Blog

Taking Care of Our Well-Being as We Adapt to the New Normal

November 13, 2020

Blog

This pandemic has brought about the biggest change younger generations have ever experienced in their lifetime. In what felt like a blink of an eye, all daily routines and habits were suddenly let go of and brought to newer territory. Our all too familiar lifestyle became unsteady with the lack of control we felt (and continue to feel) during this pandemic.

As we all know, change is inevitable; it occurs everyday. Yet, more often than not, change occurs unexpectedly and in different aspects of our lives. This year alone, millions of people around the globe faced uncertainty in both their careers and their personal lives. Unemployment, postponed weddings and honeymoons, grandparents not knowing the next time they’ll visit their grandkids, and children not knowing the next time they’ll set foot in a classroom are only a few examples.

With all this uncertainty going on, mental health lows can come as a result. Now more than ever, we need to pay attention to how we’re feeling, because it affects our overall well-being. It’s important to check in with ourselves every now and then, so as to not let things get too crazy.

Why is well-being and mental health so important? For apparent reasons, it’s fundamental in making ourselves function happily and healthily. While some organisations offer employee well-being programs, others do not. It should then become our priority to take charge of our own well-being.

The reality is this: we can create value, and we have the power and control to do what it takes to elevate ourselves.

This transitional period can be turned into valuable learning lessons. With the “new normal” we are facing, a new business demands a new you. Learning how to cope with change while taking care of our mental health and overall well-being is a reward in itself.

Here are a few tips for how to take care of our emotions and overall well being:

  • Learn to accept that you feel the way you feel. There is empowerment in validating your emotions and learning to understand why you feel the way you do. It creates self-awareness. And through this awareness, we can better learn how to cope with our emotions the next time we feel it. 
  • Write it out. Most of the time, writing feels just as good as venting. We tend to feel better after writing our emotions down on paper, so why not go ahead and give it a try?
  • Draw the line of maintaining your work-life balance. We now work where we go to repose, and so the line can easily be crossed with more demanding work hours. Some employers may assume there’s more time to work because we’re all at home. You need to know where to draw the line of answering emails in the middle of the night and turning off your work laptop.
  • Don’t feel pressured to use all your free time productively. On social media, hustle culture is always on display. Feeling guilty about not using your free time learning new skills shouldn’t be the case. Your journey to self-development is separate from everyone else’s.
  • Be kind to others. Be kind to yourself. We’re all on a different path when it comes to handling our personal lives during all this uncertainty. What remains important is to remember to be kind to yourself (and others) in thoughts and words, as this often dictates the way we feel and behave. Also, you never know what others may be going through, so remember: be kind.
  • Remind yourself to do things at your own pace. Take it a little at a time and one day at a time. You’re most likely doing a much better job than you give yourself credit for.

The bottom line is that there are many things out of our control right now. We have gone through a massive transition in half a year than we ever have had to in the past. Let go of all the things that you can’t control, and shift your focus on the things you can, like looking after yourself and taking care of your well-being.

Get your business back on track.