Working Well

Work hours, including average commute time, take up almost 50% of your awake hours per week, assuming you are getting a solid 8 hours of sleep per night. When I coach clients on healthy habits, the most common barriers I hear are from the workplace:

"I am too tired to exercise after I get home from work."

"I don't have time to eat breakfast before work."

"My co-workers bring unhealthy food into work."

"I have to entertain clients or have lunch meetings that don't offer healthy selections."

"By the time I get home from work it is late and easier to pick up carry out."

These are only a few of the barriers I hear and they all lead to unhealthy habits, poor energy, poor productivity, and increased sick days costing companies millions of dollars. If half of your time is spent at work, doesn't it make sense to put equal effort into living healthy habits at both home and work? Does your workplace have a "healthy" or "unhealthy" culture?

A healthy work culture starts with a good wellness program that includes exercise, nutrition, and stress relief. Unfortunately, the best wellness programs can struggle to get off the ground if they don't have the support of management. If you would like to have healthier culture at work, talk to your management or human resources about starting a wellness program. What is in it for them? By offering employees the opportunity to exercise, eat healthy, and relieve stress at work can result in more productive employees and less sick days.

If starting a company wide wellness program is not a realistic task, start with your own work area:

-If you are the co-worker that has a bowl of candy at your desk to share, replace it with a bowl of fresh fruit.

-If your work group likes to have pot luck lunches, be the person to organize a pot luck salad or yogurt parfait bar and volunteer to bring fresh vegetables for fruit toppings so you can easily stay on track.

-Find co-workers to start a lunchtime walking group.

-Volunteer to order the food for your next breakfast or lunch meeting, eliminate all sweets and sweet beverages, and notice how participants in the meeting won't struggle to stay awake.

Above are only a few ideas to start a healthier culture at work. For more ideas specific to your workplace, email me at kristystevenson@comcast to set-up a worksite wellness evaluation.