Page 36 - Waterfall City Issue 1 2023

Waterfall City Health & Wellness

MENTAL HEALTH

PLAYS A CRUCIAL

ROLE IN THE

WORKPLACE

T hanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health stands for Stop, Take a breath, Observe and then Proceed.

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

34 Waterfall City Issue 1 2023