At risk of using a very over-used word, our Wellbeing and Sustainability team has ‘pivoted’ in response to our latest move to remote working. Below you can see the online wellness activities and opportunities available while you work from home.
- Sign up for 5-week ‘Take a breather’ free course starting next Tuesday evening via zoom. Each 45 minutes session will focus on different breathing techniques – both the theory and the practice.
- Join Unitec’s Walking and running club – an encouraging but competitive bunch of people who love to pound the pavement!
- For workouts at home that suit all fitness levels, check out suggestions from our staff. And if you want to specifically target the stiff neck and shoulders, try some of these yoga moves.
- Block out your Tuesday lunch times for Hula – live session with Taj, soak up some of her positivity and high energy. And while you are at it, why not invite your bubble to join?
- For People Leaders: Wellness bites for your weekly team meetings – a 10 minute online activity facilitated by our wellbeing champions, focused on alleviating anxiety people are feeling right now. Send us an invite to your team meeting to connect@unitec.ac.nz and they will coordinate the rest.
In the words of our staff, below we share some reflections from the March lockdown… you might find some of them ring true for your current experience. This second time around is the opportunity to put into practice lessons learned while also reflecting on the differences this time around. You might find it helpful to write down how you’re feeling about working remotely, and what is and isn’t working, so you can reflect back and do some things differently once we move down the alert levels again.
“Being able to take micro-breaks (i.e. 15 minutes) to do things like laundry, cleaning, prepping food etc. meant that I had more free time outside of work, as chores had already been taken care of. On-campus, it’s the equivalent of taking a walk or getting a coffee but I could do more with my free time at home. It also took the pressure off always having to physically present myself a certain way (I know Unitec is relaxed compared to most companies, but even so, it was nice)”
“Being able to chunk work at different times of the day as energy allowed – this was good to be efficient and productive, rather than sitting during a pre-determined range of time.
Needing to have some boundaries around this timing though, to have some markers between work and home life “
“Nice to be able to look out into the street and not sit under artificial light and air con. I do miss having colleagues around to quickly ask a question to, so returning to campus was great form that aspect.”
“1. Efficiency: I felt more efficient by working from home. I currently sit in building 110 and the open space is generally busy with visitors and very noisy. Working from home provided a quiet space to focus and get the work done faster.
2. Organised meetings and deeper discussion: I also felt that during meetings people were more organised, listening each other’s opinions/feedback, and the discussion was richer. Recording the meetings allowed me to listen to the discussion and participate instead of being busy taking notes/minutes.
3. As I do tend to work more and longer hours from home, I allowed myself to take short walks and breaks. When I am on-campus I find it very difficult to stop working and go for a walk or do sports. Working from home allowed me to be more active.”
“Much more can be done at home than previously thought. Many face-to-face meetings do not need to be face-to-face with associated travel to campus. In the past, I spent too much time “delivering” content that students can access for themselves. I need to shift my teaching even more to developing activities that cause students to use and question content. I need to analyse what types of students struggle in the in line environment and explore how this can be addressed.”
“I should set my work place up properly if I plan to work from home regularly. In the first two weeks, I had suffered neck, shoulder and back pain. After that, a monitor and laptop stand did help a lot. It is better to dress up and make up if necessary just to let your body and mind being aware that you are working. I should set time for physical exercising, may be just several minutes, to refresh and relax.”
“Need to make sure that I have a set of objectives for the day’s work. Need to turn outlook off sometimes for an hour or so to avoid interruptions. Need to ensure that students are actually present (and paying attention) during Zoom classes. High efficiency when working at home is only achieved when children are at school.”