Grey Matters: Continuing Wellness at Work
Working with individuals with intellectual disabilities is rewarding and inspirational. Sometimes, challenges can occur, as each individual presents with unique needs. When challenges and stress begin to overcome enjoyment and fulfillment, this is when it’s important to recognize continued wellness both at home and in the workplace.
Below are some strategies for continued wellness at work:
Keep Organized
Keeping organized at work allows for less time searching for items or documents and will assist with completion of tasks throughout one’s workday. Bringing efficiency to the forefront will allow you increased ability to complete work and maintain productivity, while also reducing personal stress.
Celebrate Successes with Individuals
Celebrate progress towards both long-term and short-term goals. Break down goals into smaller portions if needed and if able to do so. Both long-term and short-term goals should aim to be smart goals (i.e., specific, measureable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound), and tailored to both the needs of the individual and the team themselves.
Improve Focus on Health
To help combat illness and maintain a healthy lifestyle, more focus can be put onto keeping active through physical exercise, nutrition, and reducing stress. By making sure one improves in these areas, it will improve upon overall wellness both at home and in the workplace.
Develop Relaxation Practices
By developing relaxation skills and practicing daily, this can increase one’s ability to be resilient when faced with stressful situations. Breathing exercises and mindfulness skills can help to bring one’s attention to the present moment in a calmer manner. Simple mindfulness and breathing exercises can be found at this link: https://mindfulnessexercises.com/8-mindfulness-exercises-for-beginners/
Written by Jessica Bist, M.Sc., Support Approach Consultant
