Topic Tuesday // Employment and Mental Health // Tues 8th June, 7:00-8:30PM AEST

Question 4: For @Ultravox What can you do to maintain your mental health in a workplace?

For the community: How do you maintain a work life balance?

What can you do to maintain your mental health in a workplace?

I think it is important to take a full lunch break away from your desk or work place. It is also good if you can go outside to clear your head by getting some fresh air and sunshine. Some people will even go for a run or a walk. Sometimes you can find it difficult to get away from your desk, especially when you are working from home ,due to Covid-19 restrictions. It is important to take mini breaks during the day.

In a work place it is important to set good boundaries for yourself. If you already have pressing demands and too much work on, then it is important to say “no” to more work when asked to take on more by your boss. Personally I like to please and find it difficult at times to say “No”’. I am more of a “Yes’” person.

It is important to recognise when you are feeling stressed and to know your limits. It is good to be aware of your early warning signs and triggers, and to seek early help when necessary. This may be accessing things such as the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) if you are fortunate to have one of those at your workplace.

It is necessary to balance your work/personal life by maintaining doing the things you enjoy outside of work such as your interest and hobbies and switching off after work is finished for the day. It is important to take short breaks to recharge (like a long weekend or an extra day off on the weekend). These can act as a “circuit breaker” and make a difference in avoiding burn out or poor mental health

Do my best I can at wirk in a stressful workplace and then self care when I get hime and on my days off eg walking.
@Daisydreamer

Great points to remember @Ultravox

@Daisydreamer It is impossible for me to leave work at work because of the nature of my work but I do allocate hours that are just for me and as I have several different roles in my job - compartmentalising what I do for each role and when is imperative. That also means I can work on what I need for each role before I move onto the next task. I now also do not take on many extra responsibilities to allow myself the time to do what I need for both work and home. Time managemanet, prioritising everything (what I can do, what can wait and time for myself) is also something I have become so much better at.

@chibam, @Ultravox has a bunch of great suggestions that I will let them share. One thought I had is that Seek has some amazing resources, including a section on careers advice that could be helpful to explore jobs you might be interested in and the sorts of skills that might be needed.

My phone needs to be charged. I need to go. Thsnks for a great night of information and support on such an important topic. @Daisydreamer @Ultravox
goodnight everyone

@Ultravox I leave work every lunch time - even if it is just for 10 minutes - it makes so much difference to my day.

For the community: How do you maintain a work life balance?

I mentioned that I work part time which balances my time so I can get life stuff done. However, I pack five days of workload into the four working days. There's no reduced workload. I am lucky to have a team I can share the work with. Also I try and always take a walk outside for a break at lunch time as my job is indoors. The other thing is self care so saying no if I am too busy, taking a quick break in between meetings to stretch/relax, keep work at work and life at home which is difficult sometimes.