Handling Intense Work Days
Dr. Carol Kangethe
Licensed Medical Doctor | MBA | Certified Associate in Project Management | Digital Health Consultant | Global Health Implementation Advisor
Work can get intense, any day and everyday. And when it does, how do you take care of your mental health? How do you maintain a Healthy Work Lifestyle?
Finding some time or some way to reconnect with yourself and your interests brings attention back to ourselves, cultivating a sense of safety. On an intense day, this helps turn down the volume of mental noise and in turn enables us to give our best selves at our work.
How do you reconnect with yourself and your interests?
Listening to music during lunch break or during working hours improves your mental focus.
Listening to podcasts during lunch hour shifts your thinking pattern to something new and engaging in a different way.
Basking in the sun during lunch break relaxes your muscles and reduces tension especially in your shoulders and lower back.
Taking a power nap during lunch break resets your energy levels and reduces physical and mental fatigue.
Laughing with a friend at work shortly stimulates the release of endorphins which is a natural painkiller.
A brief sanity walk in between working hours gives your mind a much needed break from the continuous thinking demand.
Having a mid-morning snack boosts your energy level and makes you less irritable.
Mindfulness and meditation practices in between your day helps you feel grounded even on a fragmented day.
Brief gaming over lunch brief helps build your confidence and sense of self accomplishment.
Playing Sudoku, Wordle and other logic puzzles briefly helps improve your concentration and stimulates your thinking.
Writing or recording about a topic you care about resurfaces your subconscious thoughts and highlights the best parts of your brain, giving you a sense of contentment in the midst of life events.
Playing your favourite sport after work make you feel lighter and happier, bringing in a satisfying ending to your intense day.
Or, if the intensity is experienced across your team, your team lead could conduct in-team therapy sessions (@Christine Gatwiri ), so that everyone’s thoughts get heard and work gets re-prioritized for better outcomes.
So ring fence some time in your day, either before, during or after work, to regain your focus and reconnect with the “why” behind what you do everyday at work.
When the intensity eventually fades away, strive for a better version of yourself, both in your personal life and your professional life.🙂