Wellness Wednesday: {Overview of Work}

First I'd like to say- Happy Leap Year Day! :) I hope you enjoy it since it only comes around once every 4 years.


Welcome back to Wellness Wednesday, a fun mid-week look at the areas of wellness in our lives. To remind you, in talking about wellness I'm discussing the positive factors in life that help protect us from the events of life. Wellness is therefore not about the absence of the negative, but the presence of the positive. Remember that I am using the Wheel of Wellness to show the various factors of wellness in our lives.

Source

After introducing the ideas behind work & leisure last week, today we'll be looking in more detail at the factor of "work" in our lives.

Myers & Sweeney define "work" the following way:

Activity that contributes to the well-being of self and others: perception of adequacy of financial resources (financial freedom), job satisfaction, feeling that one’s skills are used, perception of work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity (i.e., psychological job security), participation in decision making (i.e., feeling appreciated), satisfaction with relationships in the job setting

The continue by saying "People who view their career as a calling tend to experience the highest work satisfaction. Feelings of competence in work tasks also have a positive effect on life satisfaction, and work experiences and work outcomes are consistently and positively related to self-reported emotional well-being" (Myers & Sweeney, 2005, p. 26)*.

Given that we spend a large percentage of our waking hours at work, our jobs can deeply impact our overall health and wellness. Obviously if you are in a place where you are being attacked, intimidated, or simply not supported, this will start to wear on your health. If you aren't in a safe work environment (emotionally, verbally, mentally, physically), this will start to bring down your overall health and wellness, and it is perhaps not the best place for you to be at. Do you have skills that you feel might be used better at your job? Talk to your boss about it! Use your skills in the best way you can, and your work will be more enjoyable and efficient.

Can you develop healthy, supportive, and fun relationships at your job? Sometimes it's hard to enjoy work when others around you are negative, do you have healthy coping skills to deal with it? It's frustrating to feel like we'll be nagged or attacked when we walk into work, but we cannot change those people. All we can do is deal with ourselves, and we still have the power to keep ourselves healthy.

A few questions to get you thinking:

1. Do you feel like your skills and abilities are being used at the job you are at?
2. Do you feel supported by your co-workers or boss?
3. How can you develop healthy coping skills to deal with negative people at your workplace?
4. Do you have a sense of control over at least some areas of your work?
5. Is your job well defined? 
6. If you job isn't well defined, is there a way that you can get a more clear and detailed description of your job, role, and responsibilities?
7. Are you respected in the workplace?

Now it's your turn!

What skills do you feel are most used in your workplace? What's your favorite thing about your job? What is one healthy way that you deal with the stress of your job? 

*From: Myers & Sweeney (2005). Counseling for Wellness: Theory, Research, and Practice

Wellness Wednesday: {Life Task 3: Work & Leisure}

Welcome back to Wellness Wednesday, a mid-week look at various factors of wellness in our lives. Wellness isn't so much about the absence of the negative or illness in our lives, but the presence of positive factors that lead to health in our lives. This takes intentional work and focus, but leads us to a place of being a healthy and flourishing individual. Remember that I am using the Wheel of Wellness to discuss wellness:

Source

I've already discussed Life Task 1 (Spirituality) and Life Task 2 (Self-Direction), and today I'll be moving on to Life Task 3 (Work & Leisure). Today's post will be an introduction, and I will break it down and discuss in more detail in future posts.

Myers & Sweeney define this life task the following way:

Activities and tasks essential to personal well-being and social living, including: work & leisure

How's that for a short and sweet definition? Let's look a bit further at what they meant.

"Work & leisure provide opportunities for pleasurable experiences that are intrinsically satisfying and provide a sense of accomplishment. They challenge or engage our senses, skills, and interests, frequently absorbing us in activities in a state of consciousness called flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). This is an optimal state in which an individual loses awareness of self and time while being highly engaged in the task at hand. Excitement and joy are enhanced while anxiety and boredom are minimized" (Myers & Sweeney, 2005, p. 25-26).

Have you ever experienced "flow" in your work? Have you experienced those moments where you lose track of time and are deeply engaged in what you are doing? This could be either at work (place of employment) or in your hobbies and free time.
A few questions to start asking yourself as we prepare for a deeper discussion on work & leisure:

1. Is work intrinsically satisfying to you?
2. Does your work or hobbies you are engaged in provide a sense of accomplishment in your life?
3. Is there an activity or dream you would like to pursue that you feel would provide a sense of accomplishment, use your skills, or absorb you in that activity?
4. What keeps you from pursuing those dreams in your work or leisure time? 
5. How might you be a more healthy individual if work was intrinsically satisfying?
6. How might you increase those times of "flow" in your life?

Now it's your turn:

What're some of your favorite hobbies? What activities do you get the highest sense of accomplishment from in life? Is there something you would like to pursue but haven't allowed yourself to at this point? What is it?