Page 18 - IFV Issue 1 2023

Health & Wellness

MENTAL HEALTH PLAYS

A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE

WORKPLACE

hanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as mindfulness as this helps create guided thinking and reasoning is very
mental health has been front and presence within oneself and increases important.
Tcentre in the workplace refocus your ability to become more self-aware. Knowing and becoming self-aware of
of late and rightly so. More than 30% of One tool Visser learnt years ago was the your behaviour will give you an honest
adult South Africans suffer from some STOP skill, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. indication of your reactions, and signal
sort of mental health issue, affecting Essentially, it’s an acronym that stands when you should pay closer attention to
their ability to think clearly and process for Stop, Take a breath, Observe and your mental health and wellness.
their thoughts logically. This in turn then Proceed.
can negatively affect their outward Even if it’s just by getting up from your 3. Focus on one thing at a time
behaviours and decision-making, which desk to make a cup of coffee, by pausing A key value that the Agile way of
is especially important in the workplace. momentarily, you allow yourself to take working teaches is to focus on one thing
Mariet Visser, coach, trainer, and a breath, which acts as an anchor to at a time. We are constantly distracted
the co-founder of We Do Change, is the present moment. During this short by others and the environment as well
on a mission to empower individuals respite, you can see what is happening as our own thought processes. Even the
and businesses to take control of their both inside and outside of you, assess smallest of distractions like receiving
mental health and create small but what you are doing and how you are a text, email or meeting request, or
effective changes in the workplace. feeling. Use the information gained the mere thought of multitasking can
She shares some of the best Agile during this check-in to either continue negatively play on our mental health,
principles, a popular form of coaching, as your course, or change it. creating what is often referred to as
well as other entry level training options scattered brain syndrome or attention
that can be used by both employers and 2. Know the difference between deficit disorder.
employees to support anyone suffering reacting and responding This essentially means that
from mental health issues. A healthy mind can make all the distractions make it difficult for us
difference when it comes to your to stay in the present moment, to
1. Learn how to STOP reactions. Knowing the difference concentrate or to switch off. Taking small
Looking after your mental health between choosing to react instinctively steps like silencing the notifications on
starts with learning and applying skills or impulsively, or respond with your device, journaling your feelings

16 • Issue 1 2023 • The Villager