Self-care is something that often gets neglected in the hustle and bustle of the modern world. But are we doing ourselves, families, and colleagues a disservice by doing so? By ignoring our own needs, are we making things more challenging for ourselves, our productivity, and our teams at work?

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) explores the topic of self-care and why it’s so important to make time for ourselves. Focusing on good self-care has plenty of benefits for your own mental health and wellbeing, as well as your team’s.

Listen to the podcast episode below to learn more or keep reading.

Health and wellness have been huge topics for discussion throughout the pandemic. At the forefront of this discussion is the topic of mental health specifically. Despite the benefits of remote work, it has taken a toll on our health for many of us.

Have you been thinking carefully about your own wellbeing? Are you taking time out of your day just for self-care? Are you conscious of the self-care of your employees or other team members?

In a remote setting, it’s easy to sweep this under the rug and neglect to think about it, but it’s more important now than ever to pay attention to self-care.

Self-care starts with us

When it comes to self-care in a team environment, it starts with us as individuals. If we want to improve our team’s mental health and wellbeing, we need to start with ourselves.

Ask yourself: “What am I doing to take care of myself so that I can be in service of others?” If you’re running on fumes yourself, how likely do you think you’ll be able to help others to the best of your ability? Not very likely.

That’s why we need to be conscious about where we spend our time and ensure that we’re setting aside time for breaks and self-care.

The struggles of self-care in the era of remote work

While remote work can certainly have a beneficial effect on mental health and productivity, that doesn’t mean it’s all good news. In fact, there are two main issues with remote work for some people.

It can be much more difficult to shut off from work if you’re working from home. If you’re sitting at your desk alone all day, it’s easy to forget to take a break or to simply eat at your desk.

It’s also easy to watch your calendar fill up, especially when all those meetings you’d usually have at various sites or conference rooms are now all in the same place. There’s no commute time, which makes setting up meetings convenient. But sometimes that just means our schedules are packed full.

Another issue with remote work is for those who struggle with feelings of isolation. There’s none of that water cooler chat where employees can blow off steam and socialize away from their desks.

Ways to practically apply self-care to your professional life

1. Manage your calendar

One of the simplest things you can do is manage your calendar more effectively. This doesn’t mean extreme calendar blocking where every minute of your day is booked for something. Instead, it means setting some realistic goals.

For example, try blocking out just 30 minutes each day just to give yourself time to step away from your desk, eat, and disconnect from everything. No eating at your desk, no emails, no chat messages, don’t even bring your phone. These 30 minutes are for you to just check out and think of something else.

If you can extend that time to an hour, use the first 30 minutes to decompress and try to do something a bit more fun for the rest. For example, focus on a hobby.

Make sure you’re also blocking at least two 15 minutes breaks during your day, so you’re getting regular time away from your desk.

2. Create to-do lists

To-do lists are such a simple productivity tool that can really keep you on track. When creating a to-do list, try to quickly prioritize tasks on it, mark off the must-dos or the nice-to-dos, or whatever prioritization method you use.

Another thing to bear in mind is that these to-do lists need to be flexible to adapt to change. If we have learned anything during the past 12-18 months, it’s that change is constant. So, when you make your lists, be sure to revisit them multiple times a day to adjust them as needed.

When you look back at it at the end of the day, you will see that you probably accomplished more than you thought.

3. Set boundaries

Another thing you can do for your own wellbeing is to set boundaries in your life and stick to them. One of the ways we can do that is to learn how to say no. It’s not always easy, but you don’t have to be abrupt about it, just firm.

Identify areas of your life where you can take a step back and delegate tasks to someone else. You may not even have to say no. Instead, you could say, “Yes, but not right now,” and say you’ll get to it next week.

4. Lead by example

Team leaders should practice good self-care, feel its impact, and then share those benefits and lessons with others. Lead by example.

A big part of being a good leader is also about actively displaying an interest in your co-workers or employees. Be very open for a candid conversation and look for as many moments as you can for those water cooler-type conversations.

It’s easy to forget that we’re all human in a corporate environment, especially when it’s remote. In person, it’s easy enough to have these talks after bumping into someone in the hallway or break room. Those moments are beneficial to just catch up with people, vent, or discuss something completely unrelated to work. But it’s much harder to have those moments when we’re all virtual.

Scheduling a meeting for these discussions may seem awkward, and yet a lack of engagement and isolation really affects some people.

Working from home can be isolating, and there is an emotional toll on that. So, be mindful of this. Try to find ways to create time and space for employees to connect with each other and blow off steam. This could be virtual lunches, fun activities like a networking mixer, or a team cooking challenge—any activity where deliverables and work responsibilities are not to be discussed.

5. Make employees aware of the help available

If your workplace has some kind of Employee Assistance Program (EAP), make sure your employees are all aware of it.

Many won’t know about it or will be unsure of where to go to ask for help. Be proactive in letting people know what’s available.

6. Rethink learning and development activities

The above also applies to learning and development activities, seminars, and workshops. Try to find ways to creatively weave in icebreakers to help people connect on a human level. Make sure there are plenty of breaks for everyone and try to include some wellness-inspired activities into your training.

All of the above are simple changes you can make in your personal life and your work life. Practicing self-care goes a long way in keeping everyone happy, productive, and healthy.

The post 6 Self-Care Tips You Can Apply Right Now at Work appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

In times of change or crisis, many of us make the mistake of keeping those priorities and plans the same. However, if the world/the business/your life has changed, shouldn’t those priorities change as well?

That’s the topic of discussion in this episode of The Learning Xchange podcast. Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) talks about the importance of setting priorities – but also reassessing them.

Matthew says that while planning for the future is essential in business, things rarely stay exactly the same. When things change, it’s important to be flexible and revisit priorities. He also discusses the importance of talking to your team about goals, tasks and being honest. If there’s too much on your plate and you need help, talking to others can help you better prioritize tasks together.

Listen to the podcast below or keep reading.

When was the last time your reassessed your priorities?

We all have priorities for our business and personal lives, but when was the last time you really sat down and looked at your priorities? Even the most organized people may struggle to remember the last time they reassessed their priorities.

Most of us will set goals at the start of the year, but it’s important to ask ourselves – is our business the same a month later? Plans and priorities set on January 1 may no longer be relevant on February 1.

We saw this happen during 2020 and still in 2021. If your business was affected by COVID or, more recently, the extreme weather in Texas, you might be forced to reassess your priorities.

The truth is, in times of change and crisis, our priorities naturally change. The world we set our goals in on January 1 may not be the same world today, so should your plans and priorities change?

There’s nothing wrong with changing your priorities. Failing to reassess at all is the problem.

What happens when your plate is full?

One of the dangers of not redefining your priorities is that you can end up with a full plate of work and responsibilities. You may have the capacity to take on that one extra task, but what happens when three more people come up with important tasks to heap onto your plate?

Something has to give. That’s when saying no to things becomes essential, but first, you need to recognize the difference between what’s important versus what’s urgent.

Talk about it to receive ideas on how to reassess your priorities

What can you do when there’s too much on your plate, you’re stressed, and nothing seems to get done? The first step is taking a step back and reassessing the situation. The next step is to talk.

Talk with your stakeholders, talk with colleagues, or your mentor. You will find that in most cases, people are willing to discuss and collaborate to find a solution. But to do this, they need to know the problem is there.

Once you talk it through, you get a second pair of eyes to help you revaluate the situation. With help, you can reassess priorities more effectively.

How to use the Eisenhower Matrix to reassess your priorities

For those unfamiliar with the Eisenhower Matrix, it’s a simple method for prioritizing tasks by urgency and importance.

To use it, you sort tasks into four quadrants:

1. Important and urgent – Do first.

These tasks are ones to do first. Don’t put them off!

2. Less important and urgent – Delegate.

These tasks may be urgent but can be delegated. Look at them as urgent, but not necessarily for you.

3. Important and less urgent – Schedule.

Schedule these tasks for a later date while you work on ‘Do first’ tasks.

4. Less important and less urgent – Don’t do.

These tasks aren’t urgent or important, so you can decide not to do them at all. Take them off your plate entirely to free up headspace.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and are struggling to prioritize, the Eisenhower Matrix is a simple yet effective way to break everything down.

Define what is important and urgent

For the Eisenhower Matrix, or whatever method you choose, to work, you need to sit down and define what is considered important versus what is urgent.

Having a clear picture of what falls under these two labels will help you prioritize in the future. It can act as a filter for you to put each task through. That way, you know exactly what your next step is, whether it’s Do first, Delegate, Schedule, or Don’t do.

The benefits of reassessing priorities

Taking some time to really reassess your priorities and plans for the future has several benefits.

First of all, you will feel better prepared to work on your goals because you’ll have a clearer idea of what to do first.

Another benefit is that you can start to take a lot of tasks off your plate that are currently just taking up headspace.

If you spend some time talking it all through with others, you will also benefit from someone else’s advice and assistance. Two heads are better than one, and the same goes for prioritizing tasks and operations on a business level.

Prioritizing your goals and tasks is such a simple exercise that many of us overlook. We hope this advice has helped you get started on reassessing your priorities. Doing so will help to clear a lot of stress and will boost your productivity levels as a result.

The post How to Reassess Your Priorities During Constant Change appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

In this final episode of The Learning Xchange in 2020, Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success Matthew Brown takes time to reflect on the eventful (and often difficult) year of 2020. However, instead of looking out into the world, Matthew looks inward and invites you to join him on a journey of self-reflection and discovery.

Listen to this episode of the podcast below:

Or keep reading to learn about the importance of self-reflection to identify your core values and why it could be the very thing to help make the new year your best one yet.

Take an inventory of your personal and professional life

When a year ends, it’s worth taking time to reflect on previous months from a personal and professional standpoint. What do you want to do differently in the new year? It helps to break your goals down into three categories:

1. What do I want to start?

2. What do I want to stop?

3. What do I want to continue?

Defining your answer to each of these questions will help you see what amendments you need to make this year to achieve your goals. It’s mostly about self-reflection and shouldn’t be seen as a New Year’s resolution.

You can go through each of the three questions for both work and your personal life. I like to focus on starting the new year on a clean slate in a way. So, I start clearing things out, including going through my inbox and cleaning it up.

Organize your inbox

My inbox tends to get quite crowded by the end of the year. There’s a lot of junk mail in the junk folder, unsent drafts, calendar appointments, and so on. Before the new year begins, I take time to go through my inbox and cleanse it.

If I have calendar appointments scheduled, I make sure that I can see them clearly. If I have a series that needs to be extended, I extend it. And, if anything needs canceling, I cancel it. Cleaning my inbox is a time-consuming task, but it’s worth it.

Going through your inbox allows you to de-clutter and look at how you’ve structured and organized everything over the last year. You can then decide whether you want to change how you’ve done things, tweak some of it, or keep it the same.

Consider updating your training

From a training perspective, I like to look at my existing training content, training that has been both deployed and discontinued, and which may need updating.

You must make sure your training is current and relevant. 2020 has been a hectic year. As a result, many things have been turned upside down, and the training you built last year may not be valid as we move into 2021.

If your training needs an update or a complete overhaul, the start of the year is a good time to do it. That way, you’ll have new and updated training ready for the year ahead. You can also think about adding new pieces of training for your organization. Perhaps you can build training that bridges a gap within your organization or work on one that will help restore your business to emerge even stronger in the new year.

Make a list of the training that needs renewed and updated. Then, make a list of the new training content you want to introduce in 2021. You can expand the list and look at the new hire orientation, position-based training, leadership development programs, and so on. From there, you can begin to work on your list.

I would advise that you reflect on your training every quarter to make sure you stay on top of things. However, if time got away from you in 2020, now is the time to consider your training content and take a reliable inventory.

Take a personal values inventory

One of the most important and valuable tasks I did during my self-reflection process was creating a personal values inventory. Doing so turned out to be a practical experience that improved my self-awareness and helped me understand how my values align with the business’s values.

So, I highly recommend that you take a personal values inventory too. It’s not always easy to look in the mirror through an honest lens. However, it is worthwhile to think about and identify the values you care about the most. Your values reflect who you are at your core. 

Once you have identified your core values, take a step back, look at your life and work through those values. Is there anything out of alignment? Do you have things going on, either in your personal or professional life, that work against your core values? If so, you may experience increased tension and stress, which is why it is vital to ensure that your core values align with your personal and work life.

How to identify your core values

If you aren’t sure how to identify or structure your core values, here is a simple exercise that can help:

Step 1 – Write down a list of your values (the list can be as short or as long as you like)

Step 2 – Sort your values into three different buckets or categories:

• Values that are extraordinarily important
• Values that are somewhat important
• Values that are not that important

Step 3 – Look at your most essential values again and repeat the process until you have a final list of your core values

As you complete this exercise, you might discover a few surprises along the way. Perhaps some values are more or less important than you initially thought. You might also find that your values act as good reminders of what truly motivates you in life. They can help you identify why you connect with certain people, why you connect with the work you do, and so on. Many of these things can be traced back to your core values.

This is a great exercise to help anchor you in who you really are. It also allows you to gain self-confidence. From there, you can begin to look at how your core values align with your company’s values. You can use this exercise to clarify whether your values truly align with the company and if not, consider how you can change that.

Keep in mind that your core values are not set in stone. They can change over time, and that’s okay. As you live each day and encounter new people, information, and experiences, you may discover that your core values evolve or change over time.

Being able to cross-check your core values with your work is key to help you find your happy place. It also helps you to connect with yourself on a deeper level, allowing you to identify what motivates you and how this can all come together to help you succeed and thrive at work.

If you enjoyed this podcast episode summary, check out all The Learning Xchange episodes on your favorite podcast app and listen to them on the go! Just search for The Learning Xchange wherever you get your podcasts.

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