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The perfect work-life balance – is it all fantasy football?

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As the football season starts again, many of us up and down the country are dreaming of glory by going through the painstaking process of selecting the perfect fantasy football team.

Just like selecting that perfect team, maintaining a good work-life balance takes consideration and regular review.

Home or away?
Firstly, you pick your Captain. In fantasy football, the Captain is your priority as he’s the man who’ll get you the most points by scoring you the most goals. In the same way you’d regularly review your choice of Captain, you might want to think about how often your work comes home with you. Shifting your priorities around to make leaving work behind should be your number one goal. Although in theory keeping your home and work life separate is simple, in practice, it’s often more difficult than you think.

Next, select your Vice Captain. He works together with the Captain to help score the most points. Your Vice Captain represents your ‘me’ time and without it, how can you leave your work behind? Make time to do things that make you happy on a daily basis. This gives you an enjoyable focus outside work and leaving that big pile of paperwork behind becomes easier.

Teamwork makes the dream work
Now to select the rest of your team, they’re crucial to get the best result on match day. Picking the players who’ll get you the most points are your priority here. This can dwindle your budget and as you run out of money you’ll need to carefully select the rest of the team.

Creating your dream team is just like prioritising your workload and, like ever expanding to-do lists, choosing your players can quickly become overwhelming. Your urgent tasks take priority and once these are cleared you can re-evaluate your to-do list to help shift your priorities instead of running out of time, or having to stay late.

The end goal
Finally, pick your subs. We all know there’s no point in building a strong team if there’s no support for injured players. If you feel stress is getting on top of you or you’re taking work home, talk to your line manager about the issues you’re having.

Achieving a good work-life balance needs careful management, regular changes to your priorities and using the support around you. How will you score this season?

Taking time for what’s important

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Over the years, I’ve come to realise that all aspects of my wellbeing are fully dependent on me.

This was a hard thing to accept, particularly when times were difficult, but it’s something that’s definitely helped me prioritise what’s important. And this is especially true when it comes to my physical and mental wellbeing.

Do what you love
Like many working mums, at times I’ve found it difficult to juggle family, kids, work, and some sort of social life. Add workouts and trying to stay physically fit on top of that and life can become pretty stressful.

I used to work in the fitness industry as a Personal Trainer, so I was constantly surrounded by exercise and the pressure to keep fit. After a while this began to take its toll and I realised I needed a change. Having studied psychology, I knew the importance of looking after my mental health, and decided it was time to do something about it.

I started prioritising the things I love more. Going for long walks with my family, playing tennis, and jogging. I’ve loved getting outside in the beautiful scenery around where I live and this has really helped my mental wellbeing.

I do still go to exercise classes, as I’ve found I get more out of these with the instructor encouraging me. But one of the most invaluable things through all of this has been the support of a friend to help motivate me. OK, it does help that my friend is a Personal Trainer, but she has been incredibly supportive and has helped spur me on.

Mind over matter
As well as the physical side, I’ve also started to look after my mental wellbeing a lot more. I’ve complimented strenuous exercise with meditation, which has been great for my mental health. Although I had my reservations at first, I’ve found that meditation has really helped me clear my mind and it can be a godsend when you feel like your life is moving at 100mph. I now try to take 5–10 minutes every day to practice mindfulness and really look after my mental health.

By doing things I enjoy, looking after my physical and mental wellbeing feels more natural, and it’s easier to keep up good habits. So with that in mind, I‘d like to leave you with one of my favourite quotes from Jim Rohn; “Stand guard at the door of your mind”.

If you’re looking for some sporting inspiration to find new hobbies you’ll love, check out the BBC Sport’s Get Inspired page.

What are you dreaming of?

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We’ve all been there – struggling to concentrate and feeling irritable after a lack of sleep. Sometimes you feel like you’re not fully functioning when you’re tired and all you can think of is getting home to your bed.

But how bad really is a lack of sleep?
The odd late night here and there is normal, it’s an almost unavoidable part of life. But it’s when we start to do this regularly that problems can arise. The NHS tells us that regular poor sleep can have even greater consequences than just feeling a bit sleepy or grumpy. Their website links a lack of zzz’s to obesity and heart disease.

So how do we get a good night’s sleep?
Health professionals stress that “a good night’s sleep is essential for a long and healthy life”. And the benefits of a good sleep include: boosting immunity, boosting mental wellbeing, and helping prevent health issues such as diabetes.

With all these perks, how do we go about ensuring we get a good night’s sleep?

1. Make your bedroom somewhere you want to sleep
Your bedroom should be a relaxing place. Ideally it should be dark, quiet and tidy – somewhere that you can unwind. Unfortunately this might mean you need to tidy your room, but the lack of distractions when trying to get some slumber can really help.

2. Have a bed time
It’s not just for kids! Going to bed when you feel tired and getting up at the same time every day can get your body into a routine, meaning you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go!

3. Don’t just lie there
If you go to bed and find yourself unable to sleep after 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Then go back to bed when you feel sleepier.

4. Put the phone down
It’s so tempting to lie in bed, scrolling through social media catching up on the latest news. But the stimulating light from your phone or TV can harm your sleeping pattern. The NHS recommend putting the tech away an hour before bed. You could replace your Twitter feed with a book or magazine as you try to wind down.

5. No late night coffee
The caffeine in your morning coffee is a great way to start the day, but it isn’t great for catching 40 winks. A warm milky drink or herbal tea are better options for a late night beverage to help you drift off.

As well as these tips, there are also a number of sleep apps that can help you get a good night’s rest. Check out the NHS website further details and links to their sleep apps.

It’s good to look forward

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The holiday of a lifetime, a gig, a day out with friends, or even just a new episode of your favourite TV programme. It doesn’t matter what it is, we all like something to look forward to.

These little (or large) rewards give us something to work towards, and sometimes they can be the very reason we work at all. Future treats can motivate and even help us to get through challenging times if we know there’s something to look forward to at the end of it.

Finding time to plan ahead can sometimes be difficult, especially if you’ve got a lot going on. But planning even small things to look forward to can be really beneficial. And the science is there to back this up too.

Some psychologists believe that having something to look forward to can be good for our wellbeing. The feeling of anticipation we have when looking forward to something can harness positivity. One such study went even further, suggesting that in some cases, the anticipation of looking forward to something can even outweigh the feeling of looking back on the event itself.

As well as being good for your wellbeing, planning ahead can also save you money. Early bird tickets for events like gigs and shows are usually cheaper, and making firm plans can save you scrambling around at the last minute trying to find something to do. It can potentially save you wasting time and money on things you might not enjoy too.

So why not take this opportunity to plan ahead and give yourself something to look forward to? You might just thank yourself later.

The do’s to beat the January blues

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The excesses of the festive season may have taken their toll, and you might be feeling the need to implement a whole host of austerity measures to see you through to payday, but January doesn’t have to be gloomy!

Try our top tips to avoid the annual blues and ease your way comfortably into the New Year.

    • Don’t deny yourself a small treat. With money so tight in January, your regular trip to the local barista might seem like a luxury too far, but cutting it out altogether is likely to make you more miserable. Try exercising a little bit of self-discipline and indulging in that fave treat just once a week – maybe on a Friday so it feels like you’re another week closer to that first payday of 2019!
    • Plan ahead. Making plans for the rest of the year is one of the most effective ways to pull you through the seemingly dismal days of January. If you’ve got the budget, book a day trip out or a weekend away, or if you can’t commit to splash out right now, then book some time off work anyway. It will make you feel better knowing you have some dates in the diary – even if you change them later on!
    • Try some free fun. When money (and maybe your waistband) is too tight to mention why not venture outside and kill two birds with one stone? Parkrun organise free, 5km runs every week which are open to absolutely everyone and take place in your local community – you just need to register online first.
    • Look after yourself. It might sound simple, but being kind to yourself will lift your mood and make those dark winter nights fly by. Indulge in a home movie night rather than the cinema, or tuck up with a good read and a hot choc for a dose of immersive wellbeing.
    • Learn something new. The brand new year can provide just the right amount of encouragement to make you branch out and add some skills to your repertoire. If you’ve always fancied learning to play the ukulele, knit, bake or paint, now’s the time! You could even use the impetus to add a new level of expertise to your professional skillset. Head over to YouTube for every possible tutorial on everything – ever!

Gifting friendship to the elderly this Christmas

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If you’re anything like me, you’re already imagining spending the festive season surrounded by your family and friends, enjoying all kinds of splendid treats.

Half a million older people here in the UK face the prospect of spending Christmas Day alone.

And even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you may take the opportunity to eat, drink and be merry with your nearest and dearest at some point over the next few weeks.

Sadly, this isn’t the case for nearly half a million older people here in the UK who face the prospect of spending Christmas Day alone, according to research by charity Contact the Elderly. This is in spite of the fact that the research also shows a third of the survey respondents plan to visit their older relatives over Christmas.

Many of those older people have been widowed, and can find themselves isolated or vulnerable. Christmas can be a really difficult time for them – highlighting their own loneliness amid the seasonal bustle going on around them.

Contact the Elderly have been working tirelessly for over 50 years in an effort to combat social isolation and loneliness among older people. They have a network of volunteers across the UK who support the elderly in their local communities, providing everything from cake and cuppa, to support and friendship.

This year, Contact the Elderly have joined forces with charity Community Christmas whose mission is to ensure ‘No older person should be alone on Christmas Day unless they want to be.’ Together they aim to provide real help to lift those older people out of isolation, and strengthen communities to support each other throughout the year, as well as at Christmas.

Community Christmas has an easy to use search facility on their website to help with finding all of the Christmas Day events in any given local area. The listings are updated weekly and have plenty of information around time, location and directions. Many events are free or suggest a small donation and list transport availability as well as whether volunteers are needed.

Help isn’t just for Christmas either – Contact the Elderly organise their Sunday afternoon tea parties throughout the year. If you’d like to find out more about events in your local area or how you can help either of these worthwhile charities, visit the Community Christmas and Contact the Elderly websites.

Ho-Ho-Help! It’s party season!

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Festive party season is here! How do you feel about the event of the season, naughty or nice?

Reward Gateway and Perkbox surveys found that although 86% of organisations will host a festive party, 54% of employees don’t look forward to them, and MIND found that 19% of people have pretended to be sick to get out of their Christmas party… surprising?

No doubt you’ll be celebrating the festive season one way or another, but if the thought has got you feeling more Ho-Ho-Help! than Ho-Ho-Ho! read on for our tips on surviving the many parties you may have in your diary this festive season.

Goodwill to all
It’s all too easy to play it safe and stick with your work team, but how about stepping out of your comfort zone and mingling with people you don’t know? Ask questions, be focused on the person you’re talking to and move around the room – you don’t have to talk to everyone, but you never know, you may make some new friends!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
If the thought of even getting to the party is bringing you out in a cold sweat, set yourself some time limits before you leave the house. With realistic goals in place, you will have a point in the evening you can say your goodbyes and leave when you feel comfortable. However, there’s no shame in leaving early if it’s getting too much, although you may miss out on some of the more interesting antics as the night goes on!

‘Tis the season to be jolly
We all know the annual party is a chance to let our hair down. With the alcohol free-flowing, it’s all too easy to overcompensate to calm those party nerves. Try to pace yourself – alternating drinks with a glass of water and sticking to one type of drink can help. Make sure you fill up on the delicious food on offer too!

Baby, it’s cold outside
As boring as this sounds, it’s always best to be well-prepared. Pre-book your taxi, or make sure you’re familiar with the train or bus timetable and keep some cash on you, just in case. Make sure your phone is charged before you leave the house, you never know when you might need it.

Stress – take a workload off your mind

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“One in six of us will experience a mental health problem in any given week.”

This is just one of the worrying statistics from the Mental Health Foundation’s (MHF) survey, which highlights that pressure in our jobs is perhaps the biggest challenge to our mental health. Work commitments can often mean we’re working longer hours and taking fewer breaks – all of which can have a negative effect on our work-life balance.

Whether it’s a tight deadline or an increased workload, we all get stressed sometimes, but, it’s important to realise this and do something positive about it.

Fortunately, help is at hand. Most employers have flexible working and working hours policies that you can discuss with your line manager. In the UK we work the longest full-time hours in the EU, so adjusting your working hours and trying to ‘work smarter’ can help your work-life balance, and ultimately reduce stress.

As well as looking at your work pattern, there are a number of other steps you can take to help reduce stress. Professor Cary Cooper, an occupational health expert at the University of Lancaster, shared some top stress-busting tips with the NHS:

Be active

Exercise won’t make your stress disappear, but it will reduce some of the emotional intensity that you’re feeling, clearing your thoughts and letting you deal with your problems more calmly.

Take proper breaks at work

Make sure you take a lunch break and get out of the workplace if you can.

Connect with people

A good support network of colleagues, friends and family can ease your work troubles and help you see things in a different way. Spending time with friends can help us relax and talking things through with them might help find solutions to your problems. We often have a good laugh with them too, which is an excellent stress reliever.

Have some ‘me time’

We all need to take some time for socialising, relaxation or exercise.  Setting aside a couple of nights a week for some quality ‘me time’ away from work also means you’re less likely to be tempted to work overtime.

Challenge yourself

Try learning a new language or taking up a sport. Challenging yourself to learn something new helps to build confidence, and can help you deal with stress.

Avoid unhealthy habits

Don’t rely on alcohol, smoking or caffeine as your way of coping. Over the long term, these crutches won’t solve your problems, but will likely create new ones.

You can find a full list of Professor Cooper’s recommendations on the NHS website, as well as a host of other handy hints and tips to beat stress.

Mindfulness, peace amongst the noise of mental health

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Mental health issues can affect us all in some way or another – whether personally or because someone close to us has suffered.  Unfortunately it still seems to be a taboo subject and is often not talked about openly, even though mental health awareness has been a subject rarely out of the news in recent times. This can lead to many of us suffering in silence, afraid to ask for help and often not knowing where to turn in times of need.

Having suffered from mental health issues myself, I understand the toll it takes both emotionally and physically,  and not only on me, but on my loved ones too. My mind is often full of negative thoughts, worries spin constantly round my brain and sleep will evade me for days. The noise in my head can become overwhelming and there are days where I struggle to look after myself.

A friend recently introduced me to a simple mindfulness programme to help me cope when my anxiety threatens to overwhelm me. After some scepticism (I’m awful at trying new things), it has helped me to take some control and in general I feel calmer and more like myself again. I am not alone in finding this approach helpful – a study conducted by the Mental Health Foundation found that subjects who undertook a course of mindfulness reported:

  • a 58% reduction in anxiety levels
  • a 57% reduction in depression
  • a 40% reduction in stress

Here are five tips to help you find some time for mindfulness in your life:

  1. Actively book some time in your calendar for yourself. You can practice mindfulness in as little as ten minutes and by scheduling this time in you are more likely to create a new habit you can keep.
  2. Find a quiet, cosy corner where you feel safe and relaxed – for me this is in my favourite armchair, surrounded by cushions.
  3. Find a programme that’s right for you. There are lots of great apps out there that make meditation and mindfulness easy, guiding you through your sessions so all you need to do is get comfy and press play. If you find sitting still hard, try a relaxing activity such as yoga which naturally encourages you to focus on your breathing, making mindfulness a more natural process. Or, take up a new hobby, such as knitting, sewing or baking – the repetitive actions act as a natural meditation.
  4. Don’t be hard on yourself.  It’s no reflection on you if you don’t feel the benefits straight away. For me, mindfulness certainly didn’t come naturally and having suffered from anxiety for years it took time to really feel the benefits.
  5. Be kind to yourself. Even if you decide the above activities aren’t for you, make time for yourself at least weekly. Do things that bring you joy, whether that’s exercising, spending time with your loved ones or something as simple as taking a hot bubble bath.

Be kind to your mind

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Everyone experiences some level of mental anxiety or distress at points during their lifetime.

In fact, one in four people across the world will suffer with some form of mental illness in their life. It’s completely normal to feel a range of emotions from anger and fear to deep sadness, worry and being overwhelmed when something traumatic happens, or even just when times are difficult at work or home.

Long-term impact

Though it’s normal to experience these emotions sometimes, it might indicate a more serious mental illness if the feelings don’t go away or get worse over time. Unfortunately, though efforts are being made to break down the stigma attached to being mentally ill, many people still find it difficult to seek the professional help they need, and the indications are that without proper treatment it might have a significant impact on long-term health.

There are over 200 types of mental illness, with a broad variety of symptoms.

Recognising the signs

There are over 200 types of mental illness, with a broad variety of symptoms but in general changes in behaviour, thinking and mood can be early signs of mental illness. It’s vital that we try to recognise these indicators in ourselves and in the people around us, and seek medical help as soon as possible to help minimise any lasting effects on our health.

Even if you are not suffering with a mental illness, it’s still important to be kind to your mind and put in place some simple measures to help look after your own mental wellbeing.

  • Do the things that make you happy. Sounds simple enough, but sometimes just freeing up the time in your daily routine to read, listen to music, chat with your family and friends or indulge in a relaxing bath is enough to help ease away the pressures of the day.
  • Exercise your body to help your mind. All sorts of good chemicals such as endorphins are released in your brain when you exercise helping with general feelings of happiness and wellbeing. In addition, it can help to promote positive self-esteem and see off those feelings of low confidence and poor self-worth.
  • Therapeutic hobbies. Creative hobbies have long been known to help promote calm and stem anxious thoughts through repetitive activity. Try taking up colouring, knitting or drawing to really discover the benefits of gentle activities to help relax and calm your mind.
  • Eat yourself to mental wellness. Good nutrition is essential in providing your mind and body with all of the elements it needs to function properly. Making sure you eat a diet that’s balanced will help to maintain balance in your mood and general sense of wellbeing.

Embrace some Danish wellbeing to see you through the Christmas chaos

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As the festive season ramps up to fever pitch and we’re all frantically trying to organise our family, holiday, work and home, there doesn’t seem to be much time left to do anything much else apart from sleep.

But it’s exactly at this point when the stresses and pressures of life are at their highest, that the Danes focus on finding moments of ‘hygge’ (pronounced hoo-gah) to ensure that they enjoy some calm comfort amidst the tumult.

A sense of wellbeing

Hygge: wellbeing, comfort, cosiness and enjoying the simple pleasures in life.

The exact meaning of hygge is almost impossible to determine, but is generally described as wellbeing, comfort, cosiness and enjoying the simple pleasures in life. Enjoying a hygge moment could be indulging in a quiet night in with hot chocolate and a good book, but it could equally be enjoying a cycle ride outside in the fresh air. Although the activities are seemingly unconnected, they both feed into a holistic sense of wellbeing – nourishing the mind and body with goodness.

Work life balance

This idea of general wellness also has a solid focus on maintaining a strong work life balance which sees the majority of Danes starting work at 8am and finishing at 4pm, Monday to Friday. The Danes begin and end their working day early to make the most of the daylight hours, especially in winter, and simply don’t stay late after work, placing great value on time spent at home with their family at the end of the day. The OECD Better Life Index states that ‘only 2% of employees work very long hours’ which is significantly less than the OECD average of 13%.

Work related stress

This work ethic is the accepted norm in Denmark and goes some way to avoiding underlying expectations to work longer than contracted hours to ‘get the job done’ which are more prevalent in the UK. It’s clear to see the correlation between a poor work life balance and increased stress levels, and this is highlighted in our recent Why BWell survey with 25% of UK respondents saying that they struggle to manage workplace pressure. Alongside this a third of people surveyed said that they believe their job has a negative impact on their mental health, and 20% admit they don’t get regular exercise.

Clock off and check out

There’s definitely something to be said for making some time for a hygge moment or two in the face of such statistics, and to help with navigating the most overwrought time of the year. Perhaps adopting a strict rule of clocking off on time most evenings to ensure you make it home to eat dinner with your family, or being mindful about creating joy in life’s everyday moments will be just enough to help you keep your ‘balance’ right through to the New Year.

Why BWell? If you’re interested in reading more about the current state of workplace wellbeing in the UK, you can download a copy HERE. 

Work-life balance: achieving the happy medium

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If you frequently surface from looking deep into the eyes of your work laptop to find that 6pm silently slid past more than an hour ago, or if the first thing you think about when you wake up is the email you sent late the night before, it is likely that your work-life balance is looking rather unhealthy.

Research by the Mental Health Foundation has found that more than 40% of employees neglect other aspects of their life because of work, and nearly two thirds have experienced a negative effect on their personal life including mental health problems, physical health issues, relationship and home life problems as well as a general lack of personal development.

There are measures that we can all put in place to try and refocus on working to live, rather than living to work, but with self-discipline and taking a firm stance top of the agenda, be prepared to toughen up!

40% of employees neglect other aspects of their life because of work.

Speak up

If your workload is unreasonable, and increasing demands are resulting in more overtime than home-time then you will need to find a way to tell your employer. If they aren’t aware that work expectations are too much, then they can’t help you.

Protect yourself

Work-related stress can result in mental health issues, so make sure you have measures in place to combat it. Make time for your hobby, exercise and social life to help ease the pressures of the working day and don’t cancel because you ‘need’ to stay late at work!

Shut off

Easy to say but often difficult to do. As you leave the office (on time!) make sure you mentally acknowledge that you have ‘left the building’ so you have effective closure at the end of the working day. Don’t look at your work emails after your official ‘home time’ and if you absolutely MUST take work home, then confine working to only one area of the house so that you can close the door on it when you’re done.

Time out

Eating at your desk might seem like the ideal way to be more productive, but it’s actually better for you to take a proper break away from your desk. Taking a walk will also raise those endorphins and help raise your productivity for the afternoon.

Work smart

Not hard. You’ll need to be very self-disciplined with your workload and prioritise effectively, but efficiency means you should be able to finish on time . . .