Reimagining Self-Care: A Guide for Thriving in a Hybrid Workplace

As more organizations move to a hybrid work environment, it is essential for employees to review their workforce needs and priorities. This involves assessing their skills, availability, and abilities required to support the vision of the company. In terms of self-care and maintaining good mental health, this also means assessing if the company is still the best fit for you or whether you should seek employment elsewhere with a company that is better suited to your needs in order to successfully operate in this new environment.

Understand Your Company Culture

It’s time employees are honest with themselves about the type of company they actually work for. Is your organization open to making changes, or do they prefer to rely on the status quo? What is their attitude towards working from home, and how does it compare to in-person meetings? Understanding the company culture is necessary for creating an effective hybrid work environment.

A good way to gauge how senior leadership at your company feels about working from home is to assess if any outlandish comments came from your CEO when Covid-19 measures were lessened about employees returning to the office. If they were heavy-handed and non-compromising about people coming back to the office, then you already have a good idea that they don’t care about the health and well-being of their employees (hint: start looking for another job).

Understand What You Need Now

The look and feel of what work/life balance means to you has likely changed over the past several years. It’s time to reexamine those needs in order to create an effective hybrid work environment.

• What tasks do you need help with?
• What tasks are more effectively performed during in-person collaboration vs. virtual collaboration?
• Have the needs in your personal life shifted in this new era of working?
• Who and what can reasonably and sustainably support those needs?

These are just a few questions to consider in your quest to understand what you need now and implement effective self-care in this hybrid workplace landscape.

Set Clear Expectations

When it comes to hybrid work environments, clear expectations need to be established early on. This includes setting boundaries around when and where you will be based on discussions with your direct manager and broader leadership (as needed). If like many in the Corporate World, you work with others in your company across time zones, factor that into the equation and focus on aligning the best times for meeting for your in-office vs. work-from-home days. This is effective because you likely have slightly different start times for your working days based upon factors like commuting on your in-office days vs. your work-from-home days.

Take Advantage of Employee Benefits

From work with my professional clients, along with my own experiences in Corporate America, I have noticed that most larger companies are starting to have more initiatives to help employees lead healthier lives. Especially in this new era of work, it would be beneficial to explore any such programs that your company has to help with lifestyle changes aligned with your own personal goals. Some I have seen recently include:

• Discounts for gym memberships at major chains
• Volunteering and getting “Free” time off from work
• Annual mental health days won’t count against employees’ vacation
• Several complimentary consultations with a nutritionist or dietician
• Participation in enterprise-wide walking initiatives with prizes at the end

All of the things offered by your company may not be up your alley but there are probably some which would help you start or enhance your self-care in a hybrid workplace.

Work With A Life Coach

If putting it all together is something that you have done and are doing well or is something that you are having challenges organizing, working with a life coach may be the answer. Self-care is more than spa days and journaling and working with a knowledgeable professional to help you the perfect routine or practices for you will be beneficial. Life coaches have expertise in various areas, including time management and goal setting, which could be extremely helpful when you are trying to balance several responsibilities. Curious to learn more? Click the button below to book a Discovery Call.

Schedule Your Free Discover Session Today!

Other blog posts of interest:

♦ What is Reiki Good For?
♦ How Are You Finding Your Bliss?
♦ Build a Happy Life: 5 Great Benefits of Working with a Life Coach
♦ Self-Care in the Age of Hybrid Work: How to Reevaluate Your Needs
♦ Enjoying Your Summer Responsibly in the Midst of Covid-19: Social Balance and Health