Take time to look after yourself and each other
Tuesday, 31 March 2020
With many of us working from home and those remaining on campus working in different offices it’s worth taking a bit of time to take some steps to look after your physical and mental wellbeing. Our wellbeing pages have been updated to reflect the latest Government guidance on working from home. Some colleagues have to balance working from home with child care responsibilities and The Times Higher Education has published a blog with some tips on how to manage this. And this guide gives suggestions on managing home life more generally.
Though we may be doing the same tasks as before our environment may have changed. This guide suggests four steps to wellbeing: getting set up, connected, on the move and support.
Getting set up
It’s worth checking, for example, if our new workstation is display screen equipment compliant. Health and Safety Services have provided a handy guide of how to set up at home and our learning supplier, Cardinus, has provided advice and simple stretching exercises.
Getting connected
By adapting your working style you can make sure you keep communication open with your team, as often and frequently as possible. This might be something small like have a Teams video call rather than sending an email. Or you could turn your morning or afternoon coffee break into a virtual one, such as the recent successful Staff Disability Network coffee morning.
Getting on the move
Colleagues can also still use the Jump app, which is running a special campaign Altogether April to boost wellbeing for those living and working from home. Each day there is a different activity for you to get involved with on this calendar of events. You can follow the campaign on Twitter or Facebook using #AltogetherApril to share your wellbeing with others.
Getting support
We understand many of our community may be worried for family and friends and please remember our Employee Assistance Programme is here to offer support, including by phone and email. As is our Wellbeing Peer Support Network, who can use their skills to support colleagues with their mental health by signposting them to the appropriate support, both in and outside of the workplace.