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Maintaining a positive mindset

Written by: Charlotte Rogers
Published on: 7 Jun 2021

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Your mental wellbeing and how you feel throughout the day are just as important as the work you carry out for your employer. Whether you are working from home or are still in the workplace, having the time to take care of yourself and make sure you are ready for the day, is always important. Your wellbeing effects how you can carry out your work on a day-to-day basis and both yourself and your employer should be dedicated to your physical and mental wellbeing. Things may have been stressful for you over the last year or so, but that shouldn’t mean you put your health on the backburner. We have some tips to make sure that you are taking care of yourself and trying to maintain a positive mindset at work and in your personal time.

You need to be able to have the rest you need

Having a sufficient amount of rest before the working week / day will help you feel more concentrated and hopefully help you be more efficient in your work. We all have those days where motivation is low, or your mind is foggy from the little rest you had the night before. There are some simple steps you can take to ensure that the rest you get from now on, is enough to fuel you and get you ready for the day ahead.

Although these things can sometimes be out of your control, there are always things we could be doing to help ourselves. The most common piece of advice if you’re having trouble sleeping, is to turn off your phone and any other sources of blue light (e.g., tablets, TV’s, and computers) an hour before you intend to go to bed. The light from the screens can unknowingly keep us awake and activities such as reading before bed can help get us more comfortable.

Another reason you could be having trouble resting is because you have too much going on in your mind. Getting all of this information out into the open before you go to bed can help us feel a sense of relief and hopefully help you rest. You could simply write all the things bothering you down in a notepad or talk to someone about it. Which ever works best for you.

Make sure to finish work when you’re supposed to and don’t end up working into the late hours of the evening. You need to take your own time to re-energise and do something you enjoy. Being able to do other things during the day, besides work, will help you feel more positive.

Interact with people

When you are working, make sure that you aren’t alone. Some days there is a lot of work to be done, but make sure you are taking the time to speak to your team and other colleagues. Whether that be a quick zoom or phone call, or a chat at the coffee machine, speaking to people helps. It can help you feel less alone, especially if you are working from home.

Try and have daily calls and catch ups with your colleagues and actually attend these meetings. When these are happening, try and not focus on other things going on around you. If you get an email come through, look at it once the meeting is over. Having a conversation with someone that isn’t a client or isn’t a conversation about work can do wonders for your mental health.

When you have finished work, try and talk to someone else! If you live alone, make daily efforts to call or message your friends and family. It can be a lonely time at the moment and keeping in touch with people can help take some weight off your mind.


Routine isn’t everything

It seems that every single day has been the same for a long time now. Having a routine for work can be a very important way to make sure that you are keeping on top of things. However, outside of work, a routine can seem almost robotic. Especially, if you’re doing the exact same thing every day.

So, say your routine for the last few weeks has been to go for a walk straight after you finish work, then cook dinner, watch your favourite show and read just before bed. Doing the same thing in both work and your personal life can actually leave you feeling rather drained. There might not be much we can do right now but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Try and switch up your routine but scheduling in a zoom dinner with your friends, find a different type of exercise or maybe try and online course that you’ve wanted to do for a while. Doing the same thing everyday can have a negative impact on the way we feel about ourselves and simply doing something different can leave us feeling revitalised and content.

Get your daily exercise

Simply getting up from your desk or sofa to move about for a bit can leave you feeling more positive. We’re used to being able to be outside more and although things are different now, we should still be taking whatever opportunity we have to get outside. This doesn’t mean you should force yourself to go on runs everyday or keep up with your online exercise classes, simply taking some time to go for a walk may be enough to help you to feel better about your day.

Find a time that works best for you, a morning walk before work or taking a time out on your lunch break can help break up your day and allow you to get some well-deserved fresh air. It’s amazing what a little vitamin D can do to our mood.

Speak to your manager

If there are other issues that are affecting you and causing you to feel negatively about either your work life or your personal life, it might be worth taking some time to talk to your manager about your issues. If it is something that the workplace can help resolve, I’m sure your manager would be more than happy to help. After all, a happy and positive employee, is going to produce better work.

Your wellbeing should matter to your employer and if not, then maybe that is a problem you’re going to have to solve another way. Both your mental and physical wellbeing are worth taking care of, so take the time you need to find yourself again. Positivity is not always there but making some changes in order to find it will help you feel better about yourself again. A positive mindset can fix a lot more than you think.