During stressful times on the job or if you’re an entrepreneur
and feeling the heat it is critically important to take care of your mental
health. Neglecting our mental state leads to fatigue, emotional outbursts, bad
decision-making, and more.
But don’t wait until something is wrong before you think
about your mental health. By then the damage to your job or career can be done,
and in some situations, irreparable.
Implement the following practices to maintain your mental
health and to enable you to effectively manage the stresses that will inevitably
come.
Develop connections. It is vital to our mental health to
engage with others. We are social beings and gain support and energy from our
friendships and relationships with colleagues. Schedule regular time to meet
with friends, develop new relationships with co-workers, attend networking events,
and seek out meet-ups with others who have similar interests.
Manage expectations. It’s easy to compare our work performance
with others and get down on ourselves for failing to measure up but it is
important for our mental health to be realistic and focus on our own strengths
and weaknesses.
Take vacation time. In addition to ensuring that we get
adequate sleep each night, we need to take advantage of our vacation time to
allow ourselves to reset and focus anew on the big picture. Stepping away and
getting a change of scenery can do wonders for the soul and help a frustrating
or cloudy situation become clearer.
Work with a coach or therapist. Sometimes it is necessary to
work with a coach to maintain our mental health. A coach or therapist can provide
a different perspective and can help us be more effective in our work. Talk to
friends or colleagues to get a referral or recommendation.
Find other sources of joy, fun, and satisfaction. Our lives
should not just be about the office. We need hobbies and other interests to
better enjoy life and to help us maintain our appreciation for the work we do.
Often, by engaging with our curiosity for the world outside the office we can
gain new insights that we can apply to our working lives and bring new
enthusiasm and purpose to our career.
Paying attention to our mental health and applying practices
that support us will reduce the stresses in our job, help us manage the
inevitable surprises that accompany change, and help us bring consistent energy
and intention to our working lives.
