Keeping Your Team Mentally and Physically Afloat: A Guide to Workspace Wellbeing
Going to the office means that you’re going to be in an environment where you share your personal space with plenty of other people, which may include your supervisors. This environment is so intricate and complex that 95% of employees who take time off because of workplace stress could not tell which part of their workplace serves the real reason behind it.
The two most delicate components of workplace, however, are the space itself, and the people around it. To control the workplace at its granular level is impossible, but by maintaining the condition these two components, you can make sure that the rest would follow suit.
If you’re looking to strengthen your workplace’s hygiene and & wellbeing, here are some things that you can do.
Personal hygiene
As the human components of the workspace, you are one part of the workplace that you can actively control. It’s important for you to first maintain your personal hygiene.
Always wash your hands. In an office, you share almost everything with your team. And, if you’re sharing your workspace with multiple teams, then there are more people that you’re going to be indirectly interacting with. If water is not readily available, then always have a hand sanitizer ready.
In the office, your personal space extends to your desk, chair, and other objects in the general area of your workspace. These objects you have to also clean as much as your body. Use disinfecting wipes, spray, or lotions periodically. Make sure there’s no trash around, too. Good for both health and aesthetically.
Precautions
Feeling a cough tickling your throat? Or maybe a sneeze coming up your nasal passages? Cover them up before you burst away. You can use tissue, your shirt, or the most effective way available: masks.
Modern masks effectively blocks droplets that fly out of your orifices, which could act as carriers for bacteria and viruses. If you feel like you’re going to be coughing and sneezing for the rest of the day, get a mask, stat. If not for your own good, then for the team.
Move!
Office workers spend an average of 67 days total sitting down in their chair in a year. This means that in one day, you’re spending about six to eight hours being physically idle. This “sedentary working” can cause aches and pains due to muscles settling where they shouldnt. Moreover, spending your work hours sitting all the time can negatively impact your productivity! Now you know why you’ve been groaning and groggy in the afternoon.
To combat this, you can be more active at work. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown gym routine. Simple movements that warms up your bones, joints, and muscles are good enough when you feel that your glutes are stuck onto the chair.
All it takes is for you to move your body a little more during the workday. Our article on simple office exercises can help you get started. You won’t need to invest your money on any tools and equipment, or your time on routines.
These exercises can help maintain your physical and mental well-being by letting your blood flow to where it needs to go. They will help you feel more fit and maintain energy throughout the day.
Stay Positive
It’s easy to get bogged down with the daily grind of work. However, it’s important for you to keep a positive attitude during work hours. Maintaining a negative outlook of work means that you’ll dread the morning alarm. You’ll start your day off with pessimistic thoughts, and end the day gloomily. That’s not what you want, right?
Distance yourself from negative news. The ever-developing technology behind the processing and sharing of information opens up access for us to learn more about the world at our fingertips, as it happens. However, it also means exposing ourselves to an endless stream of news, with next to zero filter, if any. That’s why we should actively manage the channels from which we receive news and information, and limit the ones that could possibly bother you, and is irrelevant to your field of work and interest.
Start the day right. Scientific evidence suggests that the first few hours of your day can greatly impact how you feel for the rest of your day. Developing a reliable morning ritual that suits you best helps. Plenty of successful and productive minds of our time have great morning rituals that involve more than just a tasty & healthy breakfast. The most important thing to keep in mind about your morning ritual, however, is consistency! An ok ritual that’s done everyday does more than a single amazing day of morning ritual.
Talk with your workmates.
When you manage to keep your mood and body in check, you can do more than just increase your productivity. You can achieve the “super work-state” that gets you beyond where you need to go.
Always remember that you’re just one component of the team. The rest of them should work hand in hand with you to maintain the overall well-being of the team.
That said, however, it all starts with you. If you’re reading this article right now, and you see that your team is struggling with their wellbeing, then it’s up to you to introduce these changes and bring a more positive vibe to your team’s days during hard and uncertain times. Changing routine is a hard thing to commit to, but when someone speaks up and decides to stick with it – it’s 100 times better than just letting things go as is.
The perfect workspace and work environment look after your team members as much as you do. At GoWork, we take extra steps to ensure your team’s comfort with our well-designed workspaces that integrate greeneries and natural lighting.
If you’re looking to design your workspace to maximize comfort along with productivity, you can fill in the form below. Our team will soon contact you to discuss your future office.
