In today’s fast-paced work environment, prioritizing mental health is essential for maintaining overall well-being and productivity. Whether you’re working in a bustling coworking space or a quiet home office, taking proactive steps to care for your mental health at work can make a significant difference in your daily life. To help you navigate the demands of work while maintaining mental wellness, we’ve compiled eight practical tips to take care of your mental health at work that you can easily incorporate into your routine.
5 Tips to Improve Your Mental Health at Work
When facing heavy workloads and long hours, you may struggle to establish a healthy routine and structure your day effectively. To help you maintain a healthy work-life balance, we’ve listed a few tips to help you structure your day.
1. Set a daily schedule
Create a schedule for yourself with a set start and finish time, ensuring you incorporate designated breaks for coffee, tea, and lunch at times that are comfortable for you. This structure will help you manage your time more effectively and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
2. Set up a dedicated workspace
Having a dedicated workspace is essential for separating your work and personal life. It’s also important to regularly clean your workspace, as this can help clear your mind and increase productivity. A clean, organized workspace can contribute to a more positive and focused work environment, ultimately enhancing your overall well-being.
3. Schedule a quick catch-up meeting with your colleagues
Having a quick catch-up meeting with your colleagues can help you stay in touch regularly and kickstart the day. It provides a good opportunity for everyone on the team to communicate what they will be working on for the day, fostering collaboration and alignment.
4. Make sure you go outside
Going for a walk during your lunch break is a great way to get some sunlight and fresh air, which are important for your overall well-being. Taking a break to go outside mid-day can make you feel more refreshed and give you the energy to tackle the rest of your workday. Plus, it’s a simple way to incorporate physical activity into your day and break up long periods of sitting.
5. Do a mindfulness or breathing exercise
Engaging in mindfulness and breathing exercises is an effective way to reduce stress and anxiety. Taking just 10 minutes each day, perhaps between meetings, to focus on your mental well-being can make a significant difference. To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of tools that can assist you in practicing mindfulness and overcoming negative thoughts. Incorporating these practices into your daily routine can lead to improved mental clarity and overall well-being.
8 Tools to Practice Mindfulness and Help you Focus on your Mental Health at Work
“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Mind over matter” is a powerful concept, especially when it comes to dealing with burnout at work. Burnout can manifest as anxiety and stress, which can stifle your motivation to take positive steps. To help you overcome these challenges, we’ve compiled a list of tools that you can easily use to take care of your mental health at work. These tools are designed to help you manage stress, stay motivated, and maintain a positive mindset.
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Mentimia
Mentimia is an app by Sir John Kirwan. John Kirwan has dedicated his life to mental well-being and shares his knowledge with you through the Mentimia app. The app provides a complete wellness program in bitesize exercises that help build great habits every day. There are tools available to help you set your goal, and track and feel the changes that you are making in your daily life. Mentimia is available for Android and IOS.
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ReachOut Breathe
Reachout is an online mental health organization for young people and their parents. Their app ReachOut Breathe offers easy breathing and mindfulness exercises to help you slow down your heart rate and reduce stress and anxiety.
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Stretchly
If you have trouble keeping your good resolutions, install a break timer on your computer to help you stick to your schedule. There are many break timers available, some more intrusive and forceful than others. Stretchly is an open-source app available for Mac and PC. The app reminds you to take regular breaks when you are working on your computer. You set your schedule for short and long breaks throughout the day. When it is time for your break, a message pops up on your screen with a suggestion for a break. Suggestions include things like a coffee break, a stretch, or a breathing exercise. Break lengths and suggestions can be customized and if you are busy, you can postpone or skip your break.
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Smiling Mind
This is a free meditation and mindfulness app by the mental health organization Smiling Mind. They recommend a 10-minute exercise every day. Programs cater to specific needs such as workplaces, adults, and young people as well as programs for indigenous people and couples that are expecting.
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Insight Timer
This popular meditation app offers meditations and talks by world-renowned experts including top Australian meditation teachers such as Melissa Ambrosini, Ajahn Achalo, Kate James, Meg James, Manoj Dias, Dr. Elise Bialylew, The Stillpoint, and more. Free features include guided meditations, a meditation timer, music tracks, and ambient sounds. You can set milestones and track your progress.
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Yogaia: Yoga & Meditation
The Yogaia app offers Yoga, Meditation, and Workouts. It is their mission to help you live a happier and healthier life. Yogaia has a unique interactive feature, to turn on your camera to get instant support during your workout. Yogaia lets you pick from 4 paths so you will be able to access classes catered to your personal goals. Classes cater to beginners as well as more experienced practitioners.
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Youtube
Most people already have this app installed on their phones. There are many videos, playlists, and talks available on YouTube that can help you with meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises, and even workouts. All for free. We recommend Spirit Dream Mindfulness Meditation by Ash Dargan. Spirit Dream is an aboriginal meditation soundtrack, but it can be enjoyed by anyone.
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Spotify
Put those headphones to good use and listen to your favorite music or a special playlist designed to help you concentrate. There are numerous playlists available from calm acoustic music, to instrumental music and meditation and white noise sounds. White noise sounds help you block out background noises to help you concentrate better or fall asleep.
Organisations you can reach out to for support
Staying positive can be challenging, especially under a lot of pressure. Many people nowadays experience increased levels of anxiety and stress, which can easily lead to mild depressive thoughts over time. If you find yourself caught in a negative thought spiral, it’s important to reach out for help. There are many organizations you can contact for support online or over the phone. Below, we’ve listed a few of these organizations to assist you.
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One Door Mental Health
This is an organization that helps those with mental illness or who are struggling mentally hard times. Their mission statement is one of fairness, value, and equality. They also offer bilingual support services for those who find it hard to express themselves in English. You can find more information on their website. https://www.onedoor.org.au/
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Reach Out
Another helpful website is Reach Out. They have articles and tips on how to cope with mental health as well as practical approaches to incorporate mindfulness into your daily life. You can find them here https://au.reachout.com/
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Smiling Mind
Smiling Mind aims to provide accessible, life-long tools to support healthy minds. They offer mindfulness programs, especially catering to young people. They offer programs for kids and adults. More information can be found on their website https://www.smilingmind.com.au/
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Lifeline
Lifeline is a not-for-profit organization providing 24/7 emotional and suicide prevention support. You can call them on 13 11 14. For more information head to https://www.lifeline.org.au/
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Beyond Blue
Beyond Blue provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health. They provide support over the on 1300 224 636 or you can access support via web chat. For more information head to https://www.beyondblue.org.au/.
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Suicide Call Back Service
The Suicide Call Back Service provides support for people affected by suicide. You can get support over the phone via 1300 659 467 or contact support via web chat or video call online at https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/
Wellness at Work
United Co. provides an extensive wellness program for members which includes yoga classes and a multi-purpose quiet room for prayer or meditation. Read more about our wellness program HERE.
About United Co.
United Co. is a wellness-focused shared workspace. We offer innovative solutions to help you work better and embrace work-life balance.
Get in touch
If you like to speak to a member of our team, please do not hesitate to get in touch and contact us today.
