Did you know that 1 in 5 New Zealanders will experience some form of mental illness this year?
While workplace stress can be a contributor to that statistic, your work can also be a haven, playing an active role in your health and well-being.
This is especially true for small business owners and their amazing teams.
So, how do you make sure your business falls into the latter category and isn’t the one causing stress?
It’s all about creating good mind health by looking after yourself and your team.
Let’s explore the ways you can do that whether your team is gathered in one location or you all work remotely.
WHAT IS MIND HEALTH?
Mind health is another way to describe mental health. Mind health involves how you think, feel and behave, along with how you cope with stress, relate to others and make decisions.
Good mind health focuses on protecting your emotional, psychological and social state. Good mind health is a crucial aspect of leading a fulfilling life, maintaining positive relationships, and allowing you to contribute to your workplace in a valuable way. Negative mind health can strongly impact your ability to handle challenges, adapt to change and achieve your goals and potential.
Good physical health is important for protecting your body, and good mind health is essential for your overall wellbeing. Mind health can have a huge effect on your business and the work you do within it.
So, let’s explore the ways you can encourage good mind health.
GENERAL MIND HEALTH
Building good mind health does not only happen in your business or at work. You must take a holistic approach to mind health across all areas of your life.
Here are the main areas that will impact your mind health:
Work/Life Balance: This old chestnut is back again! Maintaining a good balance between your work commitments and the other aspects of your life is really important. Ensure you set personal boundaries, manage your stress levels, and make time for relaxation and enjoyment.
Connection: Having strong social connections is a key component of good mind health. Building and maintaining healthy relationships creates support and fulfillment. And don’t forget to participate in social activities that fill your cup.
Emotions: While it is important to feel all your emotions, being aware of them and managing them correctly is also crucial. Developing a level of resilience will help you acknowledge your emotions and deal with them in a healthy way.
Psychology: Cultivating a positive mindset, good self-esteem and self-confidence will all help with your wellbeing. So will developing a sense of purpose and understanding your why; these aspects will give you something to draw from on both good and bad days.
Self Care: Listen to what your body and mind are telling you. Recognise when you need to slow down or seek help. Factor in good self-care by getting enough sleep, eating well, staying active, and prioritising downtime.
GOOD WAYS TO COMBAT WORKPLACE STRESS
We all know stress is bad news in a business or workplace. It can be incredibly crippling and is also a big contributor to mental health concerns like anxiety and depression. So, minimising the risk of stress to your team should be a top priority.
Here are some simple stress-busting ideas to share with your team:
Prioritise: Set priorities for each day to ensure you are focusing on the important things first. Then, work on those priority jobs before anything else. It can help to turn off all devices and minimise distractions while you are working on those important tasks.
Time Block: Time blocking sees you divide your day into chunks of time, allocating each time block to a particular set of tasks. For example, you could have a block for inbox management, another for priority tasks, and another for meetings. Be realistic about what you can achieve in each block and don’t run over or do things unrelated to your specific activity.
Set Boundaries: No can be the hardest word to say. But, be strong and say no to the things that are unnecessary, unimportant, or that don’t fit within your skills or job description. If you do have to say yes, then feel free to negotiate better terms by delegating another task or reworking deadlines to suit everyone.
Hive Mind: Chances are, if you are feeling stressed, so are the rest of your team. Draw on the power of the hive mind by brainstorming solutions for how you can better cope with the workload or be more efficient. Your findings just might lead you to our next point…
Get Help: If you are feeling overwhelmed by your workload, it’s time to seek help. In a business, help can come in many forms. You could implement software or an app to automate certain time-consuming tasks, delegate to a colleague who can complete the task more efficiently, or outsource to an external expert like a VA.
MIND HEALTH IN BUSINESS
Just as we have our physical health, we have our mind or our mental health. Like our bodies, our minds will sometimes get tired or rundown. So, some days we will be strong and function well, whereas on other days we’ll need support.
This is perfectly natural and to be expected with the ups and downs of business.
So, what kind of support can you call on in a moment’s notice?
Well, one great solution is the kind of support that can release the pressure of a deadline or counteract workplace stress. That solution is hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) either during a busy period or long term.
Bringing support into your business at the time when your team are feeling the pressure can have an immensely positive impact on mind health and workplace wellbeing. Let’s explore why that is.
THE POWER OF RELEASE
We’ve all had times when we can’t sleep at night due to a looming list of tasks and deadlines keeping us awake. Obviously, that is not ideal for your wellbeing. When business starts to impact the areas of your life that are essential for good mind health, like your sleep, it’s time to release some of the things causing you stress.
Introducing delegation and the art of letting go. Being able to release tasks from your To-Do list can also release the burden on your mind health. It can relieve some of the pressure you are feeling and reduce workplace stress.
Delegating to other members of your team is the first option. However, if they are just as stressed as you, then that isn’t going to solve the overall problem. In those situations, you should explore the option of outsourcing to a remote source, like a Virtual Assistant.
Hiring a VA is an effective solution for two reasons. It not only removes the immediate and long term pressure from your team, but it also gives peace of mind that the outsourced tasks will be completed to a high standard by your skilled VA.
TIME FOR HELP
If your team is currently experiencing a busy period or they are feeling a little low and rundown, the GOOD team are here to help. Skilled and experienced in admin, social media, and executive support, we can release some of the stress and pressure in your business by taking tasks off your plate.
Book a time to chat with our team today and discover the ways we can assist your team and allow them to build good mind health.
