Take better care of yourself at work and you could improve your health, creativity and overall outlook.
Now that work includes phones and computers and email and sometimes social media, sometimes it feels like it never ends. Unless you have a hard start and stop time for working, it can seep in to other times of day (and night). If you struggle with this and work for yourself, check out The Bloom Workshop.
These suggestions may have to be slightly modified depending on who you work for (yourself or someone else) and the kind of work you do. Even if you don’t work, you could apply these simple shifts to your day for more focus, peace and energy.
Don’t dismiss them if they don’t sound like a perfect fit. Like most things, you may have to put your own spin on them so they work best for you.
3 Simple Shifts To Help You Take Better Care of Yourself At Work
Most of us don’t have the room for a complete overhaul so these simple shifts to help you take better care of yourself at work will help you make progress without the extra stress of big change.
1. Start with you.
If you wake up and have one eye on email while the other eye is still trying to be fully open, you aren’t starting with you. While you may not choose a full blown morning routine at first, is there a way you can start with you … before work, before email, before anything else. For instance, could you spend 10 minutes …
- stretching
- journaling
- day dreaming
- walking
- enjoying a coffee or tea
before there is a screen in your face?
Whatever you decide to do will give you time to consider your day instead of requests and information from everyone who is planning their day.
2. Create a sacred space.
Whether it’s a block of time or an actual place in your home, office or car, create a sacred space you can visit during the day. Call it solitude, taking a break or whatever you want but go there. It doesn’t have to be the same time every day or for the same length of time. Use this block of time for whatever is important to you and to physically remove yourself from the work you are doing. When you come back, you’ll have more clarity, focus and energy for the tasks at hand.
3. Enjoy something about your work.
This one is especially challenge if you don’t like your work but even then, find the one thing you enjoy. It could be anything from the way you interact with one of your co-workers to the snacks you have in your desk drawer. Notice it, name it and enjoy it (even if the rest is the worst).
If you can’t find anything you enjoy, add something. Put a plant on your desk or a photo of someone you love. Write down a quote or something that makes you smile.
These three simple shifts will help you take better care of yourself while you are at work. They will help you build a foundation for better health and more enjoyable work moving forward.
P.S. On Friday, during the Bloom Workshop I’ll be teaching a session about creating routines to support your work and health. It’s not too late to join! See the full workshop schedule and learn more here.
