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5 ways to boost your mood during lockdown

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I think it’s fair to say that life’s a bit of a rollercoaster for many of us at the moment. Full of ups and downs and the accompanying highs and lows in our mood that come with navigating our way through the uncertainty of a global pandemic.

Many of us are spending most of our time at home now, without the usual social interactions that come with our normal workplace (and even if we can go to work, it’s with huge restrictions and socially distanced), or going about our daily routines of school drop-offs, shopping and visits to the gym / coffee shop / pub / parks etc. And with all of this isolation and separation can come a knock to our mood.

So here are a few simple ideas to help lift your mood if you’re feeling a little low:

  • Turn up those tunes! Music is a well-known mood-booster, so find a favourite upbeat song to listen to, crank up the volume and just take some time to let those feel-good vibes nourish your soul! Music has always been a main go-to for me to lift my spirits and it really does work!
  • Have a laugh – there’s a lot of research to back this one up and apparently, laughter really is the best medicine for when we’re feeling low. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural feel-good chemicals and promote an overall sense of wellbeing. So why not put on your favourite comedy show and let those endorphins work their magic.
  • Get moving! A favourite for me and my family is to get dancing! If I can see we need a little pick-me-up, I’ll turn the radio on and we’ll just dance around the kitchen together – it works wonders! Another idea is to find a short video online, I’ve found some great dance HIIT and Zumba workouts on YouTube that I can easily fit in when I have 20 minutes to myself. Without doubt I come away feeling so much better than when I started.
  • It’s good to talk – communication is so important in getting through these strange times and a phone call / video call with your best mate or a loved one can really help you to feel connected. If you need to, vent your frustrations and get them off your chest, or talk through how you’re feeling and get some support from family and friends – we really are all in this together!
  • Look at old photos – whether that’s looking through photos on your phone or laptop, or flicking through an old photo album from years ago that’s gathering dust in the back of a cupboard, take a few minutes out to look back at happy times you’ve had. Focus on those good times and happy memories and feel gratitude for those times for a dose of feel-good vibes.

Let us know if you’ve got any other mood-boosting ideas to share with us! Look after yourselves.

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.

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.

What is 4me?

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We all have diverse needs when it comes to our physical, mental and financial wellbeing, and research shows that many of us would like help from our employers in these areas.

And that’s where 4me can help.

4me is an online tool that can help you to think more about your overall happiness and how you can get the best out of your job, your cash, your workplace benefits and more. Whatever your age, and wherever you are on your savings journey, 4me will point you in the right direction.

In 4me, we don’t use confusing jargon, and you’ll only see the information most relevant to you. There are topics tailored to your age group and it takes account of what savings you already have. Even your paperwork and terms and conditions are stored on the bookshelf so you won’t have to go searching through your ‘filing’! There’s also a library of short videos and interactive tools, all designed to guide you through the decisions you might face at any stage in your life.

  • 18-29? Stay in! – this is where your retirement journey begins
  • 30-49? Pay more in – start to build up your savings and plan  how much you need to save for the future
  • 50+? Shape and access – consider if you’re on track for the retirement you really want and think about how you might want to spend your money

The aim of 4me is to fully equip you with the tools you need to plan and make well informed decisions about your future. Speak to your employer today about the benefits of 4me, or head over to the website to find out more.

Six ways to set personal goals

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With the New Year celebrations now behind us, lots of us are now looking forward to the year ahead!

And if your resolutions didn’t get past the first hurdle, then maybe now is a better time to reassert your will on personal improvement and goals.

Why not go for that dream promotion, or train for a muddy race? If you want to eat better you could sign up for a cookery class and you’ll even meet some new people in the process. The choice is yours, but the real question is: how do you stick to it?

Here are six ways to make an effective plan:

  1. Make your goal specific – when you have a clear goal in mind, you have a better focus on what needs to happen. For example, if you want to save more money, then set a realistic target amount and visualise what that money is going to be spent on… eventually.
  2. Measure it – it’s great when you can see your progress as it is a clear indication that you’re on the right track. If you want to lose weight, set yourself a goal weight and date to achieve it by, and use a fitness app to track your weight loss – it can help to motivate you.
  3. The goal should be achievable – when setting targets, you should be realistic about them, otherwise you will be disappointed if you don’t get there. Large-scale goals might be motivational in the beginning, but if the effort required to achieve them is unsustainable, you’ll feel worse than when you started out. Try breaking down big goals into bite-sized pieces and celebrate your small achievements!
  4. Be realistic – think about the timeframe of your goal. You may want to set long and short-term targets such as fitting into your old jeans or being race ready for a marathon which is six months away.
  5. It should be exciting – setting a goal that you’re not really bothered about will demotivate you, so make sure you don’t lose interest. Remember to visualise the end result often to keep up those levels of motivation.
  6. Record it – keep a diary of certain milestones during your journey, or log your progress on an app. You will be able to look at how far you have come and it will serve as a reminder for why you set those goals in the first place.

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 . . .