Taking care of healthy habits is one of the few investments with guaranteed returns – including well-being, increased productivity and satisfaction in various areas of life. But why are some of these habits so hard to implement?
On the one hand, we have physical needs, such as regular activity or balanced nutrition, and on the other – cognitive and emotional factors that often affect our motivation and consistency in taking healthy actions. The latter often become the cause of subsequent failures. Fortunately, our mentality can also be used to help both ourselves and others (including employees) build healthy habits.
Understand thoughts to build habits
One model to help develop healthy habits is the ABC Model by A. Ellis, which consists of:
action,
beliefs,
consequences.
The model describes how different situations trigger automatic thoughts, affecting emotions, actions and physiological reactions. For example, the belief that one is not predisposed to physical activity (often brought on by past experiences), can be a barrier to regularly doing sports. Changing such beliefs and implementing small but systematic actions allow you to gradually become accustomed to activity and build new habits on a healthy foundation. It is also worth regularly reviewing your beliefs – you will naturally have different attitudes toward physical activity at different stages of life, and systematically identifying thinking traps that don’t serve you will help improve your relationship with physical activity or healthy eating.
A good solution to work on beliefs would be to start therapy or contact a professional psychologist. Employers can support their teams by facilitating/subsidising such consultations.
Healthy habits at work
It is worth remembering that building habits that serve us should not be limited to leisure time. Rather, it must be a routine incorporated into work life as well – after all, we spend a significant part of our day at work. So it is worth promoting simple, yet effective solutions to teams. Here are some examples.
1. Exercise snack
Staying in one position for a long time (e.g. sitting in front of the computer) has a negative impact on health, so it is a good idea to take short breaks regularly (preferably every hour!) for an “exercise snack” – doing some exercises, stretching or a short walk. These breaks have a number of important benefits: in addition to affecting physical health (e.g. reducing lumbar spine pain), they help relieve work-induced tension and support mental health. Physical activity is also a tool to counteract occupational burnout. It lowers anxiety and alleviates symptoms of depression [1].
2. Pomodoro, but for health
In building healthy habits, it is useful to leverage tools that we use every day to manage our time, such as the Pomodoro technique. Although in the original version it is used for tasks or projects, you can successfully alter it for the purpose of developing healthy habits. You can use the five-minute breaks between 25-minute work blocks in the Pomodoro method for, among other things:
exercise snack (physical activity),
drinking a glass of water (hydration),
a look out the window (visual hygiene),
a chat with colleagues (nurturing relationships).
Dividing the workday into blocks according to the Pomodoro method will also help you schedule breaks for regular, healthy meals, which can be helpful for people who struggle to eat regularly in the flurry of professional duties.
3. Technology support
In the 21st century, we have many tools available in our cell phones that can significantly support the building of healthy routines. Soon, as part of the MultiLife app, an AI-assistant will be able to offer you a number of solutions to optimise actions for your health, such as appropriate habits at specific times of the day. And there are already other ways to support health with a smartphone. For example, people who tend to forget (about regular hydration or vitamin D supplementation) can benefit from automatic reminders on their phones, set for the appropriate time or arrival at a specific location (such as the office). For at least a decade, we have also been able to use wearables, i.e. monitoring devices like smartwatches or smartrings.
Supporting healthy habits in employees
Healthy habits at work can also be successfully supported by employers, and companies are increasingly recognising the benefits of creating an organisational culture that embraces team well-being. Taking care of employee well-being can increase engagement, reduce absenteeism and create a friendly, supportive environment [2]. Here are key actions a company can take to support the building of healthy habits.
1. Activity and relaxation zones
Even the greatest incentives for a healthy lifestyle will not be effective until there is an infrastructure in the workplace that supports physical activity and relaxation. In addition to the health benefits, spending time together in motion also has important social functions: it builds bonds between employees and strengthens motivation to act. Introducing elements such as a relaxation zone, an exercise room or even bicycle parking fosters integration and has a positive impact on motivation and attitudes toward physical activity.
2. Supporting eating habits
Diet can be taken care of in the same way as activity: through proper infrastructure. If food vending machines – then filled with healthy drinks (mineral water) and snacks (e.g. nuts, fruits). Another good idea is fruit or vegetable days, which may have already lived to see memes about them, but are still an opportunity to promote a balanced diet. And finally, designating and arranging a place where the meals brought from home can be reheated and eaten without haste. All of this helps to implement dietary resolutions and turn them into habits.
3. Flexible working hours
Studies show that flexible working hours improve employees’ mental health [3]. The ability to customise work schedules allows employees to better manage their time, thus contributing to maintaining regular meals, systematic physical activity and recovery.
4. Health education
Organisations can also support the health of the team by offering workshops and consultations with specialists in various fields of lifestyle medicine: dietitians, trainers or coaches. Such expert support allows to better understand how to effectively implement healthy habits. Experts can help change employees’ attitudes toward health, and show them a whole range of proven methods. This type of health education can take place in live form: onsite in the office or online for hybrid employees, but also remotely by giving employees access to health education platforms.
New habits – existing life
Building healthy habits is a process that requires commitment and a conscious approach. When we want to incorporate new activities into the schedule, it is worth remembering that our existing lives and daily challenges are still there. Don’t use wishful thinking here – for example, just because you schedule your workout at a certain time won’t make all the other elements of your daily life line up favourably enough to approach the workout at full strength and peak motivation every time. Critically analysing one’s schedule, ensuring environmental support (e.g. from loved ones) and preparing a minimum plan for those worse moments will help avoid a return to old habits.
References:
Stuart J.H. Biddle, Simone Ciaccioni, George Thomas, Ineke Vergeer, Physical activity and mental health in children and adolescents: An updated review of reviews and an analysis of causality, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Volume 42, 2019.
Harter, J. (2020). Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams. Gallup Press.
Joyce K, Pabayo R, Critchley JA, Bambra C. Flexible working conditions and their effects on employee health and wellbeing. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010
