I was buzzed by the activity and conversations during both Working Well Week and Mental Health Awareness Week. These ‘theme’ weeks really help to bring the much-needed and valuable spotlight to these vital topics. But, once the twitter hashtags die down and the focus shifts away – back to the day-to-day, what do we do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
It’s not like these weeks were that far in the past (only 2-3 weeks ago!), and yet they seem so distant. At least for me they do. I notice myself drifting back into those ‘bad’ habits – I’ll just forgo that screen break to tick a few more things off my list (gotta get it all done today anyway); it’s OK for me to gobble my lunch at my desk (no one will know); oh, I’ll just check my emails before I go to bed (there’s no harm)… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m starting to put my own wellbeing on the back-burner in favour of other things which feel<\/strong> more important, more urgent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I suppose I should congratulate myself for being self-aware that I am doing this (slipping away from what I know is best practice for my health, happiness and wellbeing; that is). But that’s not good enough for me (I’m greedy, you see). I have to take action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first thing I’m trying to do is keep the conversation going – with my family, with my colleagues, with my friends. But this can be hard as I feel like there are not enough hours in my day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, though, I just need someone to hold me accountable (supportively, of course!) And I sometimes do have that – colleagues, friends and family do check-in with me as much as they can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The other thing I recognise I need is that reminder. And I have started using my fitbit and phone reminders to nudge me throughout the day – “Get up and moving”, “It’s lunchtime”, “Coffee-break!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n