How to turn off from work
How to turn off from work… without turning off from work?
Monash Life | Thriving Communities | So how are you really? | 2 minute read
Organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber says that understanding and meeting our motivational needs is a key part of wellbeing.
“I think a lot of people are surprised at how stressed they are. A good first step is to understand why,” says Amantha Imber (Psychology, 1999; PhD Organisational Psychology, 2002). “Covid and lockdown took a huge mental toll, with its uncertainty and lack of control. Although we may have returned to a pre-Covid normality, there remains a hangover effect, and many of us are wondering why we still feel like this.”
Although the pandemic brought stressors around work and job security, it also gave us a lot of flexibility, Imber explains. While many employers have maintained and embraced that flexibility, just as many have returned to pre-Covid rules and rigidity.
“When you move from flexibility to less flexibility, that inevitably has a negative impact on your mental health and enjoyment at work. Think about how much flexibility you have in your job compared to a couple of years ago – if you’ve got less, it’s not surprising that work feels like more of a struggle or you’re feeling less engaged.”
The job market itself has also changed in the past couple of years, says Imber. Power, she points out, has shifted away from employees – making many feel less in control.
“Last year, there was a huge war for talent, and employees could ask for what they wanted. That’s not the case anymore and employees are finding it harder to define their terms as much as they have done previously.
“There are still great companies and great bosses and great working conditions out there, but if you’re not getting that, life is too short to suffer. It’s vital not to compromise your mental health for the sake of a job – although I know that is often much easier said than done.”
So, what can you do to improve and protect your mental and emotional wellbeing? It’s helpful, says Imber, to take a step back and think objectively about your job and whether it is motivating you sufficiently to maintain your mental health.
Three main drivers shape our “motivational needs”, she says. “The first is autonomy – how much freedom and flexibility you have. The next is mastery – the opportunity to learn new skills and be presented with challenges that you can meet. And the last is connectedness – how well we feel we fit in and whether we work with people we value and trust.
“It’s valuable to reflect on how you can pull on these levers – and work out which are high motivators and which are low, and how and whether you can increase the low ones. If you can’t increase any of them, it’s worth identifying organisations where you could have those motivational needs met.”
Most employers now see the value of supporting their workers’ mental health – but many don’t match their words with meaningful action, says Imber. “I see countless employers treating mental health like a tick-box exercise: are we doing a campaign for ‘R U OK Day?’ Have we got a walking challenge once a year? Are we sponsoring our team in the Melbourne Marathon? Do we have an employee assistance program?
“All these can be good, but in some organisations it can feel very hollow – that it’s enough to give the impression of doing something instead of actually taking the time and trouble to find and address the root cause, which might be unrealistic workload and working hours.
“You can sponsor employees to run a marathon all you like, but if they work in a culture where they’re expected to always be on and respond to emails on weekends, I’d say that’s a pretty obvious root cause to be fixed. No one’s going to be at their best if they never get the chance to switch off. Look for how you can make meaningful improvements to people’s lives.”
But, adds Imber, other wider factors connected to our general physical health outside work also play a major role in maintaining good mental wellbeing to do our job. “Sleep, exercise and nutrition are all vital – it’s essential for our mental health to come back to the basics of how much we rest, how much we move and what we eat.
“For instance, a poor night’s sleep always makes everything worse, so exploring and implementing strategies to ensure you get a good, solid night’s rest is a great place to start.
“Exercise, too, is fundamental. Research shows it’s almost as effective as antidepressants in improving our mood and reducing the symptoms of clinical depression. I can’t state enough the importance of movement in our lives – sitting at a computer for eight hours without any kind of a walking break or a movement break is a recipe for really poor mental health at work.”
Dr Amantha Imber is an organisational psychologist, founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium and host of business podcast How I Work.
So how are you really? Dr Amantha Imber’s top tip:
- Start with sleep – it powers everything you do. “Really obsess over whether you’re getting a good restorative seven to eight hours a night. Even if you’ve got the most brilliant boss and workplace culture in the world, if you’re not getting enough sleep, you won’t function at your best and you’re at risk of all sorts of physical and mental issues.”
