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Tag: mindfulness

5 Tips to Help Manage Return-to-Office Stress

As pandemic restrictions ease, your time working from home may be coming to an end — and that may have you feeling stressed.

Remember, it’s normal to have some worry about a change in your routine — and you may not be the only one at your company who’s feeling it. In a survey by the American Psychological Association, roughly half of adults reported being uneasy about returning to in-person interactions.

A major life change — like where you work — may be one of your stress triggers. The important thing is to recognize the anxiety and come up with healthy ways to help manage it.

The important thing is to recognize the anxiety and come up with healthy ways to help manage it.

Here are five tips that may help with reducing stress in your transition back to the workplace:

1. Manage your time. When the pandemic began, your day-to-day schedule may have shifted. Before things shift back, think about making a list of all you’ll need to do to be ready for each day. A detailed schedule may help you feel less overwhelmed.

2. Focus on lifestyle choices. Is how you lived during the pandemic playing a role in the stress you’re feeling? Things like prioritizing sleep, eating healthy meals, drinking plenty of water, and limiting alcohol — may all help with managing your anxiety around a return to the workplace.

3. Get moving. Exercise and the feel-good endorphins it creates can be an important part of stress reduction and overall health. Consider adding regular workouts to your schedule. Also, look for easy ways to add movement to your day, such as standing for phone calls or using the stairs instead of the elevators.

Focused meditation and deep breathing may help ease your bouts with stress and can have lasting health benefits.

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4. Try meditation. Focused meditation and deep breathing may help ease your bouts with stress and can have lasting health benefits. Think about taking time in the morning or scheduling breaks during the day to practice meditation and other mindfulness techniques.

5. Consider an app. You may have access to digital health tools that can be useful for managing worry or stress. For example, eligible UnitedHealthcare members can download the Sanvello app for on-demand help with mental health issues. The app includes daily mood tracking, a variety of coping tools, weekly check-ins to track personalized progress, and peer community support.

One more thing: If you’re stressed about going back to the office due to the risk of contracting COVID-19, keep in mind, there are things you can do to help protect yourself and others. Consider talking with your manager about your concerns and some possible solutions, including staggering your work hours to avoid high-traffic entry and exit points, or increasing space between your workspace and others.

 

Uhc Husa 0675Matthew Husa, MD is Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealthcare of Colorado.

Social distancing and loneliness: Reap the benefits of mindfulness

As we navigate this unprecedented time as a country and across the globe, finding simple and effective ways to ease our minds may make a big difference.

You might know someone who takes five minutes each morning to meditate or finds time after lunch to quiet his or her mind and focus on breathing. Whatever the method may be, incorporating mindfulness practices into your daily routine may have positive health benefits like reducing feelings of loneliness and stress; improving your memory, sleep and immune system; and increasing compassion toward others and yourself.

Simply put, mindfulness means taking time to pay attention to yourself plus your thoughts and feelings. Read on to learn how you may be able to put mindfulness into practice in your own life to help improve your health.

How to make mindfulness a routine part of your day

Find 5 to 10 minutes each day to sit quietly and focus on your breath. (Helpful hint: Put your phone on silent or in another room so you can concentrate.) Take the time to notice where your mind goes and how your body is feeling. You just might find that this helps you focus and prioritize your day.

Before you go to bed take time to focus on the good things that happened that day. Write your positive thoughts down in a journal. Writing them down can help you deliberately recognize the positive, even on a tough day.

Search for “mindfulness apps” on your smartphone or tablet that can help lead you into a mindfulness exercise. For many people, using an app is an easier way to remain consistent with the practice. And the good news is that many of these apps are free.

Feeling lonely? Mindfulness may help

It might be surprising to learn that mindfulness has been shown to help older adults overcome an urgent health issue: loneliness. It has been estimated that more than half of adults age 65 and over experience moderate to severe loneliness. But as most of the globe has been urged to practice physical distancing to help limit the spread of COVID-19, the incidence of loneliness is almost certain to rise.

Loneliness is characterized by a marked difference between someone’s desired companionship and actual relationships. Through unique studies conducted by UnitedHealthcare and AARP, researchers have applied the techniques of mindfulness to help combat loneliness in older adults.

“Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that may affect a significant portion of the older adult population – and we are seeing this come into greater focus around the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Charlotte Yeh, M.D., chief medical officer at AARP Services. “That is why UnitedHealthcare and AARP Services are collaborating to identify actionable solutions, geared for individuals across the spectrum of loneliness.”

Researchers looked at whether mindfulness interventions, like breath awareness, self-compassion and kindness exercises, might positively impact a person’s optimism and quality of life – factors that help reduce loneliness. And the conclusions were encouraging: mindfulness activities were shown to help decrease loneliness among older adults. The research also demonstrated that mindfulness may help to reduce stress and improve memory, sleep, immune systems, resiliency and compassion for yourself and others.

Although loneliness may be complex and challenging to address – especially in today’s unique and uncertain times – a mindfulness practice may bring comfort.