Corporate wellness topic of the month

Corporate wellness topic of the month

December - Dealing With Deadlines

1. Nothing is going to be perfect. Aim for great not perfect.

You are good at what you do. You work hard, it's likely the work you produce will be of a high quality but it's rarely, if ever, going to be perfect. Expecting perfection will cause you stress, which in turn will make you less effective. Aim for great, but not perfection.

2. You can always control your level of effort but you can not control other people

Are you working hard? Are you working effectively? If yes then feel good about that. No one else will celebrate this for you. You understand what you need to do, so just do it. If you are waiting on something from someone else then write them an email AND call them or go and see them. Do everything within your control and influence. Accept that this is all you can do and this is more than enough.

3. Amend your email client to remove new email reminders flashing up.

How does it feel when a new email flashes up? For most it causes stress, uncertainty and detracts from the task you are currently working on because your attention is drawn away, even if it only takes a second. Email is part of our working lives, this doesn't mean it has to grasp for our attention every few minutes. We can control it. Book a specific time to check email, ideally 2 blocks of 30 mins a day, put the time in your calendar. Create two folders; one for important, one for other. Put all email into either folder. Spend 75% of your time working in the important folder.

4. Mindfulness exercise of the month 1 minute breathing

This exercise can be done anywhere at any time. You can do it at your desk with eyes open or find a quiet place. Its up to you. Simply focus on your breathing for just one minute. Instead of timing 1 minute you can simply do 6 inhalations and 6 exhalations. Breath in and out slowly, breathing in for a count of four as you inhale. When your mind wanders, and it will, simply acknowledge where it went, then bring your attention back to your breath again. Do this as often as you need to. Do this little exercise as often as you can throughout your day.