At Make A Difference News we’re on a mission to ensure every employer has access to the insights, inspiration and contacts they need to make a difference to workplace culture, mental health and wellbeing. That means looking at what we as employers can do to support colleagues. It also means taking care of ourselves as leaders and guiding employees to resources that they can use to take responsibility for their own wellbeing.
Here are five of my favourite self-care articles that we’ve published since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Which have you found the most useful?
Mental health awareness in the context of minority experience has been cast into the spotlight by the most widespread and diverse social movement related to race and identity issues in history. In this article, Johnny Quinn Alston and his brother Wesley Alston share self-care tips that can be applied to experiences as a minority.
In this piece Kendelle Tekstar invites us to consider that our inner worlds hold one of the keys to modern businesses thriving as we navigate our way out of the pandemic. She also offers two solutions related to how to initiate meaningful, ongoing conversations with colleagues about the connection between self-esteem, self-talk, self-sabotage, wellbeing, and the way people think/feel/behave in environments where they are being asked to perform.
With the pandemic blowing our routine, finances, work and personal worlds completely out the water, the last few months have felt very much like being in survival mode; in a constant state of fight or flight. BBC journalist Laura Hearn shares how she is navigating uncertainty by pressing pause on her thoughts and responding to what is happening right now, not what could ‘possibly’ happen down the line…
Working from home has become a new reality for many of us. This means that we’re closer to work, which makes it more challenging to keep focus during the day. And now that we no longer see our working colleagues in the office, we often try to compensate with even more communication on different channels. So, at the end of the day when the work day is supposed to be over, we can find ourselves putting in some extra hours just to cover up for the unproductive moments we had earlier. Sound familiar? In this article Nadir Benkahla gives useful tips on how to get more out of your working days and stay motivated.
Chronic anxiety and stress can take a dangerous toll on the nervous and immune systems. And can also lead to presenteeism and to burnout at work. One way to address this is to cut back on behaviours and activities which we know trigger our anxiety – such as over use of social media. Heather Kelly outlines how to take a detox from your digital devices.
About the author
Claire Farrow is the Global Director of Content and Programming for the Mad World and Make a Difference Summits. She also drives the content for Make A Difference News. Claire is on a mission to help every employer – large, medium and small – get the insight, inspiration and contacts they need to make real impact on workplace culture, mental health and wellbeing in their organisation. She has been freelance for more than 15 years. During that time, she has had the honour of working with many leading publishers, including the New York Times
