On this episode I’m sharing some of the questions to consider as well as key ways to help your people return in a smooth and stress free way that keeps engagement and productivity high.

There’s lots of people I’m talking to where leaders are wanting people back to the office now, soon and quickly.

Individuals are already asking me for tips on how to cope with that so stress levels are definitely rising.

I share some of the questions and concerns that I've been hearing on my workshops and calls so that you can be aware of them too!

There are key ways you can help alleviate the anxiety of people in your offices and workplaces that you'll want to have a listen to.

Also think about what messages you want to get out there from your Directors or leadership team.

That means you need to think about ways to share plans in a way that reduces the stress of returning to the workplace.

Perhaps you have an 'all hands call' or create a briefing to go out everyone that answers key questions and includes the little bits of information such as what they do about getting coffee.

I know it sounds like a lot of work but if it calms people down, gives them what to expect and creates a sense of knowledge and sense of control it will be worth it in the long run. 

When we don’t have info or we have bits missing our brains full in the gaps with stories. Often those stories are full of risk and danger and doom and gloom. So whatever you do to alleviate that is going to be good for you and good for business. 

People work better when they know what to expect. You take them with you on the journey rather than drag them behind. 

Assess the risk of stress and anxiety on your people. They’ve been out of office for 12 months some of them. 

Do you have a stress risk assessment?  There’s ones on HSE. You might need it. 

Encourage all line managers to have 1:1 check ins and remember to ask twice how they are and how they’re feeling - and ensure active listening. 

This help, support and advice is in my Mental Health Awareness for Managers workshops so get in touch with me if you want to talk about what that looks like and how it can be implemented in your organisation.

In a recent study by Beneden Health their results say "there’s a stark difference between what employers think they are doing and what employees think" – that’s not good news!

They also said "More than half employees don’t feel their mental wellbeing is a priority"

Helping your managers be able to help your people will reduce the levels of stress anxiety and Mental Health issues. That in turn makes a better workplace practice, policies and performance. 

Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

If you haven’t yet  left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

 If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or head over to my contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

Are You Stress Aware?

Even if you think you're doing OK, have a listen to this episode because #stress can creep up on us!

It's better to know the signs, than risk burn-out / illness or worse!

Listen in for my (slightly whacky) explanation of how stress creeps up on us.

I share some of the signs and symptoms you might experience

Why it's good for you that you become stress aware.

How you can spot it in other people too so that you can deal with them better in your workplace or in your relationships.

The one top tip (for this episode at least) that you need to do and then don't forget to tune in  to the rest of the month when I go into more detail about the help and support you can put in for yourself and for others you work or live with.

Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

If you haven’t yet  left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

https://emmalangton.activehosted.com/f/20

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or  find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

This week, I talk to Jay Unwin. Jay is a mental and physical fitness coach, speaker and author of Fit Body Fit Mind. He delivers seminars and workshops to companies who are looking to improve the fitness and wellbeing of their people. Jay specialises in habit and lifestyle change, rather than the typical ‘diets and workouts’ approach of much of the fitness industry

Jay and I discuss the idea of adapting to the current lifestyle. How does it relate to being strong, or tough? Using ideas of Charles Darwin, Jay relates the idea of adaptability in our changing environment to how we can support ourselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our stress levels in relation to the pandemic is an important thing to think about at the moment. With that feeling of ‘fight or flight’ becoming a general concern on our everyday life. We also talk about identity, the ideas we have about ourselves, and how we can perceive ourselves in a different way

Jay shares his beliefs in positivity during this difficult time. “Being positive is going ‘Stuff is really hard sometimes, but that’s okay, we can deal with it as it comes’”. There may be plenty of doom and gloom to go about during this time, but what we do with ourselves is important in how we can feel - “It’s the small habits that are most likely to hold up against adversity” – and it could not be better said.

You can find Jay Unwin at:

Website: www.fitbodyfitmind.online

Twitter: @TheRealJayUnwin

LinkedIn:  jayunwin

Instagram: therealjayunwin

Email: [email protected]

You can find Jay’s book, Fit Body Fit Mind, here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QLY97WD

And take a listen to his podcast:

https://Anchor.fm/therealjayunwin

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Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

 If you haven’t yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE 

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or head over to my website contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

In this episode I share why Zooming is so tiring as well as 7 top tips to help you be more efficient, more effective and much less exhausted

I talk about what happens in the brain that cause you to be so tired - that way you can guard against it.  

Listen in as I run through the 7 top tips for setting boundaries to prevent zoom fatigue.

I talk about

Is a Zoom Meeting Really Necessary?

Why you need to ensure your focus is in the right place and share my PONDER acronym that helps you to keep meetings efficient and effective.

Agendas are really important and not just a nice to have.

Setting Boundaries to Prevent Zoom Fatigue

Have a listen - to why you need to keep clear start and finish time and how to handle people being late to the meeting.

Why you need to have 25 or 50 minute meetings rather than 30 or 60 minute durations.

How you can effectively block times for no meetings  in you day or in your week and why you should.

What happens in your brain when you're distracted, so listen in for reasons why you need reduce distractions.

My two final tips talk about turning your camera off and how that helps you be able to concentrate better and why you should even consider picking up the phone instead!

I hope that's helpful.  If you have any questions let me know!

Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

If you haven’t yet  left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

https://emmalangton.activehosted.com/f/20

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or head over to my  contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

In this episode I share why Zooming is so tiring as well as 7 top tips to help you be more efficient, more effective and much less exhausted

I talk about what happens in the brain that cause you to be so tired - that way you can guard against it.  

Listen in as I run through the 7 top tips for setting boundaries to prevent zoom fatigue.

I talk about

Is a Zoom Meeting Really Necessary?

Why you need to ensure your focus is in the right place and share my PONDER acronym that helps you to keep meetings efficient and effective.

Agendas are really important and not just a nice to have.

Setting Boundaries to Prevent Zoom Fatigue

Have a listen - to why you need to keep clear start and finish time and how to handle people being late to the meeting.

Why you need to have 25 or 50 minute meetings rather than 30 or 60 minute durations.

How you can effectively block times for no meetings  in you day or in your week and why you should.

What happens in your brain when you're distracted, so listen in for reasons why you need reduce distractions.

My two final tips talk about turning your camera off and how that helps you be able to concentrate better and why you should even consider picking up the phone instead!

I hope that's helpful.  If you have any questions let me know!

Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

If you haven’t yet  left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

https://emmalangton.activehosted.com/f/20

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or head over to my  contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

So many people talk to me about boundaries and have difficulty setting them

The reality is that if you struggle to say no to people or to have conversations where you need to point out difficulties or draw the line about what’s acceptable and not acceptable, then you’re going to have people walk all over you.

But the reality is that if we end up saying yes when we really don’t want to, don’t have time, or any other reason, then we end up feeling resentful, we’re repeatedly programming ourselves that our feelings, time, our priorities don’t matter.  Are we really saying that we don’t matter?  I hope not, but sometimes perhaps we are.

The Mayo clinic has done research that concludes that saying no can help to reduce your stress levels and increase your happiness.  

Reframe How You Think

Saying no isn't mean or selfish, it's about rethinking that and recognising that you're honouring commitments you already have.

You're setting expectation and setting out what's ok and what's not ok for you too.

I like to say boundaries create respect.

Listen to where I talk about how boundaries can enable you to create time to pursue other interests.

Say No to working all hours.

So my interpretation of this is that it’s OK to say – I’ll respond during the hours of x and y.

When you set your working hours, publicise them, tell people about them.

Draw a line through your diary.  Whether that’s for a weekend, holiday or just a lunch break or other time when you know you need to concentrate without interruptions .. put a line through your diary.   Then you can have a simple phrase … I don’t have availability at that time.  I don’t have availability that week.

Be factual. 

It’s not personal, it’s work. If you’re on social media or in groups, clearly set out when you are available.  Tell people what you expect from them and what is not acceptable.  State this in your client calls or contracts too.

Communicating clearly includes learning to be comfortable saying NO to people

Too much waffle and they will pick holes in what you’re saying. 

No excuses – you don’t really need to give an explanation, and often when there are excuses, you give people space to try and persuade you otherwise. 

No is complete a sentence.  Which I love.  Sometimes that’s all you need. That’s pretty concise!   But if you’re already feeling guilty or worrying about how No will be received, you’ll need a bit more help.

The podcast episode gives real life examples of how you can say no with ease.

A word of caution though - be ready to have to repeat your no.

You're going to have to repeatedly set your boundaries and say no to people who always want to push for a little more or to persuade you to do something.  It will take time for them to get the message.  

That doesn't mean you're not doing it properly, it just means they need to hear it more than once.

Saying no won't be easy if you're used to saying yes all the time. But learning to say no is an important part of simplifying your life and managing your stress. And with practice, you may find saying no gets easier.

Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

If you haven’t yet  left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

https://emmalangton.activehosted.com/f/20

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email [email protected].   Or head over to find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

This week, I’m talking to Anthony Taylor. Anthony is an author, coach, trainer and speaker on the subject of mental fitness who works with companies to get the best out of their employees while focusing on their wellbeing. Working on 'Mental Fitness', his program works on three key points based around Mental Resilience, Emotional Intelligence, and Mental Health. 

We discuss the words we use in the workplace such as 'mental intelligence' and how we might make these terms less threatening to hear. We also talk about how we moved into our careers, what difficulties we faced and how we overcame them. Boundaries is a topic we discuss plenty of in this section. What boundaries should we put in place for ourselves in the workplace? What is a healthy boundary in this day and age? This is something we must all work on if we want to be successful in our businesses.

We talk about how boundaries are not just physical but also needed mentally too.

Anthony shares a story of how he overcame a difficult part of his business life in which his brain would never really switch off after work, and then how he burned out from the underlying stress. 

“I was constantly sharpening the sword, but if you're constantly sharpening the sword you'll wear it down; and that's what I ended up doing. I was not switching off my brain”

This is a really important story to hear if you are a manager or a business owner as you should understand how this stress and anxiety in the workplace can affect anybody. Especially if you are in a stressful environment during these strange times. No-one on this is planet is that essential that you can’t have a few hours off.

You can find Anthony Taylor and his services on his website and social media’s here:

Website: www.threefifty9.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonytaylor-mentalfitness/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AntTaylor72

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Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

 If you haven’t yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE 

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or head over to my contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

In this episode, we discuss why boundaries are so essential in organisations and how they help you gain time, energy, and lower stress levels. I love this topic, and I love talking about it.

There’s often a misunderstanding about what boundaries are, boundaries are the foundation of healthy relationships and a strong sense of self-worth. Boundaries set out what is ok and what’s not ok; they stop you being mistreated and help you to be both clear and consistent. Implementing boundaries will in fact lower stress levels and help you focus, enabling you to have the time and energy to get things done. How can you do this?

Recognise what your biggest struggles and strongest values are. It can be different for everybody. Adding boundaries to your daily working life is how you can manage this to lessen burnout and your struggles. We place so much value on how we are perceived in the workplace. Covid-19 has caused us all to think about our values and what is most important to us like our health, time and family.

Recognise and perceive your values and set up a routine for yourself. Routines are not just for children, they can also be incredibly helpful for adults too.

Communicate clearly and learn how to say no! I always say to people that ‘no’ is a complete sentence. The more you waffle, the more you leave yourself open to be persuaded. Saying no is a large part of how you start setting up boundaries. Lastly, don’t apologise for pushing back.

In this episode, you will learn how to:

1. Identify struggles and values
2. Create a routine
3. Communicate your working hours
4. Don’t be afraid to say no and don’t feel the need to make excuses
5. End your day and do something you enjoy – create a clear breaker between work and life

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Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

 If you haven’t yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE 

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or head over to my contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

This week I'm sharing why kindness is great for wellbeing.

Listen in when I talk about

Why kindness elevates your mood as well as other people’s.

The science behind random acts of kindness without getting too geeky about it

How kindness can help reduce stress and improve

4 easy ways to be kind to yourself.

Our brains are wired for us to be kind to each other.  This stems back to very ancient days when we lived together in tribes, when we needed to get along, help each other out.  It was part of our survival strategy.

When we are kind to other people.  It releases the oxytocin hormone.  Oxytocin in commonly known as the love hormone (which is nice an appropriate for the month of February – when we talk about love a lot because of Valentines day).  When we get the feelings of love or positive regard from those small acts of kindness, it releases that feel-good chemical and oxytocin it lowers blood pressure.  So it’s really good for keeping us healthy.

Did you know that kindness can help reduce stress and improve our emotional wellbeing – because it changes how we view things, or we feel less troubled or  we feel not so alone.

Studies show that helping others is linked to increased feelings of wellbeing.  It reduces stress, improves self-esteem, boosts confidence and can promote changes in the brain that are linked with happiness.

That’s for them AND for you too!

I talked in last episode about helping with exhaustion as we’re all pretty fed up and knackered now.  This lockdown isn’t helping the situation.

As human beings we are often good at beating ourselves up.  We are great at feeling guilty, at doing the must / we should chatter to ourselves.

So I want to encourage you to be kind to yourself today and over this week.  Think about the words that you say, the things that you do, check if you’re beating yourself up about something!

Here’s 4 easy ways to be kind to yourself. Which one will you choose?

🥊Don’t beat Yourself Up – we’ve all done things in the past that haven’t gone well or could be better. The trick is to see what you can learn and be kind to yourself about it.

😀Smile at someone – think how you feel if someone smiles at you. We never know how much a simple smile or hello can brighten someone’s day. Smiling is infectious. Use it to spread kindness.

🥾👠Stop Judging – it’s easy to judge others by what we see – but what about what we don’t see? If we were to talk a mile in their shoes, I wonder how we would react and respond. Try and stop yourself from judging when you notice it happening. It will also mean you’re less judgemental of yourself too.

👍Offer Help – is there someone you can offer to help? There’s always someone struggling and as a nation we do often struggle to ask for help – so how about offering it?

I’m not here to give you more on your to-do list, but picking just one or two of these things this week and seeing what the impact is would be a kind thing to do.

Please do make sure you hit ‘subscribe’ so that don’t miss an episode.  

If you haven’t yet  left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE 

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you’re more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .   Or head over to my contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people’s diary.

What To Do When You’re Feeling Exhausted

We all know work life balance is crucial for fighting work fatigue and yet we're living in this environment with the pandemic and juggling all sorts.  There's difficulty in setting proper limits in the working day and resulting in blurred boundaries, struggling with priorities and exhaustion.

So I'm talking to you this work about:

• Why you shouldn't be so hard on yourself
• How you can switch up how you prioritise (because traditional ways are not applicable right now)
• How you can work with noticing your energy levels
• How to put downtime back into your day, in a different way
• Why it's really crucial to take more breaks, but how you can do that.

The Fatigue and exhaustion isn't about just being physically tired, it's also about being mentally exhausted too.

Nearly everyone I talk to are finding that their energy is low, motivation is low and they're generally feeling exhausted which results in:

• Difficult to concentrate
• Hard to focus
• Lack of organisation
• feeling stressed, anxious, fed up

It's difficult for our brains to be able to focus really clearly when we've got so much going on and so many differing priorities.  Plus we haven't got the connections and interactions that we used to have in social or work setting that increase the feel-good chemicals.

Top Tips to Help You Feel Less Exhausted

How Do We Prioritise When We're Feeling Exhausted?

The usual ways of prioritising have gone out the window in current times with what is, quite frankly, completely bonkers lifestyle.

Listen to the podcast where I go into more detail on this, but in essence I'm sharing:

• Why we need to start small with some tasks so that it feels achievable and clears same tasks to give breathing space.
• The book "Eat that Frog" talks about doing big things first, however when we're exhausted it's better to motivate and energise ourself with smaller tasks for about 30 minutes.
• Make sure you're using traditional overwhelm strategies which mean getting it out of your head and prioritise (even if it feels like priorities are changing rapidly. 

Listen in where I expand on some options and different ways that you can prioritise that will work for you. And how you can work with energy levels as well as priorities.

Look at how to time block and put your effort into chunks of the day. Then fit this around rescheduling your day so it feels you can do and also accommodates any childcare and schooling needs alongside your work priorities.

Save smaller and easier tasks for short time blocks or when your energy is low.

Listen in where I talk about motivating yourself with a 5 minute rule to raise your energy levels and work around that exhaustion.

Why You Might Still Be Exhausted Even Though You're Sleeping Well

This could be a whole episode in itself.

Have a listen when I touch on this briefly about key areas to watch and reasons why you're still tired and exhausted and what you can do instead.

The Best Ways to Add Downtime to Your Day When You're Exhausted

Lots of people are working in the evenings for various reasons around the personal circumstances.  I cover some in the podcast.

Spending downtime on mobile phones, laptops and doing emails in the evening is not as helpful as we might think.  Have a listen to why this impacts on our ability to get a proper rest and adds to the feelings of exhaustion.

Whilst it might seem counter-productive, I really recommend you take more breaks.  Fit these in where you can and often these are not in the traditional ways we've been used to.

I share more on the episode about how you can start with five minute breaks and a quick list of ideas of what you can do.

Balance and Boundaries are Crucial for Fighting Exhaustion

 So many of us feel like we don't have time to takes breaks or prioritise rest time.  We feel like we're too busy, feeling guilty, under pressure to allow time for balance and boundaries.

Talk to me about my workshops and training creating Health Work Life Boundaries if you want this for your organisation.  I also work with individuals and groups to provide coaching on this too.

Don't be hard on yourself.  Please put in some time to switch up how you prioritise and take some more breaks.