Lydia Di Francesco, MBA, CWHP-A’s Post

🔎 A fascinating study on workplace productivity reveals the significant impact of interruptions on our daily tasks. Here are the key findings: • Researchers conducted a lab experiment simulating typical office work (answering emails) • Participants were divided into two groups: uninterrupted and interrupted (with phone calls and IMs) • Using NASA's workload scale, the interrupted group showed markedly higher levels of: - Stress - Frustration - Mental effort - Time pressure - Overall mental workload So what does this mean for our modern, hyper-connected workplaces? • Are we sacrificing quality for the illusion of productivity? • How much is constant task-switching really costing us in terms of well-being and output? • Could creating 'interruption-free' zones or times boost our efficiency? These results highlight the importance of creating focused work environments and managing interruptions effectively. As professionals, we should be mindful of how frequent task-switching affects our productivity and well-being. How do you manage interruptions in your workday? Share your strategies below! 👇

😮 I don't have great self-control.... . . . when it comes to technology. Which is why I set up boundaries for myself. What do my boundaries look like? • Laptop is closed by 7pm with an exception for evening board meetings. • Phone goes on DND at 8:30pm AND I put it away to charge for the evening. Family and friends know they can't reach me after 8:30pm. Note: family members can override by calling. • NO noise notifications except phone ringer. • Only phone notifications (silent) are for text and whatsapp. I recently observed a behavior where I'll check my emails later in the evening even though not many people are emailing me. So I decided to create a new boundary so I can stop myself from checking. No checking email after 7pm. I even wrote it in my signature line. And I'm figuring out a way to block me from checking on my phone. Here's what it looks like –  𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺/𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴: 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 7𝘢𝘮-7𝘱𝘮 𝘌𝘛. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. I’m sharing these as examples of what helps me. What you need or want is likely different and you should do what works for you. What about you? What technology/communication boundaries do you have? What ones do you need? #workplacewellness #workplacewellbeing #boundaries

"Don't work to earn a rest. Work from a place of rest." – Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith These words continue to have a profound impact on me, as someone who is a type A personality and a recovering perfectionist. It's taken me years (and I *still* need to practice self-talk), but I've learned that spinning my wheels and pushing through "the tired" is waaaaaay less effective than taking a break/rest. It's so counter-intuitive to our current hustle culture, but if we look at the burnout stats (hint: they keep climbing), obviously the hustle culture is NOT working. During this workshop I gave on The Secret to Recharging and Re-energizing, I shared Dr. Dalton-Smith's brilliant concept of 7 types of rest. They are: physical, mental, emotional, social, sensory, creative, and spiritual. I can GUARANTEE that you need sensory rest. >> Your challenge for today, should you choose to accept it, is to take TWO moments at some point where you have sensory rest. That means closing your eyes, listening to nothing. You could do this for 1 minute or longer. In your office or anywhere else (HOT TIP: nature is great for this). Hands up 🤚 if you're in! #sensoryrest #workplacewellness #workplacewellbeing #wellbeingculture #speaker #wellnessspeaker

❓ Should compassion be a KPI for leadership? I think so! More and more, compassionate leadership is emerging as a crucial factor in fostering employee wellbeing and organizational success. 💛 Here's why it matters: - Compassionate leaders create psychologically safe environments, encouraging open communication and innovation - They prioritize employee wellbeing, leading to increased job satisfaction and productivity - This leadership style promotes a positive workplace culture, reducing stress and burnout 🤔 Reflection: How can you incorporate more compassion into your leadership style? Consider these actions: 1. Practice active listening with your team members (listen to understand, not respond) 2. Show genuine interest in your employees' personal and professional growth 3. Adjust workplace practices to positively impact employees' physical and mental health Remember, small acts of compassion can have a big impact. What's one compassionate action you can take today to support your team's wellbeing? #workplacewellbeing #workplacewellness #compassionateleadership #leadershipskills #leadershipdevelopment #wellbeingculture

😴 If you've been following me for a while you'll know I'm a huge fan of naps and that I have a strict bed time. One of the things I learned from my burnout was the extreme importance of sleep and physical rest. I will leave social events "early" in order to get to bed on time. And I'm totally ok with it. 😁 The other day while I was giving a workshop on energizing and recharging one of the participants shared that she used sleep stories to help her fall asleep. These are basically adult bedtime stories. 😆 💛 The idea is that it's a "boring" story that lulls you to sleep. Almost like white noise. She shared a podcast called "Nothing Much Happens" 🤣 LOL I love that title. Do you listen to bedtime stories or gentle music or a meditation to help you fall asleep? If so, share your favorites! If not, maybe give it a whirl. #sleepstrategies #wellness #wellbeingspeaker

💓 What are you doing to bring you JOY this weekend? 💓 The longer I work in the wellness space, the more I realize how much joy is missing from people's lives... and that it's such an important component to wellbeing. I've learned to make a conscious effort to add elements of joy in my daily life. I'd love to hear what brings you joy and how you'll do that this weekend. Share below! I'll be spending time outside in the (hopeful) sun and seeing friends. #joy #wellbeing

"I didn't want that to end!" "My breathing slowed" "Tension I didn't even know I had started to drain away" ^^ These are just some of the comments after doing a short relaxation exercise as part of my workshop 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑬𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 that I did for the Social Security Tribunal of Canada | Tribunal de la sécurité sociale du Canada . This experiential workshop is one of my favorites to give because participants practice a whole bunch of exercises/activities and see for themselves the 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 to calm and relax their body. In the photo, they are showing their "art", which was an exercise to give the brain a break. My fall calendar is booking up fast, so DM me if you're interested in bringing me into your workplace for this or other wellness workshops. Let's SHARE: What's 1 activity that you do (or want to do) during the work day that helps energize you? ( ☕ doesn't count) #workplacewellness #workplacewellbeing #wellbeingculture

(PERI)MENOPAUSE..... Most of us (women and men alike) react like this: 🙈 🙉 For younger women, we know it's coming but it seems awful, so we'd rather not talk about it and maybe hope (lol) it won't happen to us for a long time. For women going through it, often they don't attribute many of their symptoms to perimenopause and suffer in silence. For men, anything related to menstrual cycles makes them uncomfortable, generally speaking. THANKFULLY, things are changing. Perimenopause is being talked about a lot more, in the media and even in workplaces! In the last 6 months I've attended 4 workshops on perimenopause to increase my own knowledge and understanding. Last night I was privileged to attend a talk by Dr. Ardelle Piper on perimenopause. I learned even more about this period of time for women and it reinforced the notion that more workplaces need to educate themselves and create ways to support women going through perimenopause. I'm curious, at your workplace, is perimenopause being talked about more? Are there discussions around how to support women? If so, what do those supports look like? Let's keep the conversation going!

Here’s the truth: Creating a thriving workplace culture isn't a sprint; it's a marathon – and like any good runner, you need to pace yourself and adjust your strategy along the way. 🏃♂️ 🏃♀️ In the sixth module of LeadWell, we explore common challenges that arise during culture change and provide practical ways to assess progress and determine next steps. 🌟 Some Insights: Anticipate Challenges: Understand the potential roadblocks and resistance that may arise during the culture change process. Measure Progress: Develop metrics and methods to assess the impact of your efforts on employee wellbeing and team performance. Because let's be honest, data is the language of success, and without it, you're just guessing in the dark. Adapt and Iterate: Use the insights gained to refine your approach, celebrate successes, and identify areas for continued improvement. 🔑Key Outcomes: - Learn strategies for overcoming common roadblocks and resistance to change - Develop a framework for measuring progress and assessing the impact of your efforts - Gain the ability to adapt and refine your approach based on data-driven insights By the end of this module, you'll have a comprehensive toolkit to lead the charge in creating a workplace environment that prioritizes wellbeing, fosters psychological safety, and empowers your team to thrive BOTH personally and professionally. What has been your biggest challenge in creating a culture of wellbeing within your team? Share your experiences in the comments below, and let's learn from each other's journeys! #wellbeingculture #workplacewellbeing #workplacewellness #leadershipdevelopment #leadershiptraining