For my Playtime, I really wanted to explore and utilise all the employee benefits we have here at Ghost. When I first started I thought it was so great that Ghost, as a small company, provided a wellness subsidy. Lately, I have been letting it go straight to bills which really bugged me. Doing this Playtime activity was a really good opportunity to fix it.
Where did the inspiration to do what you did come from?
I really wanted to get back on the exercise wagon and this was a prime opportunity to ramp this up. This also gave me the opportunity to prioritise some “me time”. I decided that in order to get any impact from this activity, I would need to do some exercise at least three times a week.
I felt like I was in a bit of a hamster wheel going from work to kids then vice versa. I had that silly mother's guilt that I've been ignoring them all day. I can't jump off in the evening. In retrospect it was silly because I think I am a better mum now that I am prioritising a bit more “me time” and also have a good routine.
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How did you use the time and what did you do?
I used the monthly wellness subsidy on a yoga subscription so I can go as many times as I want. I used the playtime hours to do my yoga. I also used the professional development allowance for a positive psychology course. The goal was to use the Ghost benefits to move towards a more positive and healthy lifestyle and learn something new.
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How’d it go?
Getting settled in to yoga
I went to the local yoga spot called Kanuka Yoga. It’s this lovely place that’s covered in greenery and plants. They serve you delicious herbal tea when you arrive and it feels like a real sanctuary.
I just did a mix of strengthening and restorative classes as well as a ‘Yogalates’ class every Friday morning, which was my favourite. This was partly because the kids were at school and I don’t work on Fridays. If I were still operating under the old fashioned model of a 40hr work week I wouldn’t have this option so it just put me in a really good head space to start the weekend. I made sure I prioritised this time even when I would do work on Friday’s and keep the morning free.
Building great habits has great pay off
The yoga experience actually went really well. It started off like a bit of a chore to get out of the house and just do it, given that it was not originally part of my routine. However, once I got into it I began to really look forward to going to yoga. I ended up becoming pretty consistent. I averaged three sessions a week. Some weeks would be four visits and others maybe two, then also accounting for a few sicknesses in between.
Overall, this experience has also helped to ease my back and neck pain, leaving me feeling stronger and more flexible. I think after just three months I’ve built some really good habits and gotten into a good routine which I am planning to continue with moving forward.
Learning and growing
I’ve always been interested in psychology and ways to improve your overall well being. Some time ago this course from Harvard Medical School appeared in my inbox to which my interest was piqued. In summary, it talked about getting into the happiness flow to get you super engaged and absorbed both during work and leisure time.
There were some great discussions about positive psychology and how it’s focusing on strengths instead of weaknesses. Throughout the course they identified six key virtues that we often draw our strengths from: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. I learnt that it’s not just enough to know your strengths, you have to utilise them. This is something I’ve been working on quite proactively by making little tweaks within my everyday life. I was able to identify my strengths which are honestly, kindness, love of learning, fairness, and judgement.
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What did you learn along the way?
Balance is everything
One big takeaway was the importance of finding balance in everything. I had started this Playtime project with the intention of trying to find a better balance between the kids, work life, and personal “me time.” I learnt that prioritising “me time” has made me a nicer mum, and a better person overall. Now that I am more aware of my strengths in the sense that I am looking for ways to use them more actively.
The power of mindfulness
Mindfulness is a key element to happiness. This is all about grounding yourself in the here and now, not letting your mind wander into the past and future; which is always much easier said than done. This is something I am constantly working on. It’s common knowledge that meditation helps in training this muscle. However, if that isn’t your thing, then just try to focus on one task at a time and pay it your full attention. This is something that I thought could be applicable to us given that we can sometimes find ourselves juggling multiple tasks at a time.
Slowing down
I also learnt about the importance of slowing down. In the course they said that time affluence predicts happiness more than money affluence. This means thinking about ways to reduce the less enjoyable things that you’re doing everyday where possible. For example, I don’t need to check my inbox often throughout the day. Instead, I've been learning how to utilise the Slack communication features and in doing so I’ve adjusted all my notifications to better communicate my status throughout the day.
Self-awareness
One final takeaway was learning about the importance of self-awareness. This entails using strategies such as knowing your strengths to drive a keen sense of self-improvement and service to others. It’s in this that you end up giving more than receiving by directing much of that positive energy and focus towards others instead of just yourself.
