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Back-to-Business Reality Check: 3 Signs Your Workplace Mental Health Strategy Needs Updating Before the End of September

Summer's ending, routines are shifting, and if you're noticing these patterns in your workplace, it's time for some honest reflection...

🔴 Sign 1: Team Tiredness That Won't Shift Post-holiday fatigue should fade after a week or two. If it's lingering, your people might be running on empty before they even properly restart.

Quick Fix:

• Don't check holiday emails... Delete them! We spend hours going over emails that don't need our time or attention

• Check workloads. Sometimes we pile on "catch-up" work that actually creates more stress than the holiday relieved.

🔴 Sign 2: Increased Alcohol Chat Notice more "I need a drink" comments? Jokes about "wine o'clock" becoming earlier? When coping mechanisms shift towards alcohol, it's often an early indicator (the canary in the coal mine).

Quick Fix:

• Introduce alternative stress-busters. Walking meetings have become really popular with my clients.

• Breathing space in the diary. Stop back-to-back Teams meetings. You need 15 minutes (at least) between meetings.

🔴 Sign 3: The "Everything's Fine" Brigade When everyone insists they're "fine" but you can sense the underlying tension, that's your cue. Real wellness allows space for struggle.

Quick Fix:

• Model vulnerability. Share your own transition challenges.

• Give permission for honesty. (I can introduce you to the 'Thorn, Bud, Rose' team talk technique if you're interested!)

September is Coming Fast The autumn term, new projects, end-of-year pushes. If your mental health strategy was designed in January, it probably needs updating for the reality of where your team actually is right now.

Question for Leaders: When did you last ask your team how they're really doing? (Make this a question for week beginning 15th September)

Question for Everyone: What's one thing that would genuinely help you feel more supported as we head into autumn?