Take time to focus on your resilience and wellbeing
Tips on how to look after yourself from some Barclaycard Payments colleagues
As daily life has changed during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to look after yourself, physically and mentally. Everyone has unique circumstances, from home-schooling to supporting vulnerable family members, and will react differently while staying at home to keep safe, but you can keep on top of your wellbeing. To help you cope with how you might be feeling follow useful advice from sources such as the NHS.
For those having to work from home, many businesses are ensuring the wellbeing of their workforce remains a focus. Over the years, Barclaycard Payments has provided support to colleagues in a variety of ways with the aim help those bounce back from life’s inevitable challenges quickly – something that many people may be experiencing at the moment.
We speak to four colleagues on their tips on what has worked for them in their personal and work lives, and how they are helping to encourage this in others. We hear from Jayne Perry, Performance Development Coach, Kyle McQueen, Senior Strategic Client Consultant, Sehrish Khan, Business Cards Planning & Analytics Manager and Steve Kjar, Senior Commercial Risk Manager.
What does wellbeing mean to you?
Jayne: For me it’s all about being ‘the best version of myself’. I’m naturally energetic and passionate, so I try to share good energy to uplift those around me at work and in my personal life.
Kyle: It’s consistency for me. I want to be ready to deal with the challenges of work and everyday life, so keeping myself in a good place is key to being able to do that.
What has helped you?
Sehrish: Continuously challenging myself to do better helps me. A little change each time makes success look different. I remind myself of the importance of balanced work/life commitments. If the balance is affected I can lose concentration and may not be able to deliver my best.
Kyle: Sticking with good habits like drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, eating mindfully and taking breaks to replenish myself.
Steve: I’ve become a big fan of meditation and try to use it on a daily basis. The techniques I’ve learned have helped me to deal with stressful situations.
What advice would you give others looking to improve their wellbeing?
Kyle: I’ve tried to focus on improving things I do every day, like exercise, what I eat, and how good my sleep is. My advice would be to start small and often. Once you’ve mastered one change you can move on to the next and, soon enough, you’ll have a great set of improvements which add up to a big difference.
Jayne: I started by asking myself what I wanted to achieve, it’s easier then to make a plan. Start with bite-size chunks and reach out to friends, colleagues, or other resources for support and encouragement. Don’t forget to shout about your successes, as it may encourage others and will make you feel great.
Steve: Find what works for you. If you’re feeling a bit stressed, it’s key to find a way to understand the stress and improve your resilience.
Sehrish: I find making small changes to your lifestyle can help improve the quality of your professional and personal life. Focus on where your actions can add real value.
As we learn how to adapt to life’s new challenges, we should all take a little time to focus on being happy and healthy inside and outside of work. We can all take small steps to think well, move well, eat well and sleep well.