With the past 22 months has been challenging and individuals may be feeling anxious, tired and fed up. Mental Health support during times like these is paramount, which is why Care first have worked tirelessly to ensure our services remained available 24/7 throughout the pandemic and still now to provide both emotional and practical support, and to ensure we have every aspect of your overall wellbeing covered.
There are many factors which may have impacted our mood and wellbeing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these have been directly impacted by the virus, information overload by consuming too much information, or watching too much news. This can be overwhelming and part of the fatigue is the uncertainty, unpredictability and the unknown in all of this. Key workers who have worked throughout the pandemic may now be feeling fatigued.
It is important that we take charge and take steps to boost our emotional and physical wellbeing. Some ways to do this could be to try Yoga, meditation, reading, taking baths, getting out in to nature or even watching a funny movie. These are all great ways to relax your mind. Staying connected with people in our lives is also important, now being able to see people in person as well as having a video call or by picking up the phone is helping people massively.
Sometimes it may be useful to consider how we can change our approach or perspective in situations. For instance; focussing on the future in more positive ways – A routine may help. Think about tasks, chores and responsibilities that you have today. Practice good self-care with healthy sleep habits, healthy food, physical activity these are also great ideas for stress relief.
Try not to focus on the negatives – Allowing the mind to spin into “what if…” thoughts without solutions can lead to heightened anxiety
If a concern is beyond your control, it is important to recognise that you cannot do anything to change the outcome. Work on letting it go and try to focus on the things in life that you can control; like our own self-care, our routine and positive thoughts about the future.
Tips to beat tiredness and burnout
- Get a good night’s sleep – This may sound really obvious but it is vital to try and get eight hours sleep a night or as close to it as you can. Lack of sleep is likely to lead to feeling run down.
- Reduce caffeine intake – Try not to drink too much caffeine especially in the evening or before bed.
- Exercise regularly – Regular exercise can make your feel more energetic and less tired. It hasn’t got to be running a marathon. Just going for a brisk walk can help.
- Stress management – Although we all have different pressures in our lives it is important to plan time to relax into our days.
- Plan your week – Cramming everything into one day can make you feel tired for the rest of the week. Try to organise your week as best as you can and make sure you allow some time for self-care and relaxation.
How can Care first help?
If you feel you may need some emotional or practical support, you can contact Care first on the Freephone number. Care first is a leading provider of confidential, professional counselling, information and advice services. Whilst our BACP accredited Counsellors are available 24/7 to provide support with emotional issues, our expertly trained Information Specialists are available 8am-8pm Monday-Friday to provide advice on any practical issues that may be causing you a stress or worry and help you feel more in control of a situation.
All employees are eligible to use Care first, our services include; telephone counselling, information services and online support. Call Care first on the Freephone number provided by your organisation and you can speak to a professional in confidence.
If you would like to view the Webinar on ‘Tips to manage Burnout’ this is being delivered live on Thursday 2nd December at 12pm, please use the below link to register for this session –
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4682842432017843982
If you are unable to join the webinar live, a recording of the session can be accessed using the same link above after the webinar has taken place.
Please be aware that Care first is an external provider and the information in their webinars may not fully align with advice from the University on some subjects.