Maintaining your mental health is crucial for many reasons. Along with ensuring you’re happy and productive while working in your life science job, improving your mental health benefits your personal life.
Often, work is a primary source of stress for many life science professionals. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to mitigate it. If you want to maintain your mental health at work, here are some best practices to follow.
Take Your Breaks
Many professionals choose to skip breaks or lunches, assuming that spending more time at their workstations will ensure they’re suitably productive. However, not giving yourself a chance to rest and rejuvenate is often more harmful than helpful. Stress can build, and energy levels diminish. Plus, it can lead to feelings of frustration and resentment, both of which may increase your odds of burning out as a life science professional.
Since that’s the case, taking your breaks and lunch is a must for your mental health. Formally schedule the time on your calendar and set up notifications to alert you when it’s time to step away. That ensures you’re giving yourself a moment to recharge regularly, allowing you to return to your tasks more energized and focused.
Set Appropriate Boundaries
In some cases, life science professionals believe they need to stay late and always be available in order to impress at work. However, allowing your job to erode into your personal time – especially if it happens regularly – is harmful to your mental health. Similarly, remaining permanently connected to your email and responding to messages or texts, and calls from managers at all hours leads to an always-on mentality. When that happens, it seems as if you can never truly disconnect from work, leading to resentment, anger, and, ultimately, burnout.
Instead, make sure to set healthy boundaries. Speak with your manager about after-hours expectations, including when overtime is or isn’t required and whether you need to respond to emails, texts, or calls after-hours. Work together to find an arrangement that provides you with enough time to rest while ensuring you’re accessible when emergencies occur. That ensures you can fully disconnect regularly, making it easier to enjoy your personal time.
Focus on Core Methods for Maintaining Health
Many of the primary strategies people use to maintain their physical health also benefit them mentally and emotionally. Eating a nutritious diet, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep isn’t just good for the body; it’s excellent for your mood. Plus, it ensures you have all of the energy and nutrients you need to remain focused and can make dealing with stress easier. As a result, if you aren’t able to do anything else, prioritize the fundamentals, as they do make a difference.
Ultimately, the best practices above can help life science professionals maintain their mental health at work, leaving them more satisfied both on and off the job. Are you looking for a new life science career opportunity? Partner with the Staffing Resource Group to find outstanding open positions quickly. Contact us to learn more about our services today.
