Office Wellness: A Necessity, Not A Perk
These work days are long; the longest in fact. The idea that “9-5” was actually a reality for most people at some point in time is laughable, minus the fact that I’m not really laughing because office hours in today’s world are not funny. Far from it. In the world of advertising the grind is real because the competition is real. This has always been the case with advertising because that’s just the nature of the beast - need to captivate audiences to sell them on an idea or a product or whatever you are trying to sell. But it’s not just advertising where the competition is fierce; industries across the board are becoming more and more saturated and to stay ahead of the game, more cutting edge work needs to be done. Work requires people. More work should mean hiring more people but because of our economy and/or companies trying to save money where they can, more work generally just means more work for the people that are already there. This means stress. Stress leads to unhappiness and burnout. Burnout leads to declining health. Declining health leads to pandora’s box of bad shit.
It’s a vicious cycle and one that needs to be stopped but when a person decides that they can no longer be a part of the cycle, says “No more” and leaves, does the cycle stop just because they did? Absolutely not. The company simply hires another willing and able body. There is always someone who can fill the void which is why the cycle does not stop. I have worked at high pressure, high demand, high stress machines of companies and I have seen firsthand and been a victim to some aspects of pandora’s box of bad shit. Before I started meditation (see previous post on How Meditation Saved My Life), I was a constant ball of stress unable to ever fully relax or “come down.” When you work for 11+ hours everyday, it seems like a daunting task to unravel yourself and so many of us do not actually succeed in doing so. We continue to carry over yesterday’s stress and the day before yesterday’s and so on and so forth.
I have not figured out how to stop the system. I used to feel a lot of anger and resentment towards this - the nonstop work, the high demand, the grueling hours but then I realized, I put myself in this situation and how these machines of companies operate is far out of my control. However, if I am unable to stop the system or leave it, what is in my control is how I deal with it and help others to learn how to deal with it as well.......and even find some happiness along the way in doing so.
Health and wellness is not something that only happens outside of the office building (although that is extremely important)- if anything, it is MOST important inside of the walls since that is where people often spend a majority of their days. Free food and patio concerts are wonderful perks, but they do not prevent or even help burnout. They do not help to properly manage people’s stress or help them thrive (not just survive) during the constant grind.......No, it needs to go deeper than that.
Bringing my meditation teacher in to teach intro classes was the first step into taking that deeper dive into improving wellness around the office. Where free food and snacks may temporarily relieve / distract from stress, meditation actually addresses the stress and gradually releases it. It is not my place to speak on it, but I believe meditation courses should be covered by companies - or at least subsidized to some extent. Want your company to have good reviews on job websites? For your employees to not look like pissed walking zombies? For your turnover not to be so high due to job dissatisfaction and burnout? For your employees to feel like they matter? Then invest in their daily health and happiness (and again, not just with free food). If a company can pay the $10,000+ expense check for someone higher up in the ranks or give a $20,000 bonus, surely they can find some money to help a much larger scale of people for something far more important than expensive drinks and lavish meals.......but let me stay in my lane on that one :-/
The next step has been diffusing Doterra essential oils in my department’s area. Smell is one of our first and strongest senses that instantly allow us to feel a certain way, depending on what the scent is.
Using essential oils is a proven ( https://vimeo.com/104634758) and non-expensive (albeit underused) tactic in changing the mood and atmosphere of an environment and the difference in people’s moods is almost immediate. The citrus smells have generally just improved overall moods while lavender tends to calm some asses down which is necessary when you are working under pressure for more than 11 hours out of the day. Ideally the use of the oils extends beyond my department’s area and used throughout the whole company. Imagine walking into a room for a large/important meeting and instead of being hit with the stale stench of stress and nervousness, you are hit with the wonderful and uplifting smells of lemon mixed with a little bit of orange or lime. I have a feeling that it could really change the course of that meeting.
Lastly in an attempt to encourage the team to eat healthier and consume less sugar, a friend and I decided to make a “Candy Toll” for anyone reaching for the candy jar. The hope here was that some slight shame would be involved in writing one’s name and keeping a tally of how many pieces of candy were being consumed, but seeing as the candy jar is now empty.........this was not one of the successful wellness missions. #WellnessFails
These are just small wellness steps that need to become more integrated into the bigger corporate (or even non-corporate) picture. If the amount of work cannot or will not change, then employee health wellness must. It needs to be the norm and not seen as a “perk” because you can’t have a healthy company culture if the people who work there are not healthy or happy themselves!