Well-being at work – the conundrum

Blog by Ann McCracken,

With most people working longer hours, it’s hard to stop our professional identities taking over our private life.
In fact many people define themselves by their work or job status.

Smart phones and tablets mean we are on constant ‘duty’ and expectations are such that work ‘phones are permanently ‘on’. How does this relate to Wellbeing……………..the answer is “not very well”.

To achieve a healthy balance we need to make clear choices both at home and work. This may require some brain ‘rewiring’ – exploring our beliefs to clarify that they are still valid.
“I am the only one who can do this task”, may require you to ask for help or train a colleague to carry out the task. This may dilute your skill set or it may show your ability to delegate and mentor – the choice of thinking is yours!
“I have to do everything in this house” may satisfy your need to be wanted, but sharing tasks with your family or those you live with could help them to be more capable when they eventually live on their own.

I believe the answer to our personal Wellbeing resides with us – in our thinking, our lifestyle choices and our life-skills. All of these can be ‘re-wired’ or learned if we choose to do so.

I look forward to discussing these concepts at the Workplace Wellbeing and Stress Summit in November.
http://www.symposium.co.uk/workplace-wellbeing-stress-summit/

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About Ann McCracken

Ann McCracken is a Director of AMC2 and the vice president of the International Management Association (ISMA UK) – the professional body for stress management Practitioners.

She specialises in developing a positive and resilient working culture in organisations by introducing effective strategies in performance and wellbeing at all levels. The effectiveness of such a positive working culture is measured and assessed using AMC2 Corporate Diagnostic innovative surveys which include measurement of psychosocial factors, stress and wellbeing. Having initially trained as a scientist, she carried out research with DEFRA and consultancy in the NHS.

She spent 10 years in Education before retraining as a stress management practitioner in 1996. She is the author of Stress Gremlins©, regularly writes/broadcasts and is an external lecturer at Westminster University. She is also a Key Note/Motivational speaker/Conference Chair.

Website

• 6 myths about mental health and the truth behind them - 13 April 2016
• Healthy business – part two – a positive attitude - 12 February 2016
• Healthy business 2016 – let’s share ideas - 12 January 2016
• Are you flexible? - 4 November 2015
• Stress risk assessment – the helpful insight into your organisation - 20 October 2015
• Support your middle managers - 2 September 2015
• Cortisol – the stress hormone - 24 June 2015
• What is your definition of mental health? - 11 May 2015
• Mental ill health in the workplace - 13 April 2015
• Germanwings air disaster not just about one employee’s mental health - 31 March 2015

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