Unplug? If the mere suggestion of being tech free fills you with horror this blog is for you. A rather conservative piece of research from Microsoft suggests we check our emails on average 274 times a day and that doesn’t include those social media notifications that are constantly distracting you. We take a look at the benefits of unplugging from technology and entering a digital diet.
Sea Swimming in San Francisco
The sun is shining and Aquatic Park Cove is filling up with people in wetsuits just waiting to submerge themselves in the chilly morning Pacific Ocean. If you haven’t tried open water swimming you’re in for a treat. We don our skins and get together with local swimmers, their canine entourage & spectators just hanging out for fun. Join us on a deep dive into the wellbeing benefits of an icy alfresco dip as we go sea swimming in San Francisco.
Personality Type & Stress
Personality type and stress, we’re all different and here at PCG we say that’s a good thing, it’s what makes life interesting. It’s also what can make life complicated at work and at home when we’re stressed. Examining your personality and type and stress offers an opportunity to take a look at what might jam your inner gears. What results in stress for you may not be the same for others, we all have different triggers and respond in incredibly different ways to stress. So how do you work it all out? A good place to start is with yourself. Take our free personality test here https://positivechangeguru.com/discover-your-personality-type/ and read on.
Need a January Pick me Up?
Need a January Pick Me Up? A winter boost? It’s that time of year again. The days are short and the nights are long and you wonder if you’ll ever see the sun again. Fear not. We have a whole host of free stuff to build your resilience, improve your wellbeing and make you feel warm inside as you toast yourself by the fire. Go on. Treat yourself. It’s time to grab a mug of hot stuff, take time out and give yourself lashings of self care. We’ve got your back this winter gorgeous!
Need a January Pick Me Up 1:
Check out our fab podcast. We’ll take you through a whole host of topics ranging from positive psychology, resilience, mindfulness, self care and tons more.
Need a January Pick Me Up 2:
Dive into our extensive library of blogs. We’ve got hundreds of blogs, just for you. They’re right there at your fingertips – go on treat yourself.
Need a January Pick Me Up 3:
Sprinkle on our huge range of free resources. You can try everything from psychometrics to emotional intelligence tests. Whether it’s for your own personal development, to use with loved ones (and yes, we include your furry friends in that) or to use at work with your team, there’s something for everybody. Feel free to share ’em.
Festive Wellbeing
The shops are full of mince pies, the festive lights have been switched on and Christmas markets are go. If you you haven’t quite caught up, the festivities are just around the corner. According to the Stress Management Society one in twenty of us find Christmas more stressful than being burgled. Yes, really. If you’re that one in twenty we’ve got your festive wellbeing covered with some practical tips to ensure you keep your cool in the run up to yule.
How Effective Is Your Workplace Resilience Programme?
Unless you’ve taken a year long sabbatical and have been living on a remote island (lucky you) you’ll have heard of workplace resilience. Recognising that the world of work is in a constant state of flux, many organisations have implemented workplace resilience programmes. But how many of them have really been effective?
Work, Words and Wellbeing
Using words to increase wellbeing? Writing for wellbeing as a method of reducing workplace stress? We bring you the lowdown. The latest estimates from the HSE Labour Force Survey shows the total number of work related stress, depression and anxiety in 2015/16 was 488,000 cases with a staggering 224,000 new cases. The cause cited? Workload, tight deadlines and poor management. An increasingly stressful corporate environment means that employees are feeling stretched across all sectors. But where do words fit in this corporate conundrum and how can you use them in your anti-stress arsenal?
A growing body of research has demonstrated the power of words upon wellbeing. Yes, writing is fun but is also has a meditative effect upon our stressed minds. Let’s take a look at the science:
Writing has been linked to a whole host of health benefits;
“Expressive writing influences attention and habituation to stressful stimuli and to negative emotions and … it may influence restructuring of cognitions related to stressors and stress responses.” (Lepore et al, 2002, p.114)
An analysis of preliminary findings linking expressive writing and reductions in blood pressure (Davidson et al, 2002)
A recent meta-analysis showed that “experimental disclosure is effective, with a positive and significant” effect (Frattaroli 2006, p. 823)
Reduction in resting blood pressure levels (Crow 2000)
Psychological effects, such as lowering of depressive symptoms, rumination
and general anxiety (Lepore 1997)
But what does this mean for workplace wellbeing? Here’s what the evidence
suggests so far. Workplace writing for wellbeing sessions;
▪ Reduce levels of stress
▪ Staff recover more successfully from traumatic events
▪ Result in fewer days lost to sickness, absenteeism and presenteeism
▪ Improve working memory
▪ Increase flow
▪ Strengthen immune system
▪ Improve creativity and innovation
▪ Increase wellbeing
▪ Build stress management capacity
▪ Improve confidence
▪ Increase mindfulness
1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year so it’s likely that there’s someone in your team, department or organisation who is experiencing a mental health issue right now. That figure is compounded by a recent Shaw Trust survey which found that 72% of workplaces had no formal mental wellbeing policy. In addition to this, 23% of managers were unable to name a single mental health condition.
So what can you do right now to introduce writing for wellbeing into your day?
Journalling:
Keep a journal. Make time each day to journal about whatever is important to you. Commit to 10 minutes and go wherever the muse takes you. There’s increasing research to suggest that journalling provides improved leadership insight resulting in greater clarity of thinking and better decision making.
Connect to your authentic self:
Brene Brown describes authenticity as
“The daily practice of letting go who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.”
Set time aside to ‘check in’ with how you are feeling. Are you able to sum it up in one word? Good.
Now take five minutes and without censoring yourself, expand upon that word. Don’t worry about style, spelling or grammar. Let go of your inner critic and just go for it. Unleash your creativity.
Take a look at what you’ve written. What does it tell you about how you really feel? Writing for ourselves in this way can tell us a lot about who we are. Perhaps something you’ve written resonates or provides an insight into some aspect of your day, your life, or a project you are working on.
Turn down the volume on the constant chatter, press pause on workplace pressures and tune in to your authentic self. This exercise will help to ground you creating a mindful space for you to reflect before you continue with your day.
For more information or to talk to us about our Workplace Writing For Wellbeing training courses contact us at admin@positivechangeguru.com
Bad Manager Warning
Do you believe that bad managers get results? That the stick is more effective than a toothless carrot? The truth is, if left unchecked, bad managers will hurt your business and irretrievably harm employee wellbeing. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that one of the keystones of employee wellbeing is the relationship between manager and employee. Positive relationships, promoting opens and transparency, fostering trust and recognising strengths are all the hallmarks of a good manager. They develop employees and cultivate an atmosphere where wellbeing, creativity and innovation thrive. All too often the converse is true. People leave bad managers not bad organisations, it may be a cliche but there’s a reason why cliches become cliches.
Wellbeing is about so much more than a box ticking exercise. Wellbeing domains include
Physical
Emotional
Organisation/work
Personal development
Values
True employee wellbeing aims to maximise each and every one of these domains. But how? Writing for wellbeing, a relatively new intervention is rapidly gaining popularity. Writing? For wellbeing at work? Sounds like a gimmick, right? A growing body of evidence suggests not.
How can managers introduce the concept of wellbeing in a meaningful way?
Emotional Intelligence
One of the first things you can do as a manager is develop your emotional intelligence (EI). It takes a healthy dose of this to manage a team effectively and authentically. Take a look at our blogs on EI for practical ways of developing your emotional intelligence muscles.
Reduce Your Stress Levels
We know from research that the first thing to go out of the window when you are stressed is self regulation, a key emotional intelligence competency. Bad managers are more than likely stressed too. Don’t believe us? Case Western Professor Richard Boyatwzis found this competency was responsible for a whopping 78% – 390% increase in performance. Self regulation is the bulwark of good management. If you’ve ever laboured under a tyrant masquerading as a manager who throws things, suffers mood swings, has favourites or maintains petty vendettas you’ll know where we’re coming from on this one. This type of dissonant leadership will eventually demotivate your team, leave you with high levels of absenteeism and a rapid staff turnover. Creativity becomes stifled and innovation grinds to a halt. It damages your brand and your reputational capital to boot.
So where does writing for wellbeing come into it?
Writing for wellbeing (the clue is in the title) improves both physical and psychological health (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005). Research has demonstrated the following benefits;
Decreased levels of stress
Reduced absenteeism
Improved mood
Reduced anxiety
Fewer stress related GP visits
Increases creativity and innovation
Reduced blood pressure
Improved working memory
Improved immune system functioning
Feeling of greater psychological wellbeing
Quicker re-employment after job loss
Altered social and linguistic behaviour
Writing for wellbeing is a great addition to any wellbeing programme decreasing stress levels, impacting positively upon self regulation and improving creativity and innovation at the same time (it’ll help tame that stressed out manager and their negative impact upon your workforce). Take a look at our other blogs on writing for wellbeing to find out how.
To find out more about Writing for Wellbeing at Work contact us at admin@positivechangeguru.com or visit our events page for details of our training courses. We’d love to hear from you!
Setting Intentions: Connecting With Your Authentic Self
‘Intent is a force that lives in the universe’ Carlos Castenados
Does every day feel like groundhog day? Are you stuck in negative patterns wondering when things will start to change? Perhaps your career is draining your creativity, you want something more but don’t know what it is. Maybe you do know and you’re afraid to take the necessary leap of faith? Perhaps you’re a square peg in a round career or it could be a relationship that is slowly sapping your self esteem adding to your feeling of disconnection. Maybe you’re too scared to leave. Or you feel that wherever you are or whoever you’re with, you will never be enough.The truth is, as Einstein observed ‘Nothing changes until something moves’. That something is you. And the movement you need is intention. Intention enables you to live with heart rather than habit.
Heart Health & Flax Seed
When you think of heart health do you immediately think of gyms, dietary regimes and pills as you head straight for the couch? Sometimes it all seems like too much effort, especially if you buy in to the all or nothing approach. Here at PCG we favour the approach of taking small, bitesized steps towards big changes. Drum roll. Flax seed. The sum total of those incremental steps pay huge dividends when they all start stacking up. And when it comes to heart health, adding flax seed to your diet will provide an impressive return on investment.
