Top Ten Tips for... Wellbeing in Leadership
As a leader, it’s all too easy to spend so much time concentrating on strategy, your own workload and keeping your people engaged and happy that you neglect your own wellbeing. Before you know it, you are feeling exhausted, demotivated and incapable of performing at your highest level.
To be an effective leader you must create time and space to recharge your batteries even if it means doing a little less work every day. Check out our Top Ten Tips.
1. Get enough sleep
Sleep is the activity that allows your body to renew its energy store but it also helps you rebuild your mental energy. Sleep plays a significant role in brain development – it’s essential for maintaining normal levels of cognitive skills such as speech, memory, innovative and flexible thinking. There is no set amount of time that everyone needs to sleep: individuals can vary anywhere between 5 and 11 hours, with an average of 7.75 hours. Jim Horne from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre suggests: “The amount of sleep we require is what we need not to be sleepy in the daytime.”
2. Three good things
Keep a pen and some paper by your bedside and every night for a week write down 3 good things that happened to you that day. By the end of the week you might be surprised by how much more positive you feel. Some psychologists say that it’s human nature to focus on the negative aspects of our lives. What this technique helps to do is re-educate us to pay attention to the good and positive things in our lives.
3. Keep an eye on personal stress
As a leader, a certain amount of pressure is unavoidable, and it can be motivating – but stress is harmful to both your mental and physical wellbeing. The definition of stress is when the pressure we are under exceeds our ability to cope. If you find you’re not sleeping, becoming ill tempered, having difficulty concentrating, eating a lot more or a lot less, or feeling on edge all the time, take a step back and think about how much pressure you’re under. See what you can do to remove or reduce sources of pressure in your life. Meanwhile, deal with the effects of stress by relaxing more and using other positive coping methods.
4. Take regular exercise
Exercise has an immediate effect on your mood. Whether it’s a workout in the gym or a simple walk or bike ride, it can be uplifting. Exercise can also be great fun socially.
5. Do something creative
Being creative can improve your mood and self-esteem, as well as improving your mental agility. Whether it’s painting, writing poetry, making handicrafts or playing a strategy board game, doing a creative activity outside work can really help you recharge.
6. Connect with friends and loved ones
Research has shown that people whose goals in life are focused on family, friends and colleagues have increased wellbeing. Connect with the people around you – their support and encouragement can elevate your mood and help you regain perspective during busy periods.
7. Learn to manage your time more effectively
We waste a lot of time doing unimportant tasks, especially when stressed, so prioritise your day and do the important jobs first. The unimportant ones can wait, will sometimes disappear completely leaving you time to do other things. Also, don’t put off the unpleasant tasks – avoidance causes a great deal of stress. Prioritise them instead and get them out of the way.
8. Take time out to relax and recharge your batteries
As well as taking regular holidays, with preferably at least one break of 10-14 continuous days, you will perform more effectively during work after taking even a short 10-15 minute break. Your renewed level of productivity will easily make up for the time you spent relaxing.
9. Avoid alcohol, nicotine and caffeine as coping mechanisms
In the long term, these faulty coping mechanisms will ultimately just add to the problem. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants – if you have too much your body reacts with increased stress or even anxiety symptoms. Alcohol is a depressant, and will eventually have a negative effect on your mood.
10. Commute differently
If possible, cycle or jog to work or get off your train/bus a stop early and walk the rest of the way to improve your cardio fitness. Not only is it good exercise, but it is much less stressful than driving in traffic and gives you the chance to prepare mentally for your day and unwind effectively on the way home.
Share This Post
Posted In
cHRysos HR Solutions are a UK wide HR training and consultancy company offering CIPD accredited qualifications, Apprenticeships, Training and HR Services to SMEs. For more information about how cHRysos HR can help you or your teams successfully achieve further qualifications, contact us on info@chrysos.org.uk or call 03300 562443.