How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health And Productivity

Mental health and its importance in our day-to-day life have become a talking topic, especially during the pandemic. The implications of deteriorating mental health on our professional life can not be denied and need to be handled immediately. In this article we explore the various ways to balance our mental health and productivity without losing sight of who we are. 

Statistics about mental health and productivity

Before we dive right into how we can improve productivity without sacrificing mental health, let’s take a look at the recent trends associated with mental health and productivity. 

• 1 in 6.8 people are experience mental health problems in the workplace (14.7%). 
• Employees with unresolved depression experience a 35% reduction in productivity.
• Evidence suggests that 12.7% of all sickness absence days are due to mental health conditions.
• Better mental health support in the workplace can save businesses up to $10 billion per year.
• For every US$ 1 put into scaled up treatment for common mental disorders, there is a return of US$ 4 in improved health and productivity.

Strategies to balance mental health and productivity

Here are some simple yet practical ways to incorporate a balance between mental health and productivity in your day-to-day life. 

1. Be lenient with yourself when it comes to unavoidable circumstances

There will always be certain circumstances that might hamper one’s mental health and productivity. One needs to consider these factors need when we understand the balance between our state of mind and work. These factors could depend from person to person and their capabilities to work. Personality traits like patience and time efficiency too often play a key role in these situations. Thus one should take into account these factors.

2. Build motivation

Motivation is necessary to keep productivity at consistent levels. Maintaining a culture in which employees believe that they are essential to the company eventually builds employee morale. A culture that encourages the employees to know what is productivity and commit to their personal growth, builds a healthy attitude. Also, make sure that you acknowledge successes when you meet or exceed objectives relating to work. This motivates you to work harder as your mental health and productivity balance improve.

3. Set your boundaries

Setting a boundary of expectations is important to know what is productivity and to make sure that one communicates the right expectations. This helps the person understand and plan their tasks in order to surpass that baseline. This baseline could be a number of tasks to be completed or a number of clients to be spoken to, etc. the baseline can be set according to the target of the day for the person. This serves as the primary tool for balancing mental health and productivity.

4. Set and determine goals and targets

Establishing a set of short-term and long-term goals for yourself can greatly influence your state of mind. As one understands their set targets and goals, it is easier to work towards one’s goals. Knowing one’s targets enables the person to plan their time and goals accordingly. Prioritizing one’s tasks also becomes simpler once one has a set of targets to meet. These set targets can be different from person to person. This could be done based on the person’s capabilities or a number of priorities. Hence these targets can also be changed as a person’s productivity increases and one shouldn’t compare one’s abilities to anyone else’s.

Stay at peace with good mental health

Productivity is one of the many factors in a life that is affected by our minds. The state of our mind equally affects the way we manage our time, the way we deal with our shallow tasks. Thus we must make sure that we do not compromise our mental health in the pursuit of material goals. 

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