Issues on mental health and burnout became worse during the pandemic. Many individuals were not prepared for the sudden transition to remote work. This enabled individuals to use their platforms in various ways to help cope with the changes: creation of self-care content, mental health webinars and tips to maintain a healthy mind during this global pandemic.
In our day-to-day activities at school or at work, being in a group or a team is inevitable. This can happen in online classes, work projects, online team building activities, and the like. When working with a team, you get to encounter people with different personalities and opinions, which can be both fun and tiring.
Allowing yourself to alleviate this burnout starts internally. Being mindful allows you to control the things around you, making you feel at peace with yourself. When you know that you are at peace, the feeling radiates and it positively affects the people you’re with.
Here are some ways on how you can practice being mindful:
List down your tasks
List down any important information, be that electronically or physically. Some people prefer writing on a notebook, enumerating to-do lists on sticky notes, using a task management app, or having constant phone reminders. Having your tasks pinned on your board, or somewhere visible, is a great way to remind you of the things that need to be done. This helps you avoid the stress that comes whenever you forget something or miss a deadline. It’s extra satisfying to finish tasks and have yourself cross them out gradually!
Know your priorities
Recognizing which things need to be prioritized not only helps you organize your mind, but also eliminates the unnecessary stress that comes with not knowing which task to do first. This allows you to focus on what matters to you more rather than thinking about all your tasks at once without proper organization.
Tip: when writing your to-do list, you can use separate sheets of paper per prioritization, or make use of color-coded pens!
Organize your workplace
Seeing a cluttered and disorganized space may poorly affect your thought processes. Organizing your desk or workspace can be therapeutic, allowing you to think more clearly. This gives you the impression that no matter how difficult the day could get, you are still able to face tasks head-on, but in an organized manner.
Take a break
Taking breaks is one of the most important items on this list.
A break could mean taking a quick nap, eating a healthy snack, taking a walk, going for a run, meditating, watching an episode of your favorite series, finishing a chapter of a book you’re reading, or whichever activity you want to do to relax. This allows you to reset and disconnect from work.
For those working at home, it’s good to close your eyes every 20 minutes (ideally) just to relax the nerves and avoid eye strain—especially because you’re mostly looking at your screen for who knows how long!
Do not make yourself feel guilty about taking breaks. It’s part of the work life and it will do you good!
Check on yourself
Make it a habit to reflect and check in with yourself. At the end of the day, tell yourself that you did great! Give yourself a pat on the back. Assess yourself and think of the things that you can improve on. Look forward to another day.
You can start practicing these things until it eventually becomes a habit- they did say that it takes 21 days to incorporate these habitually. Once you’re used to doing these, you’ll gradually start to become mindful of the people around you.
When you’re well-aware of your activities and tasks, you get to radiate a positive aura not just to yourself, but also to your teammates. You’ll also be able to check on them and remind them to take a break from time to time. This practice allows you to become productive as individuals, and as a team.
Being mindful with yourself translates to creating a great harmony within your team, allowing you to become each other’s support system. Individualism is important, but we also know that there is no I in TEAM. That’s why it’s important to take care of your mind first. Only then will you be able to help other people take care of themselves too.
Before you realize it, you’ve already prevented burnout and created a suitable work environment for yourself and your team!