Boosting Occupational Wellness For Improved Well-Being

Have you ever gotten home from a long day at work and felt exhausted, drained, and with no motivation to do anything except crash on the couch? We’ve all had those days. Unfortunately for working moms, crashing anywhere is just not an option. The minute we walk through the front door, family obligations await – our second job begins.

What if there were things we could do to make work feel less tiring? Sure, more money and less hours would be great, but until we land that dream job, let’s consider shifting our focus to improving our sense of occupational wellness.

Why Occupational Wellness Matters For Working Moms

Let’s start with the obvious question: what is occupational wellness? Occupational wellness is one of several dimensions of wellness that contribute to our overall well-being. Your sense of occupational wellness is related to your own feelings and attitudes towards work, your satisfaction with your work, and your work-life balance. Occupational wellness has a significant effect on well-being.

With at least half of our waking hours spent at work, it makes sense that our jobs would affect our well-being and personal lives in a big way. Have you ever noticed how a bad day at work can leave you feeling irritable, unhappy, and emotionally and physically fatigued? In contrast, feeling satisfied and happy with your job can actually energize you, allowing you to go home with a sense of contentment and accomplishment.

Let’s put that into context for the working mom. Whether you have good occupational wellness or not can be the difference between how you react to your child’s next tantrum or accident when you walk through the front door. For us, improving our well-being at work is crucial to being the kind of present, kind, and supportive moms we aspire to be. Without it, we can quickly feel burned out and overwhelmed, feeling like we are failing at everything. It’s an important aspect of our overall well-being that has a big impact on our personal and family lives.

How To Improve Occupational Wellness

Many things can affect our feelings of occupational wellness, including the satisfaction we get from our jobs, our sense of purpose and meaning at work, our relationships with our coworkers, our physical environment and safety, our boundaries, and our perceived level of control. Practicing one or more of the following can positively impact these aspects of our work, leading to improved occupational wellness.

Taking micro-breaks

Taking micro-breaks at work can and improve your ability to handle stress and support your emotional well-being. You can do this by taking 5-10 minutes (or less) at intervals throughout the work day to reset and re-energize. There are many ways to take micro-breaks, and you can change it up every day or stick with a few that resonate. Some examples include:

A 5 minute meditation from an app or online video
Thinking of 3 things you are grateful for
Listening to nature sounds
Listening to white noise
Doing a breathing exercise or breathwork
Stretching or light exercise at your desk
Taking a walk outside in the sun
Doing some adult coloring
Reading and reflecting on an inspiring quote

Building relationships with your coworkers

Ever heard the phrase “people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers?” Add “and coworkers” to the end of that sentence. The quality of work relationships is one of the main factors people consider when deciding to stay or leave their jobs. Building relationships requires some effort on your part too – participate in the office potluck, go to the after work happy hour just once, engage in the silly office games and banter from time to time. For working moms, having supportive, understanding coworkers and managers can be a game-changer when those inevitable mom-moments pop up.

Finding purpose and meaning in your work

Every job has a purpose. Sometimes, we get so wound up in our daily lives that we forget that what we do is meaningful. Finding purpose in our work contributes to our sense of life satisfaction and well-being. The stronger our sense of purpose, the happier we are at work; in turn, we exude that happiness and contentment to our children and in our personal lives. We can deepen our sense of purpose at work by taking courses and continuing education, setting and working towards professional goals and ambitions, doing job-specific skill-building exercises, reflecting on our purpose and values, and considering the positive effects our service has on others.

Identifying what you can control

In any job or work environment, there will be factors outside of our control, some more so than others. On the positive side, there will always be some things we can control, even if only partially. Even if they seem minor, identify what’s in your control at work – the way you deliver your services, your schedule, when you take your lunch break, your clothing, your workspace area – and exercise your power in that area. Feeling powerless at work is one of the main reasons that people feel burned out and dissatisfied with their jobs – increasing your sense of power can help combat those feelings.

Personalizing your workspace

Along the theme of exercising power on the areas you can control, personalize your workspace as much as is reasonable. Put up pictures of your kids, prop a fake plant on your desk, or stick an inspirational quote on the wall. If able, move your desk closer to an area with more sunlight, or get a light therapy lamp for your workspace. These changes might seem small, but they make your work environment more comfortable and reflective of who you are.

Optimizing safety and ergonomics

Work safety and ergonomics is an often undervalued aspect of occupational wellness because it focuses on the physical environment, something we don’t tend to pay much attention to. But it does matter – an unsafe or poorly designed workspace can contribute to physical and overuse injuries. If you work at a desk, making your space safe and ergonomically sound helps to limit muscle injuries and the effects of bad posture. You can do this by making sure your desk setup is appropriate for your body, avoid sitting for too long, using a lumbar or neck support cushion for your chair, and removing trip hazards from the workplace. We want to limit physical injuries as much as possible, as they can have a negative effect on our overall well-being.

Looking into workplace wellness initiatives and programs

Many employers recognize the importance of well-being on employee retention, happiness, and overall productivity. As a result, workplace wellness programs have become more popular and a selling point for recruiters looking for new talent. Take a moment to look into whether your company offers programs to support employee wellness. This might include regular mental health consults, reduced rates for gyms and restaurants, or discounts on childcare. Do the research yourself and don’t rely solely on your manager to know about it, as many may not even be aware that these programs exist.

Taking advantage of the free stuff

long with workplace wellness initiatives, your employer may offer free health screenings or consults with a health professional, as well as incentives for healthy behaviors. Take advantage of these if they are offered.

Setting work boundaries

Setting work boundaries has a major impact on your sense of occupational wellness and work-life balance. Not only that, drawing firm lines between work and personal life can make you more productive by motivating you to finish your tasks in a timely way, instead of procrastinating and doing it “later.” Simple changes like leaving work on time and not answering work calls or emails after hours can have big results on your work-life balance and happiness.

Occupational wellness is a major but often underappreciated aspect of overall well-being. Our job satisfaction, relationships at work, ability to manage stress, work-life balance, and sense of purpose can have a big impact on our personal and family lives outside of work. For working moms, making the effort to improve our occupational wellness can result in significant changes in our ability to successfully balance motherhood and working life.