Many factors can affect an individual’s well-being at work, including workload and flexibility, bosses and a team’s culture. Although you may not be able to control some organizational factors, there are science-backed things you can do daily to improve your well-being.
Harvard Business Review shares the following simple emotional fitness practices to help you better manage stress and improve your well-being.
- Check in with yourself daily. Ask yourself: How am I doing today? How am I feeling? Do not judge your answers or immediately try to “fix” how you are feeling. Becoming aware of your difficult feelings reduces the intensity with which you experience them and allows you to take action to support yourself and feel better.
- Take short, quality breaks during the day. Do something that helps you disconnect from work, refuel and recharge—this does not mean scrolling social media or reading the news. Instead, take a short walk outside. The human brain needs to take a break every 90 to 120 minutes to function at its best and avoid accumulated stress and overwhelm.
- Practice acceptance to focus on what you can control. Acknowledge the situation with clarity, focusing on the facts you know to be true. Then, identify one step you could take to move forward with less stress and struggle. When you are caught in a loop of negative thoughts, this can help focus your attention on what you can control and take productive action.
- Prioritize micro-moments of connection with your team. Greet co-workers with genuine enthusiasm when you are on a call or when you see them for the first time during the day. Reach out to a colleague to check in rather than focusing your conversation on work. Studies show social support and feeling connected improve mental health and reduce stress and anxiety.
- Practice gratitude. Create a daily gratitude practice, which can be as simple as writing down three things you appreciate. When your brain encounters uncertainty, it focuses on potential danger, which leads to increased anxiety and focusing on the negative. Practicing gratitude focuses on the positive and reminds you that your difficulties are not the entirety of your life.
- Practice active rest outside of work. Spend time outside of work doing things you love—something that actively fuels your energy, such as a hobby, reading or a new creative activity.
