Mind Your Mind

Mind Your Mind Looking After Your Mental Health During a Pandemic

Looking after your mental health is extremely important during these challenging times, and whilst work can be a welcome distraction from the anxiety of a global pandemic, it can also be difficult for some people to feel ‘productive’ under such extreme circumstances.

I chatted to various members of the Organisation about how they managed to sustain a sense of camaraderie during lockdown and their tips for moving forwards as lockdown starts to ease. Despite the geographical separation, there are still ways in which you are able to feel connected to your colleagues and your friends; it is these connections that help pull you through the difficult days and ensure that you still feel like you are part of a team.

‘The strangest thing for us has been the separation. We are such a face-to-face company, we spend most of our days in each other’s pockets! We thrive off being in busy places, attending events, travelling the world and are used to lots of physical contact, you know, hugging and high-fiving each other as a way of establishing a tangible sense of what we’re about: people! So it’s been a difficult time, but I’m very proud of the way that every single one of our offices has dealt with things; we’ve found the silver lining in all this and have made a lot of progress in terms of the way we operate as an organisation. It was very much a case of, let’s pull together and not just ‘get through it’ but come out the other side even stronger’.’ Fran Colam

1) Respecting each individual and their needs ‘We’ve been doing things like Zoom Quizzes to keep everyone together which has been great. It’s different for everybody though; some people have slipped through the gaps regarding government support and so have had to take other employment, but then on the flip side of that, we’ve had a fantastic period of recruitment. You have to respect everybody’s individual circumstances and support them as much as you can. I’m sure that those people who did have to leave will come back once things are properly up and running again, and we will welcome them with open arms’. Kevin Nash

‘A vast majority of the people we recruit are quite young - in the 18-35 age bracket - so they don’t necessarily have children to home-school or as many other responsibilities. This has meant that they’ve been able to fully throw themselves into the online coaching programme and have kept themselves busy in a way that’s been incredibly productive’ Fran Colam

2) Staying connected ‘I made sure that 90% of people had contact with at least one other person in the organization every single day. This was so important in keeping a sense of cohesion and togetherness across the company. Even just one conversation with someone else in your company means that your bubble of solitude is broken and you are able to see things a little more clearly. It means that you’re not so stuck in your head and you’re able to, well, simply communicate! Weekends were by far the hardest. The weekdays flew by because there was a solid structure in place. A lot of the guys were starting their day with a call at 8.30am and had a solid timeline in place for the rest of the week, whereas the weekends really dragged on because when you don’t have anywhere to go, or people to see, you become acutely aware of time!’ Phil Reid

let's pull together

If you’ve got the right attitude and simple core values then here you go - take the reins!

'People were occupied, they had a reason to get up each day, a focus and a responsibility to the team. During this period of literal isolation, it is so important to try and remain connected to others, be this family, friends or colleagues'.

People were occupied, they had a reason to get up each day, a focus and a responsibility to the team. During this period of literal isolation, it is so important to try and remain connected to others, be this family, friends or colleagues. We really are a family here at Mantra, so to quickly establish a strong support network was one of our main priorities as we went into lockdown. - JAMES BUCKLEY

3) Establishing a sense of routine & setting up a ‘work-space’ at home One of the things that I tried to implement straightaway was that everyone got up early and started the day with the right energy. That was really important to me and I think is partly why we’ve managed to get through this so successfully. You get up, you get out of bed, you iron your shirt and trousers and get dressed for the working day, even when you’re working from home. That makes a huge difference to how you feel and how productive you are. It’s such a simple thing, but really does have an impact upon your emotional well-being. Another thing that I made sure that everybody did was to make a ‘To-Do’ List every morning. This helped to establish a sense of routine, which really could have been the first thing to go had we not put small things in place such as this to anchor the day.’ - PHIL REID

4) Exercise Exercise has been a huge thing for me personally, and a lot of the team. It really helps to get moving and to get out of your head and into your body, so I’ve been doing a lot of yoga which has helped a lot. Another thing has been getting up at the same time everyday and asserting some sense of agency over your day, be this through exercise or other types of routine.’ - FRAN COLAM

I’ve been making sure that I do my exercise every day which has been really beneficial to both mindset and physical health. I knew I needed to set myself a daily ‘challenge’ though, otherwise I wouldn’t keep it up, so I decided to train towards my version of a Triathlon! This involved 500km on a trail bike, 50 km running, 30km walking. I posted updates every day and shared photos with my team so that they could track my progress, and get a taster of the beautiful scenery in Devon which was an added bonus! Being somewhere like Devon has been a blessing during lockdown and the landscape has really helped our mindset I think. - MARK WIDNELL

5) Online social events and (dare I say it)...Zoom Quizzes! Usually, we have team-nights once a week where we go out for dinner, have some drinks and take the time to enjoy each other’s company outside of the workplace, so I made sure that we had quizzes, online socials, cocktail-making nights and things to ensure that the social side of the organization was kept alive. - ROB COTTERELL

We’ve been using Zoom regularly for social activities and that’s really helped us to get through this period of isolation. It’s as important to spend downtime together as it is to work together ad that’s something that’s always been at the heart of how we operate as an organisation - KEVIN NASH

6) Coaching and Training Moving the business online was not without its challenges, but the wider company pulled together and quickly established a slick online training platform and timetable for everyone to work by. Not only did this enable us to keep learning and training our guys, but it meant that we all felt connected which is a huge part of the ethos of our business. We had a ‘huddle call’ every morning at 8am during lockdown to plan each day and maintain a sense of structure and then full days of coaching sessions, so this meant there simply wasn’t as much time to sit and worry about the world or get too overwhelmed by the situation.’ - PHIL REID