How toxic is the workplace-maybe even yours? In Dying for a Paycheck, Stanford professor of organizational behaviour Jeffrey Pfeffer documents loads of evidence suggesting that the workplace is literally killing people. Sixty one % of employees said that workplace stress had made them sick and 7% said they had actually been hospitalized. Job stress, according to Pfeffer, may cause 120,000 excess deaths each year. Source: Inc. I’ve documented toxicity in the workplace as well, with head-shaking statistics. To raise awareness of the profundity of the problem in hopes of safeguarding our children’s future when they enter the workplace, I offer you six commonly found toxic behaviours. 1. Passive aggressiveness. Research has discovered that most toxic […]
While most media companies end each year with a roundup of what happened during the past year, Well+Good, a wellness-focused media company founded in 2010, closes each year with a look towards what they predict will be pertinent to their readers in the coming year. Source: Forbes Their annual wellness trends report, which was recently released, has historically been pretty spot on in identifying emerging trends in the wellness space ranging from what readers will eat, what they’ll wear, how they’ll work out and what they’ll chose to put in their medicine cabinets in the new year. This year’s report includes 14 predictions for what the editors foresee making a splash in 2019 ranging […]
Whether your office climate is reminiscent of a warm, humid rainforest or the icy tundra, it’s undeniable that office temperature has a significant bearing on both your productivity and your overall comfort in the workplace. Source We reached out to our customers to see how temperature affects productivity in their respective workplaces, and one thing was readily apparent: improper temperatures in the office, whether too hot or too cold, drastically hinder workflow and force employees to find creative new methods to regulate their body temperature. So, What Is the Ideal Office Temperature? It has long been thought that cooler temperatures increase and encourage productivity, and, for a long time, the […]
A third of the brain’s volume is comprised of blood vessels. Maintaining a healthy blood flow to those blood vessels is critical to keep the brain young. Here are three ways you can keep your mind sharp: Source: CNN Exercise Research has shown exercise improves brain health, and it’s never too early or too late to begin. Even moderate exercise has been shown to increase memory, mental processing speed and the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for forming new memories, even in previously sedentary adults. Simply walking three times a week has been shown to produce significant gains in memory and mental processing speed. Feel […]
Exercise is the closest thing to a miracle drug that we have, according to a growing body of research. When it comes to keeping the brain young and staving off the effects of aging, two types of workouts appear to be the best: cardio and strength training. A new review of nearly 100 well-designed studies found positive cognitive effects were linked with activities like walking, cycling, and yoga when people did them for an hour three times a week. Source: Business Insider Exercise is the closest thing to a miracle drug that we have. Whether it’s a mood boost, better muscle tone, or a sharper mind you’re looking for, two types of workouts are […]
Strategically integrated wellness programs have six strong pillars that simultaneously support their success, regardless of the size of the organization. Construct them well, and your institution could see the kinds of big returns that the 10 companies in our sample have garnered. Source: Harvard Business Review 1. Multilevel Leadership Creating a culture of health takes passionate, persistent, and persuasive leadership at all levels—from the C-suite to middle managers to the people who have “wellness” in their job descriptions. It’s easy to find employees who don’t participate in wellness programs. Some cite lack of time, little perceived benefit, or just a distaste for exercise. Others don’t know about available services or blame […]
We’re always on the lookout for ways to transform our lives, but sometimes we forget that — along with exercise — there’s another miracle drug within our control: sleep. If you have a few days off over the holidays, one of the best things you can possibly do with your time is work on fixing your sleep habits. Our sleep problems are so bad that the CDC refers to them as «a public health epidemic.» While a tiny percentage of the population does just fine on little sleep, those people are incredibly rare. Almost half the population doesn’t get enough sleep: 40% of people sleep less than the recommended seven to nine hours a night (teens […]
We need fresh air to live a healthy and full life, but it’s fast becoming a luxury. Residents of many major cities around the world are faced with smog and poisonous gases from motor vehicles, fossil fuel based power plants, and factories. The good news is, there is a simple solution you can use at your office or at home to make your air much cleaner. While air purifiers might help, air purifying plants are a great and natural way to clean your air supply. In this article, you’ll learn more about air pollution, its dangers, and how to choose the best air purifying plants that suit your needs. Source The Pollutant Problem According […]
In today’s busy world, we seem to be obsessed with the idea of “productivity” and “work hacks”. It’s easy to see why: being able to get more done allows us to get ahead in life, and even gives us more time to do the things we love outside of work.The problem we run into, however, is that it is easy to get motivated, but hard to stay disciplined. Source: Entrepreneur This is because most of us look at productivity in the wrong way: it’s not about signing up for the latest task management tool (which, admit it, you’ll use for a week and soon abandon) or chaining yourself to your desk, it’s about […]
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” — Confucius Source Most of us don’t have the slightest clue about how to set goals in a way that will empower and embolden us rather than deter and limit us. We usually have some outlandish abstracts in our mind of what we want to achieve, but we never actually fulfill those fantasies. However, when you set goals the SMART way, you’re far more likely to follow through. If you’ve never heard of SMART goals, then this primer should get you up and running quickly. The SMART method allows you to set your goals so that […]