5 Wellbeing Activities for The Workplace

Today kick starts World Wellbeing Week which invites everyone to take some time to think about their own wellbeing and take action. This week aims to create awareness with events and activities whilst celebrating charities and employers who are promoting and practicing all aspects of wellbeing.  

The Oxford English Dictionary defines wellbeing as ‘the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy’.

With the above statement in mind, ask yourself ‘Are you healthy, comfortable and happy?’ 

If the answer is no then this is the perfect opportunity to use World Wellbeing Week to focus on how to get yourself to a happier and healthier place. 

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused an impact on many of our lives whether this be mentally, physically, financially, socially or emotionally. Many of us may be returning to work after weeks of working from home or temporary leave. Lockdown forced us to adjust to working in our home environments and now this is due to change again. The idea of change can trigger some anxiety or worry for some of us whilst others may be delighted at the thought of returning to their workplace. 

It’s important for organisations and employers to embed some key practices to encourage their staff to feel happy and comfortable when returning to work. We have outlined some creative ways to get your staff involved in activities which promote good wellbeing. 

1) Wellbeing Festival 

Get your staff involved with the Happy Place Virtual Festival online. A free online platform delivering a month-long schedule including mental and physical wellbeing activities. Dedicate some time in the day to let your employees join an online performance or tutorial.

Check out our favourite spot, the Wellbeing Garden:

23rd June at 8:30am - Twen-Tea Minute Break with Yoga’na Flow 

25th June at 3:00pm- iance Facial Oil with Neal’s Yard Remedies

26th June 8:30am- Yoga & Meditation Workshop with Zephyr Wildman

2) Lunch and Learn 

Get your team together at lunch time this week and involve teams that don’t normally interact. If you are an organisation who are still working from home just set up a Zoom call. Time-to-change has a list of suggestions for mental health subjects to use for lunch and learns.  Why not kick start your first session with a discussion of your workplace's mental health policy and how the organisation is putting that policy into practice? 

3) Tips for Staying Well at Work 

Mind have created some fantastic tips for promoting good wellbeing within the workplace. Try having a picnic with some colleagues whilst social distancing and remember to take a lunch break! If working from home, then continue to take a break and arrange to meet with a colleague or friend for a short walk. If you feel like everything is getting on top of you then start a to do list. Go over your list and write up one for the next day, you’ll find it a lot easier to switch off from work once doing this. 

4) Tips for Home and Remote Working 

Many organisations will be continuing to allow their staff to work from home. It is very important to ensure that work doesn’t spill over to our personal lives when working from home and it is crucial to separate work from home by ensuring we stick to working in one room. The Mental Health Foundation have created some top tips for remote working. One great tip is to have a WEB list – W – what you want to achieve – E – what you expect to achieve – and B – what you had Better achieve that day. 

5) Mindfulness 

Time -to-change have produced an activity pack with tasks to engage your colleagues and staff in mindful activities. Check out these tasks as many of them can be done whilst social distancing with the 2-metre rule. These tasks will generate discussions and enable your staff to talk about how they may be feeling post-lockdown. It’s important to provide an opportunity for staff to speak out and just as important to listen. 

Check out our blog ‘Mindfulness During Coronavirus’ for more creative activities for you and your workforce.