social distancing at it's best and as much hand sanitiser as you want. But when I'm told that I need to stay home, my anxiety will rise. I know this, and so I'm trying o mitigate it as much as possible, and you can too.
Now, probably more than ever, the 5 ways to wellbeing can help us with our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. So what are the five ways and how can we bring them to life?
1. Connect
We may need to be more creative in how we are connecting, but we can still connect. At The Chrysalis Crew we are continuing with our weekly Zoom's, we are meeting regularly and sharing how we feel.
Teams are having more conversations, more time out together, more breakfast chats and lunch break chats, and more conversations just to catch up instead of all being engrossed head down in emails and running from one meeting to the next.
Events are moving to online. Next Thursday I will actually be able to attend Connecting HR Manchester that Ian keeps inviting me to but I can never make the dates work - this time it's online, meaning I can actually go!
At home we're arranging virtual family Pub Quizzes for the weekend so we can all come together over Mother's Day. We're having more conversation over meal times, and bizarrely, all coming together at 5pm to watch the news.
We're working together at home, talking about our work and our day. Communities are coming together, clapping on balconies, reaching out and offering help.
2. Give We're giving free access to The HR Hub until the end of June. We're arranging online shops for food banks who are facing all time lows in supplies and stocks. We're offering time and help to neighbours, friends, colleagues, contacts and connections. We're giving resources and support and time and a listening ear.
Many, many others are doing the same. Offers of meals for kids following school closures, music, online yoga, online music classes, online performances, online book clubs. We are giving of ourselves and our skills to help others, and to stop us from being bored.
Give just one item to a food bank, give some time to a neighbour, give your attention to your team or a family member.
3. Take Notice We are starting to pay more attention to what really matters in life. We are starting to take more notice of our teams, and our families and our neighbours.
We are noticing more of the changes outside, the changes inside. We are paying more attention to how we feel and how others feel and we are using this to connect more to one another.
We are noticing what we like, what we don't like and what we need to change.
4. Keep Learning There are so many things we can learn and so many different ways we can grow. YouTube, online learning, books, courses, podcasts, all of the things that we've never had time to do, we can now do, even if it's just to break the monotony of the day.
We can learn to play a guitar, we can learn new recipes, we can, create and learn and teach. I'm still in the process of convincing my sons that some lunch and learn sessions over the next few weeks and some morning boot camps would be of value to us all, but I'll get there.
Mum knows best right?
5. Be Active Keep moving, in whatever way you can. Walk where you can. Do online classes, Sara Wellham, Marzia Scott and my sister Jody Swingler and hosting online yoga classes as are many others.
Create your own circuit training in the house, walk the dog, get on the wii fit, learn to dance via YouTube tutorials.
And if all else fails, reach out, or cry, or shout, or scream or breathe. Just stop, and breathe and reflect.
We've got this.
Kelly
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