Prioritising Mental Health in the Workplace

October 10th marks World Mental Health Day. And the theme for this year is “Prioritising Mental Health in the Workplace”. 

Now what’s cool is: I sat down to write this and remembered that just over 4 years ago (in the time before Covid! Remember that?!) HATW gave a presentation at a conference for our friends in Stonewall. about mental health in the workplace – with a fun lil LGBTQ+ twist too. 

So a) humble brag that we were ahead of the curve. But also b) this is some of the content from that presentation we gave. And for context, we interviewed a bunch of folks about their experiences – good and bad – of mental health in the workplace. So this is a bit of a guide for someone who’s looking to improve the approach to mental health in their workplace.

Prioritising mental health in the workplace

Just a note before we go any further. A principle we’ve held since day 1 is that everyone is different, and their needs are going to be different. So while these are some good thoughts on mental health in the workplace, these are a general guide, and the best approach is going to be to speak to the people around you, and assess each situation as you go. 

Workload

You might have heard people saying “work smart, not hard” in the past, and honestly? That’s really good advice, if a little oversimplified. When taking to folks about what affects their mental health in the workplace, the biggest feedback we got was about them having a realistic level of work for them to achieve. So absolutely challenge yourself, but know your limits, and what you can honestly achieve. And spend some time seeing if you can work efficiently, not constantly at full capacity. For example, can you delegate any tasks, or is there something that’s not immediately urgent?

A tool that I’ve found helpful for this is the Eisenhower Matrix – which you can see below! 👇

Absence Policies

Sometimes we’re gonna need a mental health day. In the same way that if your physical health wasn’t great, you’d need to take a day to rest and recover; you’re sometimes gonna need that rest & recovery for your mental health too. 

Feedback from the folks we spoke to was that having an absence policy that allows for mental health issues – and feeling like it’s ok to ring in sick when you need it – makes a real difference. Cuz when you’re feeling so low that you can’t operate, the last thing you need is to feel guilty for looking after your health and your needs. 

Attitudes towards mental health in the workplace

This one sounds kinda obvious to me, but I think the fact that we need World Mental Health Awareness Day is a reminder that there’s still work to be done on improving attitudes to mental health in general. So make the most of constantly reminding folks that mental health is important. Host events throughout the year to encourage healthy coping mechanisms (you can share our Things To Try page if ya like!). If you have mental health first aiders: make them known to the staff! If you don’t: get some! 

And generally, do what you can to encourage open and empathetic relationships within the workplace. The best way you can do that is to show up regularly and sincerely. Talk about the little things, and celebrate and champion the talents that your staff or colleagues have. 

Mental Health First Aid Training

I mentioned mental health first aiders above, so figured now would be a good time to big up our friend Dan who runs Mental Health First Aid Training. Check him out at bellthecat.org.uk

Take regular breaks

It might feel counterintuitive but taking breaks is more productive than trying to work constantly and flat out. Maybe this ties into “working smarter not harder” too, but there’s a technique called The Pomodoro Technique that’s essentially working in bursts, and taking regular breaks. It’s helped me in the past, when it comes to tackling big scary projects that feel unsurmountable! So maybe this one’s for you personally managing your own mental health in your workplace.

If you found this helpful

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