November is Men's Health Awareness Month and so this week I thought I'd focus the blog on that.
As someone who is now over the magical 50 I spent a lot of my life NOT talking about things like health (and especially Mental Health) - I'm from a generation where we just got on with things and men bottled things up and just got on with it.
Talking about issues was an absolute no-no. I've got close friends from school, but no one who, until recently, I spoke to about things like this. I'd been on courses for work and I was/am a great advocate of encouraging my team to talk to people, to each other, to professionals, to me....but I couldn't do it for myself. When I was growing up my Mum used to say "a problem shared is a problem halved" and it's something I've told my Son - there is no issue on the planet that cant be solved by communicating and yet I never listened to that advice myself until recently.
I've struggled a lot with things over the past year and at one point I felt so ashamed and powerless that I even thought about how I could make it all go away. That's when I knew I needed to speak to someone. I have an amazing manager, friends and support network in the office, who, when I told them, rallied round me and offered me their advice, checking in on me regularly and encouraging me to speak to my GP, Counsellors and various other people...the relief since doing it has been incredible. If you're ever struggling then I would strongly encourage you to overcome any bias (or shame) that you have and to reach out. Even if I don't know you but you want to speak to someone, you can speak to me. If not me then find your person....speak to them. And if you're worried about someone then ask them..."are you ok? Do you want to chat?" Chances are they might want to...
That's the personal bit of the blog over. You can relax now.
As we work in a contact centre there's a few things we can do to help our own mental health in check, as well as those around us. Firstly - talk to people. Make conversation between calls. Take a break when you need it. DONT just keep going call after call. We encourage our staff to take "Wellbeing Breaks" and they use them for exactly that. If they have a bad call, they take a break to recover and refocus - you need to find yourself and clear your brain sometimes and even a 10 minute walk can do that. If you don't take a break, at least staying connected and having social interactions with those around you can help. Some staff even practice "mindfulness" (such as focused breathing) to help them reduce their stress levels. Lets be honest here, working in a call centre is hard (mentally/emotionally) and so make time for you...(even If you're reading this and you don't work in a call centre - take time).
The second thing I would suggest is to take the chance to learn new skills. Don't get caught up just doing the same thing over and over - speak to your managers and tell them you want to learn more. As humans we like to feel we're moving forward and so doing the same repetitive thing over and over isn't great...learn new skills...expand your horizons and future career prospects (even if it's something like learning Excel or Word or another programme) - just keep moving forward. Don't stagnate. Keep your mind active.
It's not just Mental Health that impacts us all though - there's a physical issue as well - sitting at a desk all day isn't great (esp. for my old, rickety joints!). Physically there's stuff you can do to help yourself as well.
Stay Active (easier said than done I know!) but even getting up every hour to get a coffee (or tea or water or whatever) will help, and building some form of physical activity into your daily routine will boost how you feel. You could even stretch at your desk (but maybe avoid doing the Downward Dog Yoga pose in case your colleagues look at you in a strange way....though I guess it would start a conversation which would help with the Mental Health (see above!)).
Try looking at your diet - try and pick health snacks and avoid sugary snacks (which can allegedly lead to energy crashes!) and definitely don't order take away for lunch every day! Its so easy when you're busy to just eat snacks and junk but this has the reverse effect and doesn't actually help! As well as eating well, drinking water and staying hydrated is crucial for maintaining concentration and for your overall health!
Although I could list 100 other ways we should try to stay healthy, the final one I want to mention is Sleep. Make sure you get enough! I'm an insomniac (so not best placed to say this bit) and it's a bit of a joke that I deal with emails at 3am but sleep is vital. If you aren't getting enough then speak to your GP (or Employee Assistance Program) to get hints and tips. Someone I know has a sound machine that plays storms, white noise, hoovers etc to help them....you could also try talking to someone if something is on your mind.
Most importantly though...stay healthy, stay connected and reach out if you need to.
