How To Beat The Winter Doldrums

Happy New Year.

So much has happened in local, national, and world events lately. A lot of it is disheartening. So how do we keep our team and staff engaged and productive during the dark days of winter?

I’m a dentist’s daughter. I learned the importance of preventive care at an early age. That’s why I love teaching motivational and mindset techniques that work so well to prevent and relieve discouragement, burnout and stress.

Here are just a few you can try:

Make your employees aware of the effects of less daylight. Encourage them to set up their workspaces to bring in more light and to get outside when they can. More “natural” light will increase their mood and result in better productivity for your company. Here are links with options for all budgets: https://www.health.com/depression/best-light-therapy-boxes and https://www.cnet.com/health/best-sad-light-therapy-lamps-for-2021/

People tend to exercise less in the winter due to weather and lately, the pandemic. Create a “workout” contest where you track participants’ exercise time or steps. Have regular check-ins. Make it fun! Offer fun prizes to create momentum. This contest will help keep your employees engaged, healthy, and happier. As a bonus, it reduces that “pandemic 10.”

Make sure your employees feel appreciated. The cold of January hits hard after the festivities and warmth of December’s holidays. Plan on some sort of team-building event. Covid-friendly ideas could include a book club, holding “coffee” talks, starting/ending each meeting with a new routine (recipe, jokes, photo or cooking contest, etc.).

There are many ways to create an inspired and highly motivated team to take an organization’s performance and engagement to the next level. I’d be happy to hear from you about your team’s challenges and talk to you about how a workshop or series of sessions could help overcome them. Email my team at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.

Be Brilliant,