If your holiday has been a good one, you’ll be returning home with a refreshed attitude vowing never to let things get on top of you again. You'll be feeling fit from all the strolling on the beach and swimming and water sports and you'll be feeling healthy and recharged. Hopefully....
So, now is the time to seize the good feelings and make them last. Here are some tips to help you achieve that goal and maintain your post-holiday optimism.
1. If you want your results at work to be different, make sure you know what you’re going to do differently. If you simply fall back into old habits and behaviour patterns, you’ll end up with the same frustrations you were experiencing before you left so decide what new practical actions you are going to implement and put them into place right away. If you’re going to delegate more, what’s the first thing you’ll delegate? If you’re going to work shorter hours, what do you need to do to make sure this happens?
2. Learn the lessons of the holiday. Holidays are about individuals operating in ways that suit them best so observe how you enjoyed spending your days while you were away. Think about how much sleep you got, what time of the day you got up, what time your preferred bedtime was and what thoughts and ambitions came to your mind when you had some mental capacity to spare. You can’t live your life on holiday but if you can draw some of the positive influences from your holiday into your working routine, you’re less likely to feel compromised by life in the office.
3. Recognise why the holiday has had such a great impact on you and remember it. If you really understand the value of this time off as part of your overall performance strategy you’ll be much more likely to make time for them in the future and to make sure that you make the most of each opportunity to take a break and come back stronger and more efficient. All work and no play......
Photograph by M Dot (Flickr)
Monday, 27 July 2009
How to stay feeling great after a holiday
Friday, 24 July 2009
How to have a healthy, fun holiday
Following on from the post yesterday about good Pre-Holiday Routines and making the most of your leave from work, you should now have some tips on how to arrive at your destination feeling in control and ready for a relaxing break.
At this point many people put all their health and wellbeing concerns on hold – they’re on holiday after all! Time to eat and drink what you want but - there's a downside to this. It can leave you feeling fed up about how you feel and look after the holiday and before you know it, you'll be making plans for the new diet and gym regime before you've even landed.
Here are 3 simple strategies for healthy holiday balance that will allow you to make the most of your time off and also ease your return when the trip is over.
1. Decide at the beginning of your holiday how much exercise or activity is acceptable, realistic or desirable. Even if you decide to do something every few days that could be enough to help you feel as though you stayed on track with your wellbeing and this makes the return home easier.
2. Devise some food strategies that will allow you to indulge a bit and enjoy your vacation without leaving you feeling that you lose all self-control and acquire some extra unwanted baggage about your person to deal with when you get home. Make a plan for breakfast, lunch and / or dinner and for any healthy snacks between meals. Decide also how much alcohol you feel is appropriate to drink while on holiday. Remember, most excess holiday calories come from the alcohol. Setting out your limits in advance makes decisions in bars and restaurants much easier.
3. Manage your expectations with your work. Decide at the beginning of your holiday if you’ll be leaving your phone and Blackberry off or if you’ll be checking them. If you plan to stay in contact with the office, set times and days to do this or you’ll just be thinking about work all the time which defeats the purpose of being away.
photograph by naama (flickr)
Thursday, 23 July 2009
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)
Monday, 15 June 2009
Make Office Wellbeing succeed during the recession Part 5
When it comes to spending money of the wellbeing of your staff during a recession, how do you make sure you're spending it in the right place? Just throwing money at this area rarely works well because you need to be strategic and work around the specific needs of your workforce. Here are some guidelines that should help you make the right decision with your budget.
How do I make the right decision about what to spend the money on?
Fancy initiatives that cost a fortune are no substitute for targeted initiatives that make a real difference. Bear in mind the following guidelines:
• Use initiatives that get people excited and get people involved
• Incentivise your programme by recognising and rewarding those who take part. This needn’t mean elaborate prizes but cost effective tokens of appreciation or even simply publicly acknowledged success stories that get staff engaged and create a brilliant buzz around your office.
• Think it through and talk it through. The Tonic can help you implement a programme either as part of your current training modules or as stand-alone initiatives.
Read Part 1
Read Part 2
Read Part 3
Friday, 12 June 2009
Make Office Wellbeing succeed during the recession Part 4
Money is too tight to mention.
So surely this is the worst time to be seen to be spending money on areas like health and wellbeing in the office isn't it? And how will you be able to justify it to colleagues within the business and if you're a public sector company, how do you justify it outside of the company?
How do we justify the extra spend internally and externally?
If you’re concerned that the money you’re planning to invest in wellbeing will come under scrutiny from your staff or from sources outside the business, particularly the media, make sure that everyone knows the full story. Be transparent about the positive intentions the company has for its culture and its people. Make it clear to staff that you’ve done your research and you’re responding to what you know will improve happiness, motivation and performance levels within your business. Explain to the media how every pound you’re planning to invest in this area is designed to generate many more pounds when it comes to increasing productivity and morale, and reducing absence, turnover and recruitment costs. Wellbeing initiatives create greater efficiency which ultimately benefits everyone. And there's no getting away from that.
