Training the mind: a new fitness regime for the workplace
Reducing stress in the workplace requires a major cultural shift. Companies that give people the confidence to express themselves and encourage a positive working environment will thrive. Stress is a huge issue in business today. The cases of mental illness and depression continue to rise and in today’s pressurised and bottom-line centric world the problems associated with […]
Mindfulness: learning to live in the moment
In part one of this content series on how to become a mindful trainer, Kay Buckby, Facilitator at The Mindful Trainer, explores how beneficial the meditative practice can be for learning and development professionals. I have used mindfulness for 15 years now, and in December 2018 I completed a one year programme to facilitate the eight week […]
Debunking the emotional intelligence myth
Getting to grips with your emotional intelligence may be easier than you think. It just takes an open mind and self-belief. Think of a time when you were in flow. Either on your own, or in a group or team. One of those times when things just seemed to happen really naturally and easily. When you […]
How resilience underpins employee wellbeing
Having high levels of emotional intelligence has been linked with improved wellbeing and resilience. With this in mind, L&D teams have an important role to play in developing collective resilience among employees through times of high pressure and disruption. Greater individuality, along with reduced community and social responsibility, mean that the basic human emotional needs […]
Why I want to be more Charlie in 2019!
Sometimes, when I’ve had absolutely enough of Brexit (who hasn’t), I hand ownership of my laptop over to my dog, Charlie, who lightens the mood with a few posts of his own on Facebook. His spelling isn’t always what it should be, but his observations on life can be profound. 😉 Take today’s for example, when […]
Why you need to nurture Emotional First Responders in the workplace
What is an Emotional First Responder? And how can these individuals bring emotional stability to workers, particularly in uncertain times? Wherever there are people, there are emotions. This extends to the workplace, even though we often don’t like to admit it. Our offices are filled with intricate, interpersonal dynamics like hurt feelings, excitement, and fear, and these emotions […]
How to boost your optimism through self-awareness
Optimism is as easy as ABC – yes, really! The world is not divided into pessimists and optimists after all. We each have the capacity to be optimistic and passionate about life if we can just learn to breathe, relax and lean into being happy. Easier said than done – sure, of course it is! And […]
The Conscious Guide to Change and Uncertainty
“The more uncertain things seem to be, the more secure I will feel,because uncertainty is my path to freedom.” – Deepak Chopra As much as we might try to avoid uncertainty, we know deep down that it is an impossible task. We have seen that the fortunes of the rich can be lost overnight and that […]
How to gain control of your inbox
We’re all guilty of checking our emails first thing in the morning and then reacting to notifications throughout the day. But what would happen if we decided to isolate a few hours a day to read and respond to emails? Work is busy and it’s getting busier. Life is busy too. Especially for those of us with […]
Self Care At Work
October is home to World Mental Health Day so, in its honour, here are 9 mindful tips to help you take best care of yourself at work, today, and every day. 1 Mirror Mindfulness Each time you catch your reflection today use it as a prompt to check in with yourself. Feel your feet on […]
How to end 2018 on a high
If you are feeling overwhelmed and dissatisfied by work then you could benefit from these practical tips to help prioritise your time more effectively for the coming year How’s your year going? Come the 31st December, will you look back on this year and judge it to have been a great year? Or, will you look […]
Workplace happiness in seven steps
Keeping your employees happy requires you to consider (and perhaps rethink) the way your business treats, manages and nurtures its people. Here are seven things you can do to put smiles on faces. When we think of happiness, joy and laughter the workplace does not perhaps spring easily to mind. Yet workplace happiness is high on […]
Helping Your Employees Do “Deep” Work
Deep work is a practice and philosophy that allows your company to get more work done on your terms. The last thing you’d ever want is to have an office that is disorganized and unfocused. Whether you work in tech or handle labor-intensive contracting jobs, the way that you go about your business starts at […]
Forget Work-Life Balance and Aim for Integration
Being a successful businesswoman in today’s world often means that you have to be able to impeccably juggle your work and life obligations and duties. And dropping even one ball can lead to a whole bunch of problems. In recent years, we have read about and talked about finding the work-life balance, that seemingly intangible […]
10 Key Qualities of Resilient Professionals
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela There are many aspects of life that fall outside of our control. Our daily experience delivers the unexpected and the unwanted, as well as the fun, the challenging, and the joyful. Attempting to control the world is always going to be futile, […]
Supermarkets, Plastic and Stress Management!
Do you, like me, sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the challenges facing the world? I felt like this last week when I visited our local Waitrose to get the ingredients for a dinner party. Over the last few months we’ve been trying really hard to reduce single-use plastic at home – replacing […]
Workplace Mental Health Training for Managers
Mental illness is one of the biggest causes of absence at work, yet few feel comfortable talking about their problems in the workplace, and most managers aren’t trained to support struggling staff members. Isn’t it time we changed that? According to The HSE, one in four people in the UK experience problems with mental health, […]
Jumping Ship or Stuck in A Rut? Help is Here!
In the last months of my career as a Barrister there were signs telling me that something was off in my life. I was feeling less and less inspired by the content of my work, even though I still found the skills I was using, challenging and fun. I was in a bit of a rut. […]
Five Stages in the Life of a Teacher
This model outlines what may be the stages of development that teachers may go through as they mature in their careers. I’m posting this here in the hope of getting honest feedback from others who may know a little about the topic. Are the following stages reasonable or accurate? Once it’s finalized, the teacher development model […]
SME staff are most stressed. How recognition helps
New research released this month has uncovered that employees working for Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses are twice as stressed compared to staff at larger firms. The research was carried out by payroll company Moorepay and found that 12% of employees working at businesses with fewer than 50 staff said they suffered from stress on […]
