7 Ways to Advance Self-Care

Self-care was for weaklings where I grew up in Central Maine. Real men and women didn’t need self-care.

Reactive self-care is short-sighted. We didn’t think about wellness unless we got sick. You did what you had to do until you couldn’t.

Proactive wellness is smart. Don’t wait to get sick to take care of yourself. Robert Glazer’s book, “Elevate Your Team,” includes strategies for wellness at work.

This post focuses on Glazer’s suggestions for increasing physical capacity.

Proactive self-care is smart. Don't wait to get sick to take care of yourself. Image of a person under a blanket on the couch.

Self-care – 7 ways to advance physical wellbeing:

  1. Don’t brag about hero hours. Leaders model the way. Your bragging creates pressure. If you brag about 80-hour work weeks, you set a standard for high performers.
  2. Take time to unplug. Life will go on without you! It’s arrogant to think otherwise. Go on vacation with the expectation you won’t check-in.
  3. Limit off-hour communication. Your 2 a.m. email creates pressure, even if you don’t expect an instant reply. Use the delay send feature to protect employees.
  4. Set clear deadlines. High performers may assume high levels of urgency for something you don’t need until the end of the week. Help people set priorities.
  5. Incentivize unplugging. Reward people for not checking in while on vacation.
  6. Emphasize physical separation. Don’t put your home office in the bedroom. Change your clothes at the end of the day, even if you work at home.
  7. Show, don’t tell. Prioritize your own health and let people know.
Sometimes the greatest gift you can give your team is to let them go home. Image of a welcome mat.

Capacity:

Glazer’s book, Elevate Your Team, focuses on four areas.

  1. Spiritual capacity.
  2. Intellectual capacity.
  3. Physical capacity.
  4. Emotional capacity.

“The best way for leaders to get rested, energized employees in their workplace is to help their teams create and sustain boundaries between work and home life.” Robert Glazer

How might leaders promote wellness at work?