Our holiday last week to Scotland was what we all needed. All three of us were looking forward to a break from relentless plans, holiday club, clients and the stresses of modern life.
The drive up to Scotland was enough to take our breath away and that was before we even got to our holiday park! Beautiful scenery, fresh air and as much swimming as our five-year-old could handle.
Coming back though, the anxiety and stresses about coming back to work were clear to see. I had already blocked off this week to catch up on life admin, work admin, and general crap that I don’t often get time to do throughout the week, normally. This is evident in the fact I posted three blogs to my personal blog site in two days!
Getting back into the swing of things is always difficult so I just wanted to say that for those coming back from summer holidays; it’s ok to want to take an extra day off (if you can), to prepare for the rat race again. Or tell your clients that you’re blocking off Friday afternoon this week for personal time.
Mental health is something I advocate about regularly, having dealt with issues since my little one was born. Even with all the celebrities, TV and media coverage of it, it’s still a massive taboo and is frowned upon if discussed in certain circles.
Businesses need to do more to get involved with making sure employees have access to mental healthcare, mental first aiders and that burnout is properly addressed. I saw a post on LinkedIn last week about how burnout was not a badge of honour, it was not to be celebrated. Instead, look at why your staff are working all hours to get work done. Do you need more staff, better processes and equipment?
It is no surprise that workers are more productive if they have the support in place to take breaks, have holidays without the panic of walking back in to a load of shit and are able to relax on a weekend. Sunday night blues are real!
Our holiday did help all of our mental health but we still have a habit of slipping back into the same old mundane routine. It was a good reset and we all needed it, but we do need to get better at how to deal with those stresses of daily life.
Some tips and tricks
If you can, have a chat with management about what they have in place for mental health, get together a little group of employees who can advocate for the employees - my old company had one called the Culture Committee, it worked really well!
After work, switch off your phone for an hour, go for a walk or play with the kids. Rather than messaging that work friend having a moan about something that happened, take ten minutes to figure out why you’re annoyed about it.
Only you can change your reactions to things, only you are responsible for your happiness and wellbeing. If that means getting out and getting a new job, do it! Life is too short to be in a job you despise.
Exercise is a great mental health booster and so is reading and meditation.
What else is going on:
I’m reading 9 books this month for various book tours, check them out on Books with Gina
First up is Greed by Tim Beeden which was hilarious! Review will be live on Sunday 12/09.
I don’t watch much TV anymore but I am obsessed with Vigil! I’ve had to watch it a few times to make sure I know what’s going on but it is totally worth it and Suranne Jones is bloody amazing.
Podcasts - as always I’m listening to Shagged, Married, Annoyed by Chris and Rosie Ramsey and No Such Thing As A Fish by the QI elves.
Kids are back in school! Our youngster went back on Monday into year 1! He’s got so big and I’m immensely proud of the superstar for just walking in that classroom like a boss.
Socials:
Twitter: @Ginawritehere
Instagram: @AnxiouslyR or @Bookswith_gina