Can You Build Your Ideal Wellbeing Day?

How often do you feel that you’ve had a really great day at the office?   Those days when you feel you’re flying – making great progress on your goals, ticking off the tasks on you’re to do list, connecting well with your work colleagues, and have energy left over at the end of the day.  What would your ideal wellbeing day look like? 

Unfortunately, often our modern workplaces can leave many of us feeling exhausted and depleted. And it can be easy to think that we’re too busy to put the time and energy into looking after our wellbeing.  Or even if we do get a routine established, it seems it doesn’t take much to get it thrown off balance.  It might be that extra project that lands on our desk, a snub by a colleague, or self-doubts about our abilities.  However, numerous studies suggest that when we have high levels of wellbeing we are not only healthier and happier, we also have more energy, are more resilient and more productive in our work.

What is wellbeing?

Simply put wellbeing is our ability to feel good – psychologically, physically and socially – and to  function effectively so we can achieve what’s important at work and home.  This doesn’t mean that we won’t experience challenges or difficulties in life, but having higher levels of wellbeing does gives us the resources to navigate these much easier.  

In terms of our physical wellbeing most of us already know that it takes getting enough sleep, moving more and eating well.  Yet despite this it can seem hard to build this in to our normal routines.  Consider how many New Year Resolutions you’ve made to improve your wellbeing, and despite your best intentions and a great start early on, somehow over time they just seem to peter out to regrets.

So, it seems that creating positive change can be much harder than it looks.  In fact, studies have found that on any given day, we can fail to stick with our goals about twenty percent of the time.  And this increases quickly when we’re tired, busy and stressed. That means in our intentions to eat better, move more or set ourselves up to feel at our peak, chances are we can fall short four out of five times, and choose instead to do something that is more fun or more convenient at the time.  

However, no matter what’s happening at work or in our lives we all have the ability and capacity to create an ideal wellbeing day.

So how can we be more successful?

The good news is that we don’t have to approach creating more wellbeing as yet another onerous task in our already jam-packed days.  All it can take are small changes that can even take as little as 5 – 10 minutes of our time. Yet the spinoffs from the boost of energy that these can give us can more than compensate for the investment in our wellbeing.   

Firstly, instead of relying on our willpower or self-control – which just like a muscle can get tired –  to try dramatic changes, we can work with our brains, rather than against our brains when we focus on small nudges and habit building.  And given that over 40% of our everyday actions are not determined by a decision, but instead are unconscious habits, it makes sense to create new habits that become part of our regular routine.

And using Appreciative Inquiry - a rapidly growing popular strengths-based approach to creating change – enables us to leverage off our current success in managing our wellbeing and energy.   When it comes to building an ideal wellbeing day, Appreciative Inquiry has a 4D model that guides us to:

·         Discover what is already working well in looking after our wellbeing

·         Dream of what might be possible if we did these things consistently

·         Design different pathways to move us from where we’re at to where we want to be

·         Deploy these actions through small steps that  we can fit into any day

What can you do to design and deploy your ideal wellbeing day?

·         Nudge your wellbeing – by committing to small wellbeing choices each day.  When you think of it in terms of choosing something that would nudge you closer to your ideal wellbeing day, it can feel easier to make the small psychological or physical commitment required.   For example, it might be taking a flight of stairs each morning, having one stand up meeting each day, or getting to bed 30 minutes earlier.  Over time these small choices add up and can help build your confidence and capacity to shape your ideal wellbeing day.  What’s the smallest thing you could do tomorrow that would make a difference?  

·         Harness the power of habits – by using the simple neurological habit loop that gets triggered by a cue (like a time of day, a feeling we have, or a pattern of thinking), a routine (the action we perform) and a reward (something that triggers the reward chemical dopamine as quickly as possible after our routine).   For example, your cue could be morning tea, and your new wellbeing routine could be grabbing a healthy snack, stepping outside for five minutes for some fresh air, and checking in on a colleague.  And then your reward could be noticing the positive emotions and boost this gives you, or then grab a well-deserved coffee.  Is there a cue in your day you could link a new routine to?  What can you do to then create a feel-good reward?

·         Practice gently – by showing yourself some kindness along the way.  Remember that making changes isn’t as easy as it seems, and you make not always land your goals.  However, it’s important not to slip into self-criticism when we fall short.  While you may think that this is the best way to spur yourself into action, studies suggest that giving yourself harsh and judgemental messages can leave you feeling less optimistic and motivated.  Instead self-compassion –giving yourself kind and encouraging messages such as you say to a good friend and knowing that failure or setbacks are just part of being human – is more effective in helping you achieve your goals.  What can you say to yourself to show yourself some compassion for your efforts?