Seasonal working episode 1: How to embrace the summer?

The seasons come and go but are you aware of the impact they have on you and your employees?

For thousands of years eastern cultures have been adapting their behaviour to make the most of their wellbeing during each season. Here’s some tips on what you could incorporate into your work life to maximise your wellbeing during the summer months.

Hot headed – as we know some people are a little more hot headed than others in relation to temperament, that combined with the summer heat is likely to increase peoples resilience to additional pressure and stress. You can relieve this by having meetings in cool environments, provide cool water, have a break ever 30 minutes, have challenging conversations earlier in the morning when the weather is at its coolest.

Sleep – as we know sleep and brain function go hand in hand, the long summer days promote getting into bed later and getting up earlier, therefore a break in the middle of the day is critical, ideally with some rest and meditation.

Networking – summer is a sociable season, it’s a great time to get out there an connect with others. Use the time to host office get together and make the effort to attend events.

Breaks – with the early starts and late finishes during summer is super important to take some time in the middle of the day to relax and chill out, literally. Take your lunch outside, have picnic, drink some water and try a short guided meditation to give your brain a rest. This will help prevent burn out and ensure you can function at your optimum levels through the rest of the day throughout the whole of summer.

Exercise – make the most of the lighter cooler mornings by getting up and doing your exercise first thing, enjoying the nature by going for a walk or swim this will be great start to the day. If you have to exercise during your lunch break, try doing exercises that are less intense such as yoga and in the shade.

Eating – its easy to over indulge with all the social activities, try to keep a tab on what you are consuming stick to fresh salads, fresh grilled fish and meat. Hot heavy foods like are likely to cause you to feel sluggish and demotivated so I would try to limit these as much as possible. Summer vegies include avocado, beetroot, capsicum, cucumber. Summer fruits include berries, cherries, grapefruit. Often seasonal fruit and vegies are the cheapest so good on the inside and also for your bank account.

If you would like more information in relation to how you or your organisation can align to seasonal changes please contact me at victoria@pcwellbeing.com

Lack of education – people just don’t realise what they are doing to themselves and their body and how much better they could feel. Its difficult if you haven’t had good role models in your live.

A distorted perception of themselves –  maybe people just don’t see how bad things have got. Or they think they are so bad that they don’t believe they can be anything else.

Taking the easy option –  it’s so easy to reach for the premade meals and to watch other people live on social media. You get distracted by all the external noise. Its easier to help others than help yourself.

Denial –  people just don’t realise or want to except they have a problem. It will happen to someone else not them.

Suppressing a real problem –  often what happens on the outside is a reflection of what is going on inside for example if someone has had a traumatic experience, they may use food, exercise, alcohol, drugs as a way of dealing with those painful feelings.

Failure to look after yourself can result in higher rates of health issues including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and mental health challenges. These types of chronic conditions creep up on people over significant time so people don’t always see them coming. Looking out for yourself should be your number 1 priority, if we are not able to feel our best then how can we possibly do our best at home or at work.

By focusing on ourselves we can set a positive example and raise our concerns to family and friends, so they get the help and support to help themselves. By promoting businesses who support people in finding their best selves we truly are making the world a better place.

If you feel like this is you please reach out for support there are lots of people who are ready to help from coaches, counsellors, psychologists and GPs.

If you would like to get your Sparkle back please get in touch. Victoria Jones at Personal and Corporate WellBeing – Victoria@PCWellbeing.com