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Volume 1 Issue 8
October, 2023
Quarter 2, Month 3
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This month we are exploring Occupational Wellness.
This dimension of wellness recognizes the importance of preparing and making use of your skills and talents in order to gain purpose and happiness in your work and home life. While our career is very important, balancing it with home/social responsibilities can be a juggling act, which is why we will focus on healthy and unhealthy work-life balance and time management.
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"Being healthy is a success that many people
forget to celebrate."
~unknown
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What is the most consumed fruit in the world?
Bananas!
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Don't Miss These Important Dates:
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National Dental Hygiene Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Pet Wellness Month
October 1st - World Vegetarian Day
October 10th - World Mental Health Day
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Why is a Good Work-Life Balance Important?
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A good work-life balance is essential because it helps reduce stress and prevent burnout in both our professional lives and personal lives. It can also help improve mental health, prevent chronic pain and hypertension, and digestive issues.
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Signs of an Unbalanced Work-Life Dynamic
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You can’t stop thinking about work when you’re not at work. Those who find it difficult to draw boundaries between work and life are at higher risk of burnout.
Your relationships — both inside and outside of work — are beginning to suffer. You may be easily irritated with coworkers and distant with loved ones.
You feel off. You have unexplained aches and pains. You may rarely have energy or find it difficult to focus when at work.
When you’re not at work, everything seems uninteresting or unimportant. You just don’t feel like doing anything unless you have to. You often turn down invitations, further isolating yourself from your friends.
You spend a lot of money outsourcing support for personal tasks. Your laundry, dishes, and mail pile up, waiting for the day when you “have time” to get around to them.
You struggle to take time off when you’re sick, mentally strained, or when you need to take care of personal tasks. You don’t remember your last vacation and you don’t have plans to take one.
You always feel like no matter what you’re doing, you should be doing something else. Over time, this lack of presence and direction often leads to an existential crisis.
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How to Improve Work-Life Balance
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The truth is, there’s no prescription that will fit everyone. And you may have to play with what time scale feels most relevant to you. Trying to find balance in any single day may feel frustrating, but the balance may be easier to achieve across a week or more.
Here are 7 tips to help achieve work-life balance:
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| Plan Ahead |
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Plan ahead to combine work activities with leisure, social, or fitness activities. If you find yourself with several virtual meetings back-to-back, try taking them while you go for a walk. You could also take a call outside (if ambient noise allows!) or invite a friend over to work with you.
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| Embrace the way your brain works |
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Use productivity hacks like a Pomodoro timer to work in short, focused bursts. Block out all other distractions so you can make the most of your time.
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| Set blocks of time for different tasks |
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Designate a time to check (and respond to) messages, a time to take meetings, and a time to do mentally-intensive work. It helps to anchor these tasks around the times that you are personally more productive.
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| Enlist technology to help you unplug |
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Use an app to block distracting websites during the day, and then block work tools after hours. If you can, restrict work to one device, or try to keep one work-free device so you can disconnect completely.
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| Go out for lunch, or enjoy lunch with coworkers |
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Even if you’re working from home, you can go out for your lunch break or connect with colleagues. The change of pace will be refreshing and, of course, will remind you to actually eat something.
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| Practice mindfulness |
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Mindfulness makes imbalance hard to ignore. When you practice mindfulness techniques, like meditation or breath awareness, you become more in-tune with your emotions and physical sensations. Paying attention to these feelings helps you learn how to notice when you might be suppressing a need in order to work.
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| Find something you love outside of work to engage in |
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If you have something that you’re excited about doing after work, it will make it easier to disconnect from work messages or end your day at a predetermined time. Our hobbies boost our energy and vitality. When we play and feel creative, we bring our fresh selves back to work.
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The 4 Quadrants of Time Management Matrix
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Are you tired of constantly feeling overwhelmed and struggling to complete tasks on time? Discover the Time Management Matrix, a game-changing tool by Stephen Covey, and learn how to create your own priority matrix.
To write a time management matrix, you need to categorize tasks based on their urgency and importance. Start by setting up four boxes labeled with the words: urgent and important, not urgent yet important, urgent but not important, and not urgent and not important. Then, easily slot your tasks into the appropriate boxes and take action accordingly for efficient prioritization. Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to productivity!
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Upcoming Wellness Workshops
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October 10, 2023 at 7:30 AM (EST)
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October 25, 2023 at 4:00 PM (EST)
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Questions? Suggestions? Thoughts?
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Copyright © 2023 The Wishing Well, All rights reserved.
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