In a recent article in ‘Construction News’, the publication shared the results of a poll taken last year, where people working in the construction industry answered questions regarding mental health and mental health awareness in the industry.
As part of the survey, respondents were asked ‘Which factors do you view as a major contributor to poor mental health?’ ‘Working long hours’ voted the top contributor to poor mental health, with a whopping 77% of the vote. This was closely followed by job uncertainty (72%) and tight deadlines (70%).
With initiatives such as World Mental Health Day becoming more established, organisations across the world are taking steps to break the stigma around mental health and engaging with their workforces.
At Seddon, our Jordan’s Conversation initiative has enabled us to start a conversation on mental health, raising awareness on the topic and giving advice and guidance to those who need it.
Part of the sessions involve the things we can to promote positive mental health. We have put together 5 top tips that can help to keep your mind and body healthy throughout your working day.
1. Break the day up. If you can, take short breaks away from your work, to stop you from losing focus on your tasks. Your ability to concentrate will improve after taking a short break.
2. Step it out. Exercise relieves stress and has many other health benefits. If you don’t have time to hit the gym, why not try to get out for a walk on your lunch break or cycle to work?
3. Keep hydrated. Drinking plenty of water will help keep you focused and is essential for brain function. It also has many other health benefits which can be found here on the NHS website
4. Sleep is important! Most people need at least 8 hours of sleep a night, though this may differ person to person. Without a good night’s sleep, you may feel tired during the day and have difficulty concentrating. If you have difficulty sleeping, try to get into a routine before bed, have a bath, read a book and try to keep technology out of the bedroom (this means no reading emails on your phone before bed!) The glare of smartphones and laptops has been proven to have an effect on how we sleep, so turn them off before you settle down!
5. Step away from the junk food! When you are short on time, junk food can seem like an easy lunch to reach for, not to mention when you’re stressed and craving salty high carb food to fill you up fast. However, junk food is full of little nutrition and lots of calories and in the end will make you feel worse! Though it may seem impossible to find the time to meal prep every day, why not make a big pasta or salad which you could use over multiple days?
If you need help or advice on mental health, please see more information here.
