Be the Boss of February: A 1-month kick start to boost office wellness forever

That sounds exciting, doesn't it?

So how did you get on with your New Year wellness resolutions?  Did you buck the trend and last longer than the average of 10 days before reverting to old routines?  Are you one of the 12% who can claim success with a new you for 2014?

As January draws to a close we suggest a quick review of how things stack up with your fitness routine, healthy eating plan, sleep pattern and maintaining a healthy balance in life, and focus your attention on what the rest of the year will bring.

Poor February doesn't have a great reputation for being the most exciting time of the year so for 2014 we're encouraging everyone to view the month in a new light and, as it's a tidy 4-weeks long, we want to help individuals make the biggest, positive difference with their health, wellness and energy.

To achieve this, we've lined up a series of daily tips to motivate everyone and keep them on track with all things healthy living.  We're calling the series 'Be the Boss of February' and the tips will be simple steps to take each day for great results with:

• Quick and effective exercise
• Healthy eating made simple
• Help, I need a good night's sleep
• Managing a busy schedule and building resilience
• Creating your ideal balance in life

Experience has shown us that if good habits are established and maintained for 4-weeks, they'll pay dividends for months to come, so feel free to encourage as many colleagues as possible to sign up for their daily motivation and inspiration throughout February.  All they need to do is email info@the-tonic.com and write 'Be the Boss of February' in the subject line and by the end of the month, your office will feel like an even more vibrant place to be!

For additional help keeping everyone in great shape, sign up for our free Wellness Toolkit 

The Toolkit gives you access to an ongoing range of resources to keep your wellness programme fresh and exciting, and ensure staff are engaged in getting the most out of their health, energy and performance every day.  Read more and sign up for your toolkit here. 

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Manage stress, feel great, lose weight

6 ways to stay focused, boost energy and live longer

February is National Heart Month so it's a great time to think about your blood pressure.  High blood pressure is a risk factor for a heart attack or a stroke yet, according to the British Heart Foundation, as many as 5 million people in the UK go about their daily business with undiagnosed high blood pressure.

Worse than that, in a survey that we conducted with over 300 people, we discovered that more than 75% of them had high blood pressure, a real danger sign for the state of their physical health. We were shocked.

Most people appreciate that living with high levels of stress contributes to high blood pressure but what's really frightening is that so many people don't know they're living with unsafe stress levels every single day.

Here's how we'd advise anyone who regularly encounters stressful situations and who could be risking high blood pressure or even more serious consequences for their health.

1. Get tested.

Even if you don't feel particularly stressed, our bodies are quite often under stress when we're busy with many things at once, rushing around and eating on the go. The only way you'll know if your lifestyle is taking a toll on your long-term health is to get your blood pressure checked.

2. Get tested regularly.

Some stress, at some times can be a good thing. It can bring out the best in us. However, too much stress for too long can cause health issues. You must monitor what's going on with your body at regular intervals and never let abnormal readings persist for too long.

3. Get some perspective.

High blood pressure is an early warning for possible major health implications. It may feel good to live on stress and nervous energy for now, but it won't help you in the long run. And who says living this way is actually getting the best out of you anyway? How do you know you won't be more effective if you manage your stress better on a day-to-day basis?

Think about it.  Could you be doing things differently, more efficiently, living happier and feeling better every day?

There's only one way to find out and that's to experiment with some new approaches and see what results you get. Here are a few simple lifestyle changes that have a huge positive impact on your health but also, crucially, on how you feel, from the moment you get up to the time you go to bed.

1. Make sure you eat

Sounds obvious but so many people are just too busy or they don't make food a priority.  Then they suddenly realise that it's 6pm and they haven't had any food all day.  If you don't fuel your body with food, you'll need regular bursts of adrenalin to keep going.  Too much adrenalin in your system, for too long, will stress your system and raise your blood pressure.  

A steady intake of food throughout the day means your body works with good energy rather than adrenalin, and you keep your blood pressure steady.

2. Watch your caffeine intake

Drinking caffeine is like taking a quick hit of adrenalin into your system.  Do this too often and your system becomes stressed trying to rebalance the amount of adrenalin in your bloodstream.  

Too much caffeine can also impair your ability to focus and get things done which means physical stress can also become mental stress.  Stick with a maximum of two cups of coffee or tea a day.

3. Avoid processed foods and sugary snacks

Meals and snacks containing lots of sugar cause your blood sugar levels to rise rapidly.  If your blood sugar levels rise too high, too often, your system has to continually produce insulin to counteract this.  Too much of this each day stresses your body.  

Instead eat natural products, wholemeal carbohydrates and make sure you always have some protein with every meal or snack.  Eating this way releases energy into the system slowly and helps maintain a stable environment.

If you need any extra incentive to make these changes part of your regular routine, there’s also a weight management factor to consider. A body under stress will not use food effectively or burn calories efficiently.  This will lead to weight gain or difficulty in losing unwanted pounds.  

So remember the stress reduction / weight management top tips:

1. Eating the right foods regularly means you won't suffer from a slow metabolism or hang on to unnecessary body fat.  

2. Minimising caffeine creates stable fat burning conditions in your body.  

3. Avoiding excess sugar means you won't consume too many calories each day.  

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Working overtime can seriously increase your risk of a heart attack

Employees working overtime can increase their risk of heart attacks by as much as two thirds, new research reveals.

A recent study of 6,000 British civil servants, published in the European Heart Journal, suggests that people who regularly put in overtime increase their heart disease risk by nearly two thirds.

This is a frightening prospect but not that surprising given the extra hours that many people work and the ongoing stress associated with this.

As one of the areas we deal with is helping people to balance their work and life, we regularly come across people working 70+ hours most weeks.

If people want to reduce the hours they work - it should after all be the quality of the work you do rather than the quantity that counts - there are some simple strategies to adopt. Using these strategies I recently helped one individual reduce their weekly working hours from 65 to 35 without any reduction in results or success.

1) Set some limits. Decide how many hours a week of work is acceptable for you and schedule these hours in your diary. If you don't decide in advance how much work you'll be doing, work will expand to fill all available time you allow it

2) Delegate. You can only do so much with every hour that you work so take some time out to plan how you can be more strategic and set up new resources that you can rely on to save you time

3) Add balance. If you don't have good reasons to get out of the office or close your laptop you'll find yourself still stuck there way too long. Give yourself some good reasons to stop working - something social, sporty, family related or set aside some time for your favourite hobby - and you'll find that you get more done, more quickly so that you can move on to something more fun

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Recession stress' costs employers £26 billion

A further compelling argument for helping staff look after themselves and their wellbeing. All businesses should have the right initiatives in place to sustain their employees through tough times as well as when things are running more smoothly.

As the article says, 'Investing in wellbeing doesn’t have to be expensive and businesses that look after their staff reap the rewards in reduced sickness absence and increased productivity. Small changes can have big results.'

Read the full article here: Recession stress' costs employers £26 billion

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Preparing for a stress free summer holiday

This is the time of the year, many office workers look forward to – the moment they can finally take a break and relax on their summer holiday.

But some recent reports claim that what should be a break from the busy-ness of the rest of the year actually ends up being more stressful than it needs to be as employees try desperately to complete tasks in time to catch a plane, or they end up fielding emails and calls while they are supposed to be on the beach relaxing.

So what's the secret to maximising your holiday and getting to the beach without being a stressed out mess?

At the Tonic we believe that it’s vital to have some time in the year dedicated to you so you can relax, recharge your batteries and nourish the mind and body that are under pressure for the majority of your working routine. So today we begin a short series of advice on how to guarantee you enjoy your vacation and return feeling fully refreshed and raring to go.

We start with what to do in the run up to your departure date to ensure you’re not completely frazzled before you even get to your destination.

Pre-Holiday Work Routine
Plan to leave yourself some reflection time before your departure for tying up loose ends and briefing colleagues on how to cover for your absence. Your intention should be to finish what needs done with a couple of hours to spare on the day before you leave. Not to be in the office until midnight finishing off what you should have done days ago.

Pre-Holiday Fitness Routine
If you’re like most of the population, you’ll want to be in good mental and physical shape for your summer holiday. Scheduling regular workouts in the run up to take off will ensure a better result on this front than trying to cram in 5 workouts in the week before you go. Regular exercise - 2 or 3 workouts per week - will also keep you calm and focused if you have a busy period before you leave.

Pre-Holiday Food Routine
Stay on track with regular, fresh meals and snacks, a maximum of two coffees per day and alcohol in moderation. Too much processed food, caffeine and alcohol will raise stress levels and reduce your ability to focus on what needs done before you go.



Photograph by dkilim (flickr)

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Having an affair with your blackberry?

With modern technology, the theory is that you no longer need to be tied to your desk and flexible working can enhance your 9-5.

The theory.

As we all know, the reality is that we probably all work several hours longer each week (unpaid) as we check and send emails waiting for the train into work and work in the evenings, right up till bedtime sometimes. A new report has found that half of the respondents to their survey worked in bed for 2-6 hours each week. Sad eh? But what's the real issue with this?

The problem is the habit - you start to form a dangerous habit of blurring the lines between office and home and you stop having a space anywhere in your life that work can't get into. That's probably okay when you're at the start of your career and you're super enthusiastic with little commitment but as you get older and climb the career ladder, don't you deserve some family time that's sacrosanct? 

Next time you're tempted to check your messages at the weekend or get the laptop out to check a paper you're working on - think about it. Do you really need to it or could you just be old fashioned and wait till Monday morning. Stop the habit now.
Read the full post here.


Photograph by sean dreilinger (flickr)

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Miserable call centre staff take the most sick days

As far as jobs go, it can be very stressful dealing with irate customers, dull having to make the same call minute after minute following a script and generally a little soul destroying having to cold call people as they sit down for dinner. So it comes as no surprise then that call centre workers take the most days off sick according to new research. What I did find fascinating though is that

some call centres will go through 100% staff turnover each year! 100%. Now if that isn't an indicator of a job that no one really wants I don't know what is. With stats like that, perhaps it's impossible to improve life at work for these people - after all the pay is lousy and the perks are non existent. 

The problem I think with call centre work is being treated and received like a machine. You're never really treated as a person and your virtual anonymity makes it easier for customers to lose their tempers and shout. Also, your responsibilities are reduced to targets and numbers on a computer screen - not happy people smiling at you or getting to see the fruits of your labour. 

A bit of a dog's life really. 

It's interesting then that the jobs that have the lowest levels of sick days are those with the highest responsibilities - air traffic controllers and pilots.

Oh, and train drivers too - but I think that may be more related to the fact that they get over 37 days holiday a year.

Read more on this article here.

So when was the last time you called in sick?


Photograph by vlima.com (flickr)

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