Have you heard the saying “If you don’t make time for health, make time for illness”?
In today’s demanding and ever-changing environment, we need to be more proactive in managing our mental health and overall wellbeing than ever.
We recently ran a snap poll asking the question:
“Do you have strategies in place to manage your own wellbeing in times of stress?”
The results were as follows:
- 30% told us they tend to continue to work as per usual.
- 50% told us they have 1-2 strategies that they try to implement but they are not always successful.
- 20% told us they are very strategic and have specific strategies that are successful.
These results highlight that 80% of respondents do not have a clearly defined strategy that is successful at times of stress.
While we tend to be very strategic at work, unfortunately, we do not tend to be very strategic when it comes to our resilience – particularly during times of stress.
What we commonly observe is that people tend to be so focused the external demands they’re facing (the very things creating the stress!), that they often fail to recognise the impact that it’s having on their mental health and overall wellbeing.
Without the early identification of our stress indicators (and if the stressful situation is not resolved), our indicators only become more severe. This only makes it harder to implement a strategy.
- While exercise is commonly cited as being an effective stress management strategy, if people do not recognise the early indicators of stress and end up in the ‘Energy Conservation’ stage of stress, the last thing they feel like doing is exercising.
- While delegation is important for leaders (particularly at times of stress) if people do not recognise the early indicators of stress and end up in the ‘Exhaustion’ stage of stress, they end up withdrawing from those around them.
The longer employees ignore their indicators of stress, the more detrimental their stress becomes to their energy, productivity, or engagement, and the harder it is to recover.
By educating employees on their early indicators of stress and the personalised strategies that they can implement, we encourage a sense of responsibility and minimise the likelihood of our employees spiralling downward towards a state of burnout.