Written by: Shona Hirons, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We spend an average of 36.5 hours per week at work in the UK these days, compared to an average of 35 hours per week in May 2021. (https://bit.ly/3ppr65C) However, in many countries, employees are adopting an ‘always-on’ culture, with no clear boundaries. Remote working has made this harder for many workers, with many not taking breaks throughout the day, starting earlier and working later, plus working into their social time.
Thankfully, many other countries, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and the Netherlands have the Right to Disconnect, which means after their contracted working hours, no work is permitted. As a result, there is less sickness, less presenteeism, better morale, less staff turnover, thus more profits.
In the UK and US, workers aren’t legally entitled to the right to disconnect, but, as a manager, you should consider giving your team that right anyway, because if you don’t, your employees are at serious risk of burnout.
In the UK, burnout caused by stress at work costs businesses £24billion annually (Mental Health UK), and in the US it costs businesses up to £190billion annually. (Harvard Business Review).
It is a false misconception that working more gives better results. We should all slow down in order to speed up.
Learning the hard way
In my past life as a Lawyer, I would regularly clock up to 80 hours of work per week. I would get out of bed, rush to work, sit at my desk all day and wonder why I would sometimes stare at a document for half an hour and not take anything in. I was exhausted, miserable and snappy.
It wasn’t long before I made a mistake at work, which nearly cost me my job. The pressure to always be perfect was too much and it made me unwell. Eventually, it almost cost me my life and led to me having a life-changing accident, whilst cycling to work one day.
What I learnt from this
Now, I always take my breaks, even if they are just for five minutes. I come away from my desk and move, listen to music, play with my dog, or just make a coffee. This always helps me to recharge, refocus and get better results.
What impact does fun at work have?
I think it’s important to have fun at work, because it is a key element of employee happiness. Having fun at work helps people to have a positive mindset, promotes higher levels of wellbeing and better mental health.
It may seem harder to have fun at work if you work remotely, but perhaps an hour on a Friday afternoon could be a chance to have a team quiz, where you have to guess which colleague has an extreme hobby, or is a prize champion in a sport.
5 Fun Facts about Work
1. Tuesdays are the most productive day of the week. https://textexpander.com/blog/most-productive-day-of-week-productivity
2. Fridays are the least likely day to take a sickie. This is likely to be, because people tend to slow down the pace ready for the weekend. https://www.trprecruitment.com/blog/2016/06/fun-facts-working-in-london
3. Getting proper rest can boost productivity by 20%.
4. After 40 hours of work per week, productivity decreases by 50%. After 55 hours of work per week, productivity is almost zero, according to research by John Pencavel of Stanford University.
5. Bananas can help improve your mood, relieve stress and help you sleep. https://www.thehealthy.com/nutrition/bananas-mood-nutritional-biochemist/
If you are passionate about employee wellbeing, my Executive Life Mastery Programme is likely to give you a four times return on investment. https://mindset-in-motion.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Executive-Life-Mastery-4.pdf
If you’re fed up of employee sickness, poor performance, low staff morale, and going around the merry-go-round with recruitment and training, come and have a chat with me and I’ll show you how to improve this.
Shona Hirons, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Shona Hirons is an award-winning global Resilience and Burnout Coach. A breakdown from work-related stress, which led to a life-changing accident, requiring major facial reconstructive surgery and brain damage, gave her a big wake-up call. During her recovery, she went on a journey of self-discovery to rebuild her resilience, consider her values and achieve all the things she was told she couldn't do. Shona has developed strategies to boost her resilience, and now helps others to do the same. She is the CEO of Mindset in Motion, and a leader in corporate wellbeing, working with corporate clients in over 195 countries. Her mission: To improve the well-being of people and businesses throughout the world.
