Well-Being At Work

Receive tools for workplace well-being that emphasize self-care, inclusivity, and work-life balance. In this talk, Sura explores the importance of energy management, taking regular breaks, and creating a nurturing workplace environment. Explore techniques that promote a harmonious balance of personal and professional wellness.

Transcript

Hello,

Welcome to Wellbeing at Work,

8 Ways to Combat Corporate Burnout and Succeed.

Have you ever noticed how you feel while you're working?

Are you tense?

Are you relaxed?

Do you allow yourself to fully breathe?

Do you experience pressure?

A silent pressure to succeed,

Even a sense of urgency,

A false sense of urgency,

Constant feeling of stress.

Do you feel fulfilled at work?

These are important questions because it's been found that 89% of people feel burned out from work,

77% are currently experiencing burnout,

And an alarming 21% say that their organization has no resources to counteract burnout.

And the truth is,

Corporations are really struggling,

Including the C-suite,

With managing their employees and improving their overall wellbeing at work for success and productivity.

The 9-to-5 workweek started in the 1800s after the Civil War,

And it was created by American labor unions,

And it was said that this workweek was long hours,

Intense,

And fast-paced,

But they needed to have a reason to live.

And does this model really service today,

To work 9-to-5,

Five days a week?

What's really needed are flexible worktime arrangements where people actually have time to take care of their family,

Their daily needs,

Make meals without feeling completely stressed out,

And that they have to rush from one thing to another.

So if you think about just somebody who's an average family who probably works at a corporation,

Having to get up early,

Make those meals for the whole family,

That first meal,

Get them off to school,

Get ready themselves,

Go to work,

Maybe there's a commute,

Starting at nine,

Coming back at five,

Then making dinner.

I mean,

It's really one rush to the next thing,

And the next thing,

Maybe the kids have after-school activities that the parents also have to coordinate.

So after coming back from work,

Having to prepare again another meal,

Clean the dishes and get ready for bed and do it all over again,

Isn't really accessible for a lot of people in order to feel really rested and balanced.

So creating better work arrangements where people actually can get their daily needs met,

Be able to pay bills and take care of household things if the roof needs fixing.

So having flexible work arrangements like remote working,

Being able to choose the hours that you work,

Really knocking down what those deliverables are so that your work is based on your productivity and not the number of hours that you're just putting in at the office.

In many cases,

People are putting in FaceTime,

So it's not even real work time that they're putting in.

The second thing that people really need at work to feel well is they need to feel connection.

They need to feel connected and feel like they belong at the workplace.

And that happens when they also feel that they can be authentically themselves.

So creating an environment where they're connected to the work that they're doing,

They're invested.

Also where there's a sense of purpose.

If a company has a mission that people are aligned to,

That's actually adding value to humanity,

To the planet,

That's creating a positive impact and people feel aligned to the mission.

It's not just about their work.

They're much more likely to work harder and produce more because they're motivated intrinsically to do the work.

The fourth thing that's critical is a place where it's safe to freely express yourself.

So often employees aren't really sharing what they need,

Where they could see improvements out of fear of repercussion,

Creating those surveys,

Asking questions and inviting people to even bring up negative issues or criticisms or things that could constructively need improvement is essential to creating a workplace where someone can really feel free to just be themselves.

So having safety and trust for a platform of expression.

This also connects to DEI,

Diversity,

Equity,

And inclusion.

The more diverse your workforces,

Oftentimes you have more perspectives.

You grow the consciousness of the corporation by having people from different experiences,

Backgrounds,

Ethnicities,

And cultures come in to solve those big problems,

To innovate,

To come up with new ideas and creatively think out of the box.

DEI and wellness really go hand in hand,

But it has to be more than just teaching people not to be discriminatory.

It can't just be performative wellness,

Performative DEI,

Which is what we see today.

It's like band-aid solutions to systemic issues that need to be addressed in a corporation.

So letting go of the political correctness,

Having real conversations,

Having that diversity all the way from the inside out,

Including the management team.

Those types of initiatives are essential to cultivating a true culture that's inclusive and equitable and diverse,

Because it's about allowing everybody to come to the table and feel like they're making a real contribution and impact.

Also,

Even just a positive workspace environment,

Wherever you are.

Notice how you feel when you walk into your workspace.

Do you feel heavy?

Are you inspired to work?

Is it a clear space where you can focus and feel your best?

So often we have workspaces that have the fluorescent lighting,

Right,

That just zaps your energy,

Or a lot of clutter and a space that just doesn't feel conducive to be relaxed,

To be at home within yourself.

And that making these changes where there's better flow and a more relaxing and calm environment can actually create better results for people.

And also incentives for people to participate in wellness programs.

A lot of corporations,

Because they're struggling with the wellness aspect,

They are doing things like giving their employees access to a meditation app.

And just giving access to a meditation app isn't enough.

You have to provide incentives.

You've got to create connection.

You have to have community and you need strong leadership to keep those activities in motion.

And it's not just about them trying a meditation app for a week or maybe even a month,

But about the long-term success and health that you're nurturing for the people that you're working with.

And lastly,

To cultivate healthy leadership,

Making sure that the people in positions of leadership are not abusive.

They're not toxic.

They've got a balanced mindset of masculine and feminine energy.

They're able to tune in to the needs and the vibe of their team.

And they also have coaching tools.

It's not about being a mental health therapist for the people that you're working with.

It's about knowing how to coach people to be their best.

How can you intrinsically motivate people?

Well,

It's about tuning into their strengths,

Asking them what they want,

Letting them participate in their workload versus just telling them what to do.

So we're just going to cruise through now seven practical ways.

Some of these are science-backed ways to increase wellness at work,

And they're things that you already know,

But can't afford to hear again.

One,

When you're working,

Breathe.

Use this as an opportunity to meditate.

Just breathing while you're sitting at the computer,

Noticing when you start to feel kind of slouched,

When you start to lose energy,

To take that deep breath and reset.

And the way you can do that is breathe in through the back of your heart and exhale out through the front of your heart.

Two,

Move your body.

Too often we're sitting for long periods of time in front of our computer without even knowing that,

Wow,

Three hours have gone by and I've just been sitting the entire time.

So making that effort to stretch,

Move your body,

Even a little bit of self-massage,

Self-touch,

Just tapping on your head to kind of wake up your brain cells is a great way to keep your energy balanced and to take breaks.

So think about how your energy ebbs and flows throughout the day.

We know about circadian rhythm of our body and how we start to get tired around two o'clock from two to four.

So think about keeping your energy balanced.

So more than just getting the tasks done,

What can you do to keep your energy balanced and then noticing how that affects the work that you do.

When you allow yourself to nourish,

To reset,

To replenish,

How does that affect your creativity?

How is it affecting the way you communicate and just how you feel when you leave work?

It's so obvious,

But just staying hydrated,

Drinking water and eating well,

Because our diet is really going to affect the way we feel.

And oftentimes we can feel depleted and tired when we're not hydrated.

So just remembering the electrolytes,

Always keeping good water and good food around you and refraining from reaching out to that fast food that's often available at companies.

And five,

Advocate for your needs.

If you really need to take a day,

A mental health day,

For example,

If you need time to take care of something,

Maybe it's a doctor's appointment or anything,

To be willing to speak up and advocate for what you really need in order to perform at your best.

And then six,

Prioritize your goals.

One of the biggest stressors that people face is the compression of time.

Feeling that they don't have enough time and enough energy in their lives.

So the way you can combat this is to every day,

Prioritize your goals and think about one thing that you'd like to accomplish.

So often people make a really big to-do list and it's just too cumbersome and it creates a lot of confusion and lack of clarity.

If you were to just have a number one goal every day and focused on that goal,

Along with your other to-do list,

Then that will help you feel like you have more command over your time and your attention.

You know where to focus.

And seven,

Envision,

Take time to envision and intend work-life balance for you.

Start to think about what that would mean for you.

Thank you so much.

May we all have wellness at work,

Feel fulfilled,

Connected,

Free to be ourselves,

Connected to a greater sense of purpose because corporations are just groups of people.

And when you have a group of people that are focused on a positive vision,

You can raise the energy of the collective.

It's possible.

And that's where it really starts is the energy,

The core of the organization that starts with the leaders and having leadership buy-in for wellness at work.

Thank you so much for taking a listen.