- Do you feel your mental health suffered during the pandemic and is still not great today?
- Does hybrid working exhaust you and make you feel like you are working in a call centre, with relentless back to back calls?
- Do you worry that if you don’t change something, your health will suffer in the long term?
Why is it that we are still feeling the ravages of the pandemic on our mental health at work?
There were two things that happened that have created the long tail of mental health issues that we suffer with today.
Firstly, the pandemic created an existential crisis – overnight what we used to entertain and amuse ourselves was taken away. Our biggest concerns shifted from our career and lifestyle to our health and the health of our loved ones. After two years of worrying about job security, money and health, it’s taken its toll on how we feel today.
Secondly, for many, the pandemic was the last straw to break the camel’s back. We’d already been working under excessive pressure to get ahead, stay relevant, and be well regarded by our peers. We hid our mental health issues because revealing them might negatively impact our careers.
The problem is, lots of people worked even harder during the pandemic. Either at the request of management or due to their own drive for job security making their mental health worse. We saw absence cases soar due to mental health over this time.
And what is the situation today? Whilst it feels like life’s gone back to normal, for the time being at least, the mental health crisis is still here.
So what can you do about it?
PUT YOURSELF FIRST
Change how you approach your role
Put your self care at work first. Imagine you’re a Scuba Diver about to embark on a dive. You’d make sure your tank was full of oxygen before your dive wouldn’t you? Create a timetable of self care activities which includes during your working day. Free up some time by working out the most critical 20% of your role and focus on those activities first. Get support if you have several stakeholders making demands on your time at the same time – it’s time to start managing stakeholders differently.
Change your role
If your role is eroding your mental health, maybe it’s time to see if there is an alternative role in your company that you could do that wouldn’t impact your mental health as badly. You can check out the job boards and also seek some informal advice from someone you trust within your organisation on how to approach this.
Get professional help
There is no need to suffer alone. There are a lot of resources including confidential employee assistance programs, psychotherapists and charities that can help. In some cases, medication can help get through a particularly challenging period.
Take some time out
Sometimes having some distance between you and your job for a short period is just what you need to rebuild your mental health and gain perspective.
Change your career
Another option is to rethink your career completely. You can work out what your strengths are, your values and what you really care about. This could open up new avenues of possibilities that you haven’t considered so far.
The pandemic taught us that we only have one life. If work is impacting your mental health, do something about it now. It’s just not worth the risk you may pay later.
Ok Angela, I feel like I need to take action to take the pressure off at work. So what can I do next?
You may be wondering:
- How can I best make a decision regarding what to do next?
- What are some of the alternative options that I could explore?
- How do I cope with managing my workload in the meantime?
Decide what you want to do
- You can download my free Are You Happy at Work? test
- If you are looking for some immediate one-to-one support to work out how you can quickly take back control of your mental health, contact me.
- If you a looking to change your career, join the My Wisdom Career™ Program
Ok Angela, I feel like I need to take action to take the pressure off at work.
So what can I do next?
How can I best make a decision regarding what to do next?
What are some of the alternative options that I could explore?
How do I cope with managing my workload in the meantime?
Decide what you want to do
If you are looking for immediate one-to-one support, contact me and we can have a chat.
If you are committed to making a change, join one of the My Wisdom programs.