Mental Health Awareness Week: Work/Life Balance

This year, Mental Health Awareness Week is focusing on stress and its affect on our work, our daily lives and, of course, our mental health.

One in six people will experience a mental health problem in any given week, and work-related stress results in a loss of over 10 million working days every year in the UK. In order to reduce the impact of stress, maintaining a work/life balance is key.

Some actions to help balance work commitments with your non-working life include:

• Speak Up - When expectations of demands at work begin to increase and become too much. Voicing your concerns may not only help you, but can assist employees who are struggling with similar feelings and are too shy or nervous to speak up. Hughes and Salvidge operate and promote an open-door policy and encourage our employees to discuss any concerns they may have with their colleagues, management, our Mental Health Awareness Ambassador, and our Directors.
• Take Breaks - Taking time away from work instead of working through lunch or eating lunch at your desk can greatly improve your concentration and mental clarity. Hughes and Salvidge have set break and lunch break times for all our sites and all staff in our offices are encouraged to take breaks from their computers and desks at lunch and throughout the day.
• Keep Active - Incorporating stress-reducing activities into your daily routine, such as exercising, meditation and hobbies, can improve your state of mind and helps pull focus away from work activities during non-working hours. Hughes and Salvidge actively encourage hobbies and exercise outside of our projects. Activities our team members undertake regularly include marathons and distance running, go-karting competitions, Tough Mudder events, truck racing, zip-lining, dancing, 5-a-side football, and cycling.
• Protect the Positive - Protect the positive aspects of your life such as family, friendships and hobbies, not letting these slip in favour of working longer hours.