Last month, Sean Tickle, Head of CyberGuard Technologies - OGL's cyber security division - was approached to feature in a podcast by H4unt3d Hacker (a podcast dedicated to discussing and sharing information around cyber security). Sean's episode features lots of discussion around the industry in general, but towards the end of the podcast the topic turns towards the importance of mental health and how working within a stressful environment can lead to burnout and a decline in wellbeing.
At OGL it's something taken very seriously, and which Sean is a particular advocate of. Sean goes into detail about the importance of maintaining mental wellbeing – not just for himself, but also for those in his team. The recent pandemic may have helped to normalise the need to manage mental health in addition to physical health but there are still steps that everyone can take to ensure that they and their colleagues are managing to maintain their work-life balance, avoid burnout and be happier overall.
Some key strategies from Sean include:
- One-to-one sessions and general catch-ups with others; simply to check everything is going well.
- Having a flexible work-life balance; this includes working from home and prioritising personal needs as and when the situation arises.
- Mindfulness; taking time for yourself and recognising when you may be “burnt out” and in need of some time away from work stressors.
- Recognise the signs in others; it’s important to care for yourself but it’s also important to let others know that you care about them too. You never know what someone else is going through, and simply starting the discussion could be all that someone needs to improve their day.
Sean also recommends the Medito Foundation app, which includes a specific section around mindfulness in the workplace, including guided meditations and courses for improving sleep, productivity and stress/anxiety management. More information can be found here.
We all can benefit from taking steps to improve our mental health and sometimes it can be difficult to recognise when we might not be coping as well as we would like. Sometimes, a problem shared over a coffee and a chat is a problem halved.
The full podcast can be found below (discussions around mental health start around 1:06:00):
