Do you or does someone you know suffer from anxiety or depression?

Struggling with mental health is more common than you think and it can affect you in your daily life, as well as in your workplace. People can suffer from setbacks in different ways and negative thoughts can manifest differently for everyone.

For example, even if you suffer from stress, low self-esteem and have confidence issues, this can plague your daily life and how you see things around you. This includes having a negative outlook when it comes to work and colleagues.

But, all is not lost. We all have the power to change our behaviour for the better and tackle our emotional problems head-on. It’s all about finding a way that helps you do this successfully.

CBT is not about taking drugs or medications – it’s focused on changing the way you think and react to situations through proven therapeutic methodologies.

CBT teaches you that it’s not about what happens to you, it’s how you react to it. It’s a form of talking therapy where you can uncover your thoughts and feelings that are holding you back and work on replacing those negative reactions with positive affirmations.

With the help of cognitive behavioral therapy, everyone has the opportunity to work on the emotional problems that are troubling them, whether it’s anxiety, stress or depression. It’s all about making a positive change for the future.

Why is an Introduction to Cognitive Behavior Course Important?


It’s important to let everyone know that no matter what you’re going through there are ways you can deal with your situation.

Nobody is alone and as an employer, it’s important to let your employees know that you’ll provide the resources and training they need to overcome their problems and concerns.

This is no different when it comes to emotional problems. There should always be avenues that employees have to make positive changes in their lives and providing a cognitive behavioural therapy course offers a way for them to do this successfully.

While CBT is backed by successful results and studies, it’s a form of therapy that’s still growing and not as well-known as other forms of help. It’s time to change this and let your employees find out all about CBT and the amazing things it can do for you.

An introductory course is a good place to start and it will provide the overview that employees need to be introduced to CBT.

Knowing how to make positive changes to overcome emotional struggles can be beneficial for everyone. Whether you suffer from stress in the workplace or low self-esteem in all parts of your life, CBT is a way you can learn how to manage your thoughts and reactions and break the cycle of negativity.

So, with the help of an Introduction to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy course, you can provide the resources your employees need to learn about this innovative new form of therapy that can help them overcome their emotional problems.

This course makes a great introduction to the topic and employees can work through the course at their own pace and continue with the CBT collection to find out more. 

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When you’re on leave from work, do you still find yourself checking work email? Or responding to work requests throughout your holiday? Unfortunately, you’re not alone, with many people finding it hard to completely switch off from technology during their break.

You don’t necessarily need to do a full digital detox during your holiday – although it could be a good idea! But it is important to take a conscious step away from your work devices throughout the break.

We recently talked about the importance of taking time off over the holiday season.

As we said then, with our current obsession and celebration of ‘busyness’ it can be hard to step away from work, as it’s often linked to our feelings of self-worth and achievement. But running on low levels of creativity and productivity isn’t really helping anyone – you, your boss or your clients or customers.

Whether you’re taking a few weeks annual leave, or just a long weekend break, you’ll no doubt want to use this time to relax and recharge away from work.

Drawing clear lines between your work and personal life will help you to get the physical and mental rest you need, before returning to work with a fresh mindset.

The Impact of Technology on Our Personal Lives

There’s no doubt that technology makes life a whole lot easier, with laptops, tablets and smartphones offering us instant communication and convenience. But with the existence of these devices, the lines between work and home life have become increasingly blurred.

Our mobile devices allow us to check our emails first thing in the morning, finish work projects after hours and take phone calls from the office at any time. And while being constantly available and online can have its advantages, it also means many of us are finding it hard to switch off from technology after hours.

When we’re at work, we get into the habit of constantly checking our computer, laptop or phone (or all three, repeatedly!) for new messages, emails and notifications. When we do finally take a break, it can be really hard to stop these repetitive patterns.

Set Clear Guidelines and Expectations Before You Go on Leave


So what can we do to prevent work life from cutting into our personal life when we’re on a break?


According to an article in the Guardian, a survey by CareerBuilder found that 17% of employees felt they were expected to check their email, and 8% felt they had to check voicemails while on holiday.

Because technology enables us to be contacted on holiday, there can sometimes be an expectation that we should respond.

Scott Helmes, Managing Director at CareerBuilder recommends aligning your time off around your workplace’s busiest times of year, to help you feel you can really switch off.

“Asking what is expected of you while you're away can also help to ease the tension around going away, and put your mind at rest while you kick back and relax,” says Helmes.

How to Switch Off from Work During Your Break

Mark Cropley, author of The Off-Switch: Leave Work on Time, Relax Your Mind But Still Get More Done, believes that people are finding it increasingly hard to switch off due to “a combination of better technology and greater paranoia.”

“The problem is that people just get into a routine of answering emails all the time. But we need to take control of our life outside of work,” he says. Cropley also believes that employee will be more respected for it. While significantly improving their own wellbeing.

“People who can’t switch off have sleeping problems, concentration problems, and other issues… they are tense and irritable, they have high blood pressure, a high heart rate, and that puts stress on the cardiovascular system. We’ve also shown that people who can’t switch off have high levels of cortisol, which is seen as the stress hormone.”

Cropley advises setting up an out-of-office email as soon as you leave work. This will stop bosses and colleagues expecting you to respond. When you’re on holiday, put everything that’s to do with work out of sight and switch your work mobile off.

You might also like to try getting some separation from technology by heading out without your phone – even leaving it behind for short times can make a big difference. And try your best to avoid looking at any work-related emails for the days on which you’re on leave. It’s just a habit, and habits can be broken.

And for many people, it’s often during downtime that they come up with their best ideas, as the brain shifts gear while running, swimming or just being out in nature, away from the work environment.

So step away from your desk, switch off your work devices, and slip into relax mode for the duration of your break – you deserve it!

Read more about the importance of switching off from technology after hours, to help you avoid technology burnout and create a better work-life balance – all year round.


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Why you need to switch off from technology during your break

Traditionally, many employees will enjoy taking time off over the holiday season. With many businesses shutting down between the Christmas and New Year period, it’s a good opportunity for workers to lock in some quality time with family and friends, while recharging their batteries for the year ahead.

In Australia, annual leave is a legal requirement, however many employees still worry about taking time off.

Some employees might feel guilty about adding to the workload of others. Others may be worried they might not have a job to come back to if they take their annual leave. And unfortunately, many people think they’re simply too busy to take a break – winding down might not even seem worth it, due to the amount of work they know they’ll come back to!

Are you worried about taking time off this holiday season? 

Please read this, and think about the importance of taking proper time off over the holiday season. By taking a break, you’ll be doing the best thing for your wellbeing, your employer, and your career.

Reasons why employees don’t take holiday leave

Why are so many employees deciding against taking time off, choosing to work through the holiday season instead?

There could be many reasons why your staff members aren’t taking their annual leave. Or why you’ve made the decision yourself not to take time off.

In such a competitive job market, many workers fear that they could be replaced during the break, or the job could go to someone else if they take leave and are unavailable.

In other cases, it may not seem worth it – taking time off only to return to an overflowing inbox of URGENT emails. Most of us have been in this situation at some point, returning from a relaxing holiday to a giant pile up of fresh deadlines and meeting invites greeting you at your desk.

As psychologist Sarah-Jayne Whiston explains, fear of taking annual leave is “a common occurrence in workplaces. It’s that sinking feeling if you leave your work, the emails and things to do list will keep mounting, so taking time off will mean you have to come back to even more work,” says Sarah-Jayne.

What can employers do to promote annual leave?

As an employer, it’s a good idea to be mindful of the stresses that the holiday season can bring. If you’ve noticed your team members are hesitant to down tools and switch off, think about how you can encourage them to take time off.

Reassure your employees of the security of their jobs in the new year, to encourage workers to take the leave days that they legally have a right to.

For employees who are worried about their team members having to pick up the slack? Take steps to promote a collaborative work culture, emphasising a workplace environment of trust and knowledge. When teams work in collaboration, they support one another to accomplish team and organisational goals.

This way, staff members shouldn’t feel stressed or guilty about taking time off, feeling able to trust their team mates to pitch in and carry the work load in their absence.

Managers should make sure all teams are properly covered during annual leave periods, and allow staff adequate desk time when they return to work after a break, to catch up on their emails and in-trays.

Recognise when you need to take a break from work

While managers and employers have a responsibility to encourage staff members to take a break, at the end of the day you also have a responsibility to yourself. As an employee, it's up to you to manage your stress levels and time off, to avoid burning out.

Not taking enough time off work can have huge impacts on your mental, physical and emotional health. Which will also have a negative effect on your work relationships and personal life.

Taking time off from work isn’t just about your own wellbeing. You might think that you’re being a work hero by not taking holidays, but refusing to take proper breaks isn’t the best thing for your team mates or employer.

Increased stress and anxiety, exhaustion and burnout will all result in lower performance and productivity levels for your organisation.

"Evidence shows you become less productive without proper breaks. Even if people work longer hours, they're not as creative and can't maintain the same intensity level," says Penny de Valk, Managing Director of talent management at global HR services group, Penna.

With our current obsession and celebration of ‘busyness’ it can be hard to step away from work, as it’s often linked to our feelings of self-worth and achievement. But running on low levels of creativity and productivity isn't really helping anyone – you, your boss or your clients or customers.

Take that well-deserved break and return to work in the new year full of fresh energy, ideas and motivation!

Are Your Employees Taking Their Annual Leave?

Why you need to take time off over the holiday season

At any given time, one in five Australian employees are likely to be experiencing a mental health condition, suffering from the effects of anxiety, panic disorders, OCD and depression – all of which have a huge impact on everyday life, relationships, work and career.

In a recent article, we looked at the risks of burning out in the workplace, and the importance of making sure you’re taking good care of your mental health. We received a lot of feedback from readers who identified with this article, which is an indication of the prevalence of these issues in Australian workplaces.

In that article, we also encouraged readers to be aware and conscious of the potential signs of burnout – in themselves and others – and to take action before it starts further impacting their health. So today, we want to look at some online resources that may help people do just that.

While these online courses can’t replace the guidance and expertise of a mental health professional, they can help managers understand more about mental health in the workplace. Because it’s vital that Australian organisations know how to support their employees in this area, while providing a positive work culture and environment for their staff.

These courses may also help individuals to establish new ways of thinking about and improving mental health, through proven techniques and strategies, while also recognising that they are not alone in dealing with these issues.

Please remember, if you are experiencing significant distress, you can reach out to Lifeline 131 114 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 for immediate support.

This eLearning course provides a good foundation for understanding the various components of mental health and wellbeing.

It’s been designed for managers and business leaders who want to commit to improving mental health in their workplace, and want to support others in meeting their mental health needs. But anyone can take this course, as it has plenty of information on particular tools and methods that can prove helpful in promoting positive mental health in the workplace.

Sometimes it can be hard for people with depression, anxiety or panic disorders to commit to a full-day course or workshop. This online course wraps up the equivalent of a day’s course in an online format that you can get through at your own pace, and in your own safe environment.

You’ll learn about self-care in relation to good mental health, wellbeing and resilience, and how to identify specific methods which can be applied to support people experiencing low mental health.

Stress Managment: Proven Tips & Techniques

Stress is often the trigger behind burnout, depression and anxiety. So learning practical techniques to manage stress is one of the best things you can do to improve mental health.

This online course looks at how stress can be both positive and negative. It explores using the ‘Triple A’ approach – Alter, Avoid, or Accept – to find the best method to deal with stressful situations, whether in the workplace or at home.

Knowing how to step back and identify the source of major stress, and how to cope with these stressors, is a big step in managing your mental health. Through this course, you’ll also explore environmental and physical relaxation techniques; best practices on diet, exercise and sleep; and more advanced approaches such as cognitive restructuring techniques.

Smart Mental Health: Core Values and Finding a Purpose in Life

Another topic that we’ve talked about recently is the important connection between personal (or core) values and job satisfaction. As we said then:


 “One of the main reasons why people are unhappy in their jobs is that their work, career or employer is at odds with their values. Often, employees won’t even realize their dissatisfaction stems from this mis-match – there’s just a general feeling that something isn’t quite right.”

Understand the importance of core values and where they come from

Identify personal and professional core values

Recognize corporate core values and their importance to business, staff and customers

Smart Mental Health: Goal Setting and Visualization Techniques

Another in the Smart Mental Health series, this course is actually a good follow-on from the previous one. Because it focuses on the proactive steps you can take to help you achieve the goals in your action plan.

With each goal you set, you establish the path you wish to take towards your objectives. This online course will help you define your goals – short, medium, and long term – and see how goal-setting and visualisation can help you achieve success.

You’ll learn how we can program our subconscious minds to achieve our goals, through visualisation techniques, writing down goals, and developing effective affirmations. You’ll also be encouraged to explore reasons why you might fail to achieve a goal and how to develop an overall plan for success. These are all important steps for positive mental health in the workplace.

Stress Management in the Workplace: The Psychology of the Causes of Stress At Work

Long title; short and effective online course. This one-hour eLearning course has been created specifically for managers, to help them understand more about managing mental health in the workplace.

The fact is, conditions such as anxiety, OCD and depression have negative impacts on organisations, as well as individuals. As reported by Beyond Blue, “untreated mental health conditions are costing Australian organisations around $10.9 billion per year through absenteeism, presenteeism (when the employee is at work but is less productive) and compensation.”

Australian managers need to know how to manage stress in the workplace, to create a safe and positive work environment for staff, and to also reduce business impacts. Knowing how to identify major causes of stress for employees is the first step in making positive changes. And this course will help you do just that.

Remember, it’s really important for managers to support any employee who appears to be struggling. And if you’re in a leadership role, you need to make sure that mental health is being considered as part of your organisation’s work health and safety strategy.

As we’ve said before, the more open we are about discussing mental health in the workplace, the more we can help to reduce the stigma surrounding it.

5 online courses to improve mental health in the workplace

As we move further into the second half of the year, it’s a good time to check in with yourself to make sure you’re not at risk of burning out. With the Easter break well behind us, and a few months to go between now and the annual holiday season, it’s important to make sure you’re taking good care of your mental and physical health.

Earlier this month, we saw the importance of this highlighted by a story that went viral across the world. Madalyn Parker, a web developer at Olark Live Chat, “emailed her colleagues at the end of June to let them know she’d be taking two days off to focus on her mental wellbeing.”

When her boss, CEO Ben Congleton, replied to the email, Parker was so surprised she decided to share his email on social media. Was her CEO berating her for taking time off? Criticising her decision to use sick days for her mental wellbeing? Quite the opposite! In his email, Congleton thanked Parker for the “reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health" and for helping to “cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work.”

This positive support from a CEO should serve as a benchmark for other leaders, encouraging them to support open, honest conversations about mental health in the workplace. Because when employees neglect the signs of physical and mental burnout, it has negative impacts on both their own lives and the people around them – including the workplace.

Think you might be at risk of burning out?

While the term ‘burnout’ tends to get splashed around a bit, it’s more than just feeling a bit tired in the mornings, or having a tough week at work after partying all weekend. When someone is seriously burnt out, they are no longer able to function – at work, at home, or on a social level.

Burnout is a state of complete physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, all of which interfere with a person’s overall quality of life. It’s described here as a “total system breakdown, after prolonged, unmanageable stress, and emotional fatigue.” And this form of breakdown often leads to very serious health issues, that can take a long time to recover from.

Mental health issues, including anxiety, insomnia, hyper vigilance and depression are commonly linked to burnout. As are physical health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, gastrointestinal issues, adrenal exhaustion and chronic fatigue. If you’re constantly feeling run down, plagued by headaches and sore throats, and like you’re always running on empty, it could be time to start listening to your body.

Along with these physical ailments and overwhelming loss of energy, there can also be increased feelings of cynicism about the workplace – including negativity towards your colleagues, clients and daily tasks. Feeling irritable in general, withdrawing from friends and family, and no longer enjoying the things you once did are all signs that can point to burnout.

The Impacts of Burnout – for Employees and Organisations

It’s not just important for employees to pay attention to their mental and physical health; it’s also in the best interests of any business. Because when it comes to burnout, no one wins.

We’ve talked before about the impacts of employee burnout for organizations. When staff burn out, the business can also expect to suffer, from reduced productivity, higher employee turnover, financial burdens from absenteeism and the possibility of medical, legal, and insurance expenses.

And the impact it can have on an individual's career? Sadly, when people are no longer able to perform at the level they once did, particularly 'Type-A' people who are used to functioning at a high level, it can soon lead to doubts about their competence and skills. This is one of the most devastating effects of burnout, as it can seriously affect a person’s sense of self-worth and value, leading them deeper into stress and anxiety.

It’s often those high-performing, Type-A employees who become burnt out, continuing to push themselves to exhaustion, even when they know something’s wrong. However, rather than recognise that they need to stop and rest, they tend to question their own abilities and work even harder – further intensifying the problem.

Women are also at higher risk of burnout, as they often continue to shoulder a great deal of the responsibilities and care-giving at home, while working the same hours as their male colleagues. The reality is that there is still a clear difference between the way women and men are treated in the workplace and the way in which they are valued. This gender disparity can even be seen in the way men and women are expected to dress for work, in corporate environments.

Traditional expectations of ‘professional’ attire see men able to wear the same outfits, day in and day out, while female workers are often criticised for doing the same. In response to this, we’re now seeing more women embracing the concept of a work ‘uniform’ to reduce the amount of time spent getting “ready” for work.

As Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive Global, says, “it might seem trivial, but it’s not ... there are real [productivity] issues at play. Women already bear the biggest cost of our culture of sleep-deprivation and burnout. And outdated notions of professional dress only add to that. Being able to spend only a few minutes getting ready versus an hour or two [gives men] a serious competitive advantage.”

Fortunately, if you identify signs of burnout early enough, you can start taking steps towards better health and wellbeing.

Running on coffee or energy drinks to get through the day isn’t the solution; in fact, it will generally make adrenal fatigue even worse. So step away from the espresso machine.

If you’re already experiencing burnout, the thing you really need is rest. As this article in the Guardian says, “you need to stop, sleep and recover. Doing this takes time. It takes accepting that you have burnout, and that fighting it won’t help. It takes surrender, and readiness to rest.”

The best thing you can do is avoid burning out in the first place. That’s why it’s so important to take stock throughout the year, particularly when it’s been some time since your last break or day off. Employees need to be aware and conscious of the potential signs of burnout and take action before it starts impacting their physical and/or mental health. And managers need to lead by example, as we saw CEO Ben Congleton do, and encourage staff to take proactive steps towards their wellbeing.

The more open we are about discussing mental health in the workplace, the more we can help to reduce the stigma surrounding it. There shouldn't be any shame or guilt attached to taking time off –  taking care of yourself, in both your personal and professional life, is an incredibly strong and empowering thing to do.

Sitting down to take a few minutes rest is always a welcome break. When you’re on your feet all day, it’s nice to take the weight off. But of course, most of us no longer work in physically demanding jobs. We’re not working in the fields or walking through the streets.

And the effects of sitting for so long are fairly obvious most of the time. There are the slouching shoulders, there’s pain in the lower back… but what about the effects that aren’t quite so easy to see?

This course addresses those effects. They’re the ones that can take 7 years off our lives if we’re unlucky. The good part is that these nasty biological consequences are very easy to reverse. Move a bit. Stand up. Do what your body is intended to do!

This course gives a clear structure for office workers – or anyone who spends too much time sitting at work – to change their habits for the long-term benefits of their health.

Through informative yet fun video lessons, the course explains the hows and whys of sitting less for a better life.

The Dangers of Sitting – The course kicks off by offering an in-depth argument for why sitting for long periods of time isn’t a good idea.

As a species, we’re made to move. That’s what our bodies are designed to do and it’s what they do best. If we know that the average person now sits for 8.9 hours each day, we can start to understand that our sedentary lifestyle could have some unwelcome consequences.

The science behind the concern about sitting for long periods is well documented. Put very simply, when we sit down for stretches of time, the enzymes in the walls of our blood capillaries – whose job it is to break down harmful blood fats – simply shut down. Our inactivity means we end up burning only a single calorie per minute. Blood sugar and blood pressure levels or much more difficult to regulate when we’re inactive and the scary part is that this process isn’t affected by how active we are outside of our sitting hours! So, regardless of how often you go to the gym, if you’re sitting for 9 hours a day then you’ll still be victim to these harmful processes. Uh oh.

How Long Do You Sit? – This section asks learners to truly consider how long they sit for. 

When we’re aware of frightening outcomes of the actions we take, we often deny that we’ll be victim to them. “It’ll never happen to me” is the usual idea. And we usually say this because deep down, we don’t want to accept that one day it might be ourselves receiving bad news.

But let’s be sensible. Why not consider our future health? So let’s look at how long we sit each day. Add the numbers together. If you sit for more than 4 hours – and we’re sure it will be - then there could be detrimental effects upon your health.

Move More, Sit Less – This section of the course offers ten quick tips on how best to change your sitting habits.

Sitting down is really comfortable; that’s why we do it. And though we’re not suggesting you never sit down, perhaps you should break up long periods of sitting more than you do.

Here’re a few of the suggestions given in this section to get your body moving and avoid sitting so much.

Stand up or pace while you speak on the phone

Walk over and see a colleague, don’t email them

Move your rubbish bin away from your desk so that you have to walk to it

The Dangers of Sitting, Final Summary – This section is a recap across the rest of the course.

It points out that expert knowledge tells us, very clearly, that sitting for extended periods isn’t good for our health. Yet we still do. But here’s our chance to change. Put some of the tips this course has given you into practice and reap the benefits of your efforts.

The Dangers of Sitting course is driven by easy-to-understand videos. They’re the guiding light behind the course, though other resources also play a part in overall learning.

The three-page Dangers of Sitting handout focuses learner attention on the points raised within the videos. The ten tips are printed clearly so that the learners can take them away and place them wherever needed.

The Dangers of Sitting infographic poster is full of colourful images and helpful hints to push learners to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice.

Sitting down seems to be the most natural thing in the world, but like all pleasures in life, there can be too much of a good thing.

We sit to work, we sit to socialize, we sit to relax, and we sit to eat. All of this time sitting down adds up to reduce health, and potentially, the length of your life.

With some easy to use tips and habits, sitting down for excessive amounts of time will be a thing of the past.

Change your habits now. You’ll thank yourself later.

There’s no doubt about it, the modern workforce has become increasingly complex. Faced with heavy workloads, short turnaround times and high deliverables, many workers are being asked to continually do more – with less. It’s no wonder so many employees feel like they’re constantly running on empty. That’s why it’s so important to be aware of your core needs at work, if you want to start performing at your full potential.

For Laurie Coe, Vice President of The Energy Project, it’s evident that “the way we’re working is no longer working.” Coe believes that many employees aren’t able to perform at their full potential in today’s complex work environments.

Recently, The Energy Project partnered with the Harvard Business Review on a ‘Quality of Life @ Work’ assessment which examined the feelings and responses of 20,000 employees worldwide. The survey found that individuals have four core needs at work:

Emotional – the need to feel cared for and valued

Mental – the need to be empowered to set boundaries and focus in an absorbed way

Spiritual – the need to find a sense of meaning and purpose at work

If you feel like you need to make a change in the way you work, you need to think about how you’re addressing your core needs. It’s also essential that managers pay attention to the needs of their employees, to maintain positive levels of productivity and engagement. Let’s look closer at these different types of employee needs.

No matter what role or industry you work in, it’s important to take care of your physical energy. As the Energy Project’s report outlines, employees need regular periods of daytime rest to renew and recharge throughout the day. In fact, did you know that 90 minutes is the maximum amount of time humans can maintain attention on a task before losing focus?

After 90 minutes of being absorbed in any form of cognitive work, it's in your best interest to take a break – even if it’s a short one. This is because human beings are not machines. Our bodies need to work with our natural rhythms of renewal. Choosing to power through and continue working will only result in feelings of fatigue, irritation and lack of focus, which over time can lead to burn out.

So be sure to listen to your body throughout the day. Step away from your work, get a glass of water or cup of tea, or go for a short walk. If you’re an employer or manager, encourage workers to take regular breaks and lead by example in this practice.

As well as looking after your physical wellbeing, it’s important to be aware of your emotional needs and how they’re being responded to. Even people who are quite assertive and confident in their personal life can struggle to express how they feel in the workplace.

While you may think that your feelings about your job can be kept separate from your actual work, your emotional energy has a very strong influence on how well you perform. Emotional energy needs to be fueled by a sense of satisfaction, safety and trust in your work environment. Feeling unsure, uncomfortable or unsafe at work will have a negative impact on your productivity and results.

On the other hand, feeling valued, respected and safe allows employees to focus and deliver their best results, while helping to foster a positive work culture.

These days, workers are presented with a continual stream of incoming information, more than any other generation before. Technology, for all its good points, allows us to be always available, always connected, always switched ‘on’.

This means we very seldom have the chance to switch ‘off.’ And being constantly interrupted by phone calls, text messages, emails and social media notifications makes it hard to focus all our attention on one task.

Protecting your mental energy is about making sure you allow yourself to focus – on one thing at a time. While some people think it’s impressive or cool to be constantly busy and doing ten things at once, it won’t do your career any favors. In fact, multitasking is not at all conducive to absorbing information and retaining focus, most often leading to lower quality work and higher levels of anxiety and burn out.

To protect your mental energy, you need to set firm boundaries and be self-disciplined. When you feel your focus drifting off, or feel tempted to break your attention and scroll through your phone, put those thoughts aside and refocus on just one task. While breaks are planned and deliberate, distractions aren’t – and worse, they can really derail you from your task. In fact, after being distracted or interrupted, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task at hand. Is it worth checking that incoming text message or clicking over to read a news alert?

Leaders can help employees maintain focus and mental energy by respecting and encouraging these boundaries.

According to the Energy Project study, “no single factor influences people’s job satisfaction and likelihood to stay at an organization as much as feeling connected to their company’s mission.”

Having a sense of meaning and purpose in your job is what makes it feel worthwhile. Being connected to an overall mission and working in line with your own personal values is a large part of what makes most humans feel significant. It’s also essential if you want to find your work and career rewarding.

When managers actively support employees in nurturing this purposeful energy, they’re able to create a company culture that reflects this.

Whether you’re an employer or employee, paying attention to all four core needs is the best way to make a positive impact on your organization and your own work life. Next time you're running on empty, or feel like the way you’re working is no longer working, think about your own core needs and what needs to change so you can start performing at your full potential.

Addressing the core needs of your employees

Stress is no stranger to the workplace, and there’s no doubt that every adult can say with confidence they’ve felt it at some point in their professional career.

However, did you know that stress is an important emotion and we actually sometimes need it to be productive in our daily lives? The trick is learning to harness the stress and put it to good use, rather than allowing it to cause us problems.

We learn all kinds of soft skills and training methods throughout our careers on how to deal with customers, coworkers, and external factors. However, there never seems to be enough education on stress. As something that everyone experiences, it’s just as important a business skill as any other, so you need to educate yourself.

Thankfully, there is a course now available that teaches you exactly how to manage stress so that you can use it to your advantage. This Managing Stress Course is a compact but effective way to give you the tools and knowledge needed to manage this tricky emotion before it overruns your life.

Stress isn’t always a bad thing, as we usually need to feel some form of stress to motivate us to get things done. With the Managing Stress Course, though, you’re able to learn how to use this stress in a positive way.

According to the American Psychological Association, stress in Americans can have a wide range of different consequences. These consequences can range from yelling at loved ones, to overeating, to sleep problems, and beyond.

When we don’t know how to properly manage our stress, it can manifest in unproductive and unhealthy ways. In today’s day and age when stressors seem to be getting more prevalent, a course like this is as important as ever.

Although you might think that only high powered executives and managers get stressed at work, this emotion can affect people in all kinds of positions and responsibilities. Stress is even felt by those who don’t have a job, so it’s not just reserved for people in the workplace. The Managing Stress Course can be useful for anyone looking to improve their personal development and understand how to cope with this sometimes overbearing emotion.

If you think back to a trying time at work when you felt stressed, and take a serious look at how you handled the situation, can you confidently say that you were able to manage your stress?

This isn’t necessarily a trait we’re born with, so for many, they will remember themselves getting flustered or angry in the situation. Learning how to manage stress with this course will mean future scenarios go very differently, so you’re able to use your energy someone more productive.

Even for those who are usually calm and collected, it’s natural to let stress creep in and affect our daily lives. With just a little bit of knowledge and some tips and tricks for how to manage this emotion, you can ensure it never impacts you negatively again.

You’ll know how to master stress and use it to your advantage, rather than let it be a detriment to you and those around you.

Live a Better Life When You Manage Stress

If you’re tired of allowing stress to impact your life and want to learn how to manage it better, then this is the course for you. Whether you’re a senior manager and want to stay calm and collected when dealing with employees, or need to learn how to not let stress interfere with your productivity, there’s so much to learn in this short and concise course.

Taking the first step and enrolling will lead you to begin thinking about stress in your life, so you can hopefully begin to pinpoint why and where you become most stressed. By understanding this vital emotion, you can ensure that you harness and turn it into something positive.

These days, it seems that many workers are leaving high-paid corporate positions to pursue a more meaningful career. For these people, finding a job that’s emotionally rewarding is top priority, and far more important than financial gains. While the concept of ‘meaningful’ work is obviously different for everyone, it can almost always be linked to an individual’s personal values.

To understand this, it’s important to see the connection between personal (or core) values and job satisfaction. One of the main reasons why people are unhappy in their jobs is that their work, career or employer is at odds with their values. Often, employees won’t even realize their dissatisfaction stems from this mis-match – there’s just a general feeling that something isn’t quite right.

For someone who values fairness, for example, it could be very frustrating and upsetting to work for an organization that frequently rewards or tolerates unjust behavior. For workers who strongly value compassion, finding out that the company they work for is testing on animals could be a sudden deal breaker. Public servants may also experience discomfort when the government they work for changes, or alters policy.

When your work collides with your personal values

Over time, this discordance of values can lead to negative consequences for both employee and employer.

Working in an environment that goes against your core values is not only frustrating, but can also lead to serious health issues, as both mental and physical wellbeing are affected by stress. We can see this in people who have burnt out at work, after many years of trying to fit square-shaped values into a round hole.

In contrast, individuals who consider their work to be meaningful are generally more productive, motivated and happy in their jobs. As Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of The Talent Delusion, explains, “when people pick jobs that fulfill basic psychological needs, motives, and values, they immerse themselves more in their work, experience higher levels of job satisfaction, and their productivity rises.” This has benefits for the whole organization, leading to a more positive work culture and better business results.

To determine your core values, you need to be aware of what motivates you. Individuals are motivated by many different things, especially in the workplace. Are you driven by money, power, recognition by your peers? Or perhaps your idea of meaningful work is connected to altruism, the desire to help people?

Once you find what motivates you, you’ll have a far better idea of what’s most important to you and how to get where you need to be. If you find that helping and connecting with people is top of your list, you might decide to explore teaching or social work, rather than continuing to work 9-5 in a job with no human interaction.

Dr Chamorro-Premuzik says, “if you know something simply doesn't motivate you, like a fat paycheck or great travel opportunities – even if it motivates others – don't regard it as an incentive for your next job.”

The interesting thing about values is that even if you’ve never consciously considered them before, your values are still an intrinsic part of you. Many people aren’t even aware that they exist until something happens that questions or threatens their values. Taking the time to figure out what’s really important to you, and exactly what it is that motivates you, will help you to be more prepared and resilient when your values are tested.

The benefits of working in line with your values

Once you’ve clarified your personal values, you’ll find it far easier to understand and trust any gut feelings that arise when you’re on the wrong path. Defining your values also allows you to “set goals that resonate, as opposed to frustrate,” says Associate Professor Anthony Grant, from The University of Sydney's Coaching Psychology Unit.