Wave Worldwide empowers our people to balance work with personal commitments and holidays, enabling them to work from anywhere. It is one of the elements of our Wavie culture that helps to ensure a better work-life balance for our people – something that we know is so important for good mental health.
As we shine a spotlight on mental health this month, and the well-being of our people, one of our Wavies, Tatiana Dewhurst, shared her recent experience with Wave Worldwide, one of our flexible working benefits:
'After a pretty full-on few months, I was feeling like I needed a bit of a re-set so decided to book a little trip up to the re-set capital, Byron Bay.
Not wanting to completely switch off from reality (or use all my annual leave) and forget who I was, I decided to use some of my 'Wave World Wide' allowance. I’d already used some when I was in the UK in July, however, this was a slightly more relaxing experience - no 4 am wake-ups or my Mum constantly asking me what I was doing.
How can you re-set and chill when you’re still working, I hear you ask? To be honest, I wasn’t sure, but I think your environment has a big part to play in it.
Working from a beautiful Airbnb, away from the day-to-day of my normal life (wake up, gym, shower, walk the dog, feed the dog, feed myself) gave me the relaxation I needed. I wasn’t pressured on time. I didn’t have the day-to-day tasks of either being at home or commuting to work, so my time in the morning was purely for me. Yes, I still walked my dog, but it was on a beautiful beach watching the sunrise whilst having a coffee, not thinking about the 9 million things I needed to do at home.
Fortunately, Byron is a small enough place where my lunch breaks were spent exploring, beaching, or shopping – it’s amazing what you can fit in a lunch break!
My partner and I had the evenings to explore more of the local area and eat out – something I love to do but usually reserve for holidays or weekends. Wave Worldwide helped me recharge some pretty flat batteries and spend some quality time with my partner, while still cracking on with some key P&C projects and supporting my team.
Having the flexibility to work anywhere gave me the opportunity to re-focus on what’s important in my life – ME!'
So, what is the link between flexibility at work and positive mental health? This great article from the Happiness Index sums up some of the key reasons why work-life balance is so important, including lower levels of stress, fewer burnouts, and more mindful work! In addition, research by Aviva confirms that balance and flexibility have become one of the most important elements for employees.
Want more tips on good mental health and maintaining a positive work-life balance? Check out our blog ‘A Better Me’ from our EAP partner, Select Wellness, where Camilla Thompson shares some tips and tricks to cope with the high-stress environment we live in.
