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Sleep-care Practices for Night Shift Remote Workers

Sleep-care Practices for Night Shift Remote Workers

  • rs_ph_website

  • April 20, 2021

  • 4:34 am

  • 0 comments

Think about all the key benefits of having great sleep: better physical recovery, improved memory, more energy in the morning, better skin, and the list goes on. We can all agree that a good night’s sleep empowers the body to recover and lets you wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day. Despite knowing all the benefits of sleep, are we truly placing emphasis on sleep-care? According to Sleep Foundation, Adults between 18 and 64 need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Adults over 65 need 7-8 hours. The CDC reports that only 1 in 3 adults do not get enough sleep. In fact a recent study says that the Philippines is the top 4 country in the world that lacks sleep.

As remote workers, one must question whether we place the right value on the quality of sleep. With the rising trend of “self-care” and indulgences indoors, we may forget that with self-care comes good quality sleep. 

Interesting Facts about Sleep

Did you know that we spend about 2 hours dreaming each time we sleep? Much of that has to do with the cycles of sleep we go through. Normally, a person goes through four to six sleep cycles and one of them is R.E.M. which takes up to 20-25% of sleep. We have light sleep, deep sleep, REM, and Awake Times that interchange between the cycles. During these sleep cycles our body temperature drops and so does our metabolism. Sleep aids in our circadian rhythm or our body clock, as for night shift workers this can pose as a challenge since there are plenty ways our sleep cycle can be disrupted because of our work schedule. 

Importance of Good Sleep

Sleep irregularities are associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, and anxiety. By developing a consistent sleep routine, we lessen the chances of developing these ailments. 

Dos and Don’ts for Developing A Healthy Sleep Routine

There are plenty of ways to practice Yoga and Ayurveda. Uniquely, the situation that calls for workplace practice is unfamiliar with some. Here are some ways you can bring this tag-team into your work for a more balanced experience:

DON’T bring technology to the bedroom. 

That harmful blue light from computer and cellphone screens makes it difficult to fall asleep because it tricks your body into believing it is the daytime due to the brightness of the screens. For night shift workers it is all too difficult to stay away from electronics or sleep in dark rooms if we sleep during sunrise. One way to help us is to stay away from blue light screens 2-3 hours before sleeping and if it is already daytime, use thick black out curtains for you to sleep better. 

DON’T drink caffeine near your sleep time.

Before your night shift take time to demarcate the time you want to go to sleep. Avoid drinking anything with caffeine at least 5 hours before your intended bedtime. Caffeine is a stimulant, you will find that no matter how tired you are, having caffeine in your system will still keep your mind wide awake even while you sleep. 

DON’T drink alcohol before sleeping.

Drinking alcohol can affect your REM cycle and cause you to suddenly wake up in the middle of sleep. While alcohol does act oppositely from caffeine, it does affect the quality of our sleep drastically. After alcohol is metabolized, the sleep-inducing effects are reversed and give you quite a hard time trying to get through the night. 

DON’T go to bed hungry.

Going to bed hungry will only prompt you to wake up because of a noisy, empty stomach, grab a midnight or mid-sleep snack and end up having to stay awake longer just to digest the food. Always keep your tummy with enough fuel to go through the night without the incessant rumbling.

DO maintain a regular sleep schedule to Regulate your Circadian Rhythm. 

For night shift workers, it does not matter what time you sleep, it is the consistency of this set schedule that matters. You need to keep your sleeping patterns consistent to maintain a level of normalcy with your body clock. Maintaining one’s circadian rhythm (body clock) is crucial to overall health and brain performance. 

DO meditate.

Meditation before going to bed helps. It aids in clearing the mind, especially if coupled with deep breathing exercises.

DO set up your environment for sleep.

Set your sleeping environment well. Keep the temperature cool. Have the room be completely dark, if you are on night shift and sleep in the mornings, make sure you have thick black out curtains to block out the sun. Make sure the room is devoid of noise and clear out any unnecessary clutter, clean bed sheets has also been proven to induce better sleep. 

At Rocket Station, we place value in the health and wellness of each teammate and seek to empower them to lead a healthy lifestyle. This April, join our community by signing up in our newsletter to read more interesting articles about health and wellness and how it can help you at work. 

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All Health and Wellness

The Challenge: Managing love and work while at home

The Challenge: Managing love and work while at home

  • rs_ph_website

  • February 15, 2021

  • 5:00 pm

  • 0 comments

Haven’t we all been there? When work gets intertwined within the same space as romantic relationships it becomes very challenging. While working from home has a lot of perks–we don’t have to deal with the daily traffic or pollution, we stay away from office politics, we stress less over meetings with difficult clients, we develop a sense of autonomy and comfort.

No matter how we’ve adjusted to it, working from home has become the new normal.

This becomes quite the challenge when the home you are supposed to share with your significant other suddenly becomes a workspace. The dynamics shift entirely. Changes in your roles as partners become apparent. The shifting of house chores to accommodate one’s working schedule can cause a lot of tension and there now is an occasional lack of mental presence in the relationship which was not there prior to working from home.

Working from home with your significant other places in pressures that are new, specific, and unique. So, we’re here to give you sustainable and practical advice on how you can best manage this challenge.

Set Intentional Time Together. Nothing is more important than scheduling a “we” time apart from your “me” time to help nourish the relationship. This means being 100% present. Turn off your laptops, put down your phones, play whatever playlist that evokes nostalgia and just spend complete uninterrupted time together without mentioning the topic of work. According to the Gottman Institute, couples who set intentional time to connect are happier, have their needs met and are more content versus couples who don’t.

Do small gestures of love often. In this day and age, if it’s not grand, it’s not worth talking about. Relationship experts digress by saying that it isn’t the grand gestures that makes people fall deeply in love with someone. It’s the small consistent gestures of love that lead up to that grand gesture that makes it all the more meaningful. Examples of small gestures can be offered by doing the dishes even if you’re not assigned on that day. It could be cooking their favorite breakfast food just the way they like it. It can also be just taking time to tell them how much you appreciate them. These little things matter.

Have a dedicated workspace. If possible, get a room. It is crucial to set your mind in work-mode at a specific nook in your home. This helps you affiliate work with only that specific area. This strategy programs your mind to leave work in that dedicated room or workspace, focusing more on your significant other when you step out of the room, literally.

Take equal responsibility for house tasks. One of the main reasons why couples argue is because there is an imbalance in the splitting of house chores. Letting go of your responsibilities and having your partner do it all “because you have work” is a recipe for disaster. The goal isn’t to exhaust yourself with chores and

work, the goal is to show up in other ways and carry the load. A good example is if you can’t walk the dog anymore on weekdays offer to do so on weekends. If you can’t cook dinner anymore try to order take out. If you must work undisturbed and can’t really offer a helping hand, wake up early the next day and prepare for them their coffee just the way they like it.

Fight fair. Fighting fair is a skill. It’s a muscle that requires practice to grow. Like almost every relationship that has been, experiencing conflicts is inevitable. The importance is how you manage the conflict. Fighting fair is learning not to be defensive. Fighting fair is not showing contempt or casting blame. Fighting fair is being able to listen when it matters and withdraw when the emotions become too much to bear. Fighting fair acknowledges the unmet needs and tries to find ways to best meet them.

Express Admiration and Appreciation. Research supports that gratitude practiced in intimate relationships increases relationship connection and action the day after it is expressed, both for the giver and receiver. Gratitude is mutually beneficial. You can put gratitude into your routine by either writing an appreciation letter, providing daily expressions on gratitude or having a dinnertime gratitude practice.

At the end of the day, sharing work and managing intimate relationships while at home can be challenging but it is not impossible to manage. This February, Rocket Station put focus on the relationships that surround us and how we can make them better. If these tips work for you feel free to sign up in our newsletter to keep up with more interesting articles.

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6 Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Season while Flying Solo

6 Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Season while Flying Solo

  • Rocket Station

  • February 8, 2021

  • 1:45 pm

  • 0 comments

Ah, to be single or simply on your own during Valentines can be woeful for some, for others, it is a day to celebrate singlehood and catch up with all those romcoms airing during the month of hearts. We believe that there is no such thing as love without self-love. No matter your relationship status, or if you are simply alone this season due to the pandemic, we have interesting activities you can use to develop you and your relationships. 

For ladies, have Virtual Galentines Movie Nights

Kick off the month of hearts scheduling movie nights with your girls while at home. You can have Watch Together events on Netflix and different online platforms. The ladies you celebrate Galentines movie nights with do not have to be single, they can be ladies in an LDR relationship or other women who just want to catch up with old friends. I suggest whipping up some wine and bubbly while you’re at it to keep the spirit of Galentines alive!

Plan a Workout Regimen

Alone on Valentines? No problem! Keep the month of hearts filled with endorphins to boost positivity the entire season. Have a work-out schedule that works for you and do this with an activity that you like. Is it full-body Pilates? Do you like indoor cycling? Or maybe some hardcore home work-outs to buff up your physique? The possibilities are endless. Researchers state that there are plenty of hormones the brain releases when it comes to love, and endorphins is one of them! Endorphins are the “happy hormones” responsible for lifting one’s mood and eliminating stress. Get those dumb bells, booty bands and sneakers ready!

Journal or do Crafts with Interesting Prompts 

Invest in your alone time by writing down your thoughts on paper with interesting journal prompts or by boosting your creativity by crafting something new. Studies show that journaling about what you are grateful for and keeping a diary about your day can help release anxieties and lessen stress. Creativity also boosts the mind’s ability to remain focused at a certain task at hand, it also aids you in developing your perspective of design and beauty. For the season of hearts, remember that you are safe in the pages of your journals and sketchbooks. 

Plan Game Night

Game night can be enjoyed alone, or with the company of friends. For people who love to play console games, flying solo with pizza and a drink of choice would be the perfect way to cap off Valentines. For others, a little co-op wouldn’t hurt. If you aren’t a gamer yourself, trusty, old-fashioned card games usually do the trick. Have a Zoom call with your friends and have an online poker game. If you’re not feeling too competitive, some ice breaker card decks can be utilized to build rapport with your friends. 

Virtual Cook Off or Bake Off

Valentines is about all the sweetness love can bring; so why not share that in baking your own sweets and sending it over as a blind taste test among friends? Best cookie/chocolate truffle/cake wins! This can also be applied to cooking dishes. Have everyone cook their best dish that reminds them of romance and send it over to friends. The winner will be decided by blind taste test! 

Send Love Letters to Loved Ones 

While all the above-mentioned activities may seem fun, nothing can replace the old-fashioned way of expressing love and affection other than letters written in long-hand to loved ones. When you write to people and tell them how much you love them, how much you appreciate them, and how grateful you are for them, research says your relationship with this person improves. It improves regardless of who gives or receives the gesture. It’s a win-win, mutually beneficial endeavor. Pick up that pen and start writing away if you want to improve or build a relationship with someone. 

This February, Rocket Station places emphasis on the relationships that build us. Be it with our significant others, our families, our work mates, or ourselves; we pay tribute to the connections that make us who we are. For more interesting tidbits and articles, feel free to sign up in our newsletter.  

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All Careers Leadership

Filling the Void: Leading with Empathy while working from home

Filling the Void: Leading with Empathy while working from home

  • Rocket Station

  • February 1, 2021

  • 5:49 pm

  • 0 comments

When in elementary school, I remembered having favorite teachers, and they were all different in their own way. Back then, I couldn’t find common ground as to why I liked them so much in spite of their differences. One favorite teacher had a particularly good knack of making everything fun and exciting. Another favorite was so detailed and knowledgeable in her subject you could almost see the information radiating from her mind.

My most favorite teacher was an old man who patiently taught us TLE classes and would never tire of answering our questions; even the nonsensical ones. No matter how different they were, there was something about them collectively that had me wanting to connect with them more as a child.

Is there a secret sauce to leading? Is there a way to let people migrate at your influence? As I grew older and worked with different mentors, slowly discovered the singular factor that made them all respected, loved, and productive educators: EMPATHY.

I remembered that despite their differences, they commonly shared an innate sense of compassion and willingness to understand the plights of their students. They did this in their own unique way, and for some reason, the students responded in large numbers. Now, imagine the impact this would have on adults in a workplace set up.

What is Empathy, really?

Empathy is the unique ability to utterly understand the situations and life stories of others as if you were to live it yourself. Empathy is the act of being so emotionally aware; you can feel emotional energies emanating from people and how it affects their behavior and their perception. It is, more succinctly, being able to understand the needs of others. Empathy is a powerful trait that helps you see perspectives that are different from your own and therefore, as a leader, enables you to make more holistic decisions.

Why is Empathy Important at Work?

Having an environment that pushes empathy allows people to feel that they are in an environment that is safe and open for positive feedback. It helps peoplen respond better to constructive criticism, and encourages collaboration. Empathy allows us freedom to make mistakes because we know we will not be unreasonably blamed for them. It encourages an atmosphere of acceptance and shared humanity. Most importantly, empathy, when used with leadership, can act as a conduit for motivation and efficient needs assessment.

Leadership and Empathy

The importance of empathic leadership cannot be overstated enough, especially nowadays where people are all isolated and many are working from home. Having a leader that acts as an overall head giving the most direct and clear orders is not enough to develop positive team culture. One needs to really connect and build relationships with their team in a way that is authentic. Leading with empathy boosts overall team satisfaction by virtue of motivating people based on needs that must be met. Empathic leaders become catalysts for change. They are aware of the needs of their team. They are usually the firstm people to know if there is something wrong with one of their team members. They can explore and respond to the problems team members face in a way that is proactive, thus finding more solutions. Being an empathic leader also garners respect and admiration from those they lead.

How does one become more empathic?

One of the key traits of expressing empathy is learning how to listen actively. earn to understand the perceptions and thought processes of others by truly being interested in them and what their needs are at work, without bias. Be vigilant about your goal in expressing empathy. Take moments to step back, reassess yourself and understand whether you are truly listening, absorbing, and understanding the person you are conversing with. Learning how to understand people at a deeper level takes time and practice. The more you practice, the more natural you become at it.

In a nutshell

Empathy in the workplace as in life is one of the fundamental tools people need to connect. This February, Rocket Station focuses on the topic of building and nurturing relationships. How else better to contribute to this topic other than leading with empathy? If you like our articles and want to read more, feel free to subscribe and get the freshest insights from our blog.

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All Careers Health and Wellness Leadership

5 ways to bond with your remote team

5 ways to bond with your remote team

  • Rocket Station

  • February 1, 2021

  • 3:09 pm

  • 0 comments

Who knew that years into the future we would face a life-threatening pandemic? Suddenly, everything we know changed drastically, and yes; this includes the way we work too. The threat of the COVID-19 virus has almost every company investing in a work from home set-up. While many have spear -headed the movement by applying virtual workspaces, developing remote work tasks, and setting up online meeting protocols; it still does not change the fact that bonding with team members has taken a distant turn.

A study released in 2007 states that while working from home can increase a sense of autonomy and boost overall work performance, its main challenge is bringing the team closer to work on overall tasks together. The detachment ram real life work culture can cause individuals to feel excluded, feel like there is favoritism, or in extreme cases, that their colleagues are conspiring to work against their intended goal. Developing this can cause festering of negative emotions and loss of teamwork, the presence of which is crucial in meeting deadlines and in achieving overall project success.

To prevent this from happening, Rocket Station believes it is important to develop regular team building activities. Monthly team building efforts are necessary in establishing a positive team culture. The importance in building a cohesively integrated network in the team is vital for overall team satisfaction. It aids in alleviating the negative interpersonal effects and intends to fully develop relationships that are profound and meaningful.

So how do we keep things lively and unique while building substantial relationships within the team on a monthly basis? Team managers are more likely to scratch their heads thinking of ways to keep the team engaged versus getting them together. In the age of the internet and hyperstimulation, the online environment becomes exceedingly difficult to work up for over -worked adults. Luckily for you, we have listed the five more exciting activities you can use to amplify your religious team bonding in a way that is not just motivating but also meaningful.

1

Provide an environment to share similar interests.

Creating a channel separate from work, where team members can just share what they are reading, watching, or debating about can make people feel a sense of oneness. Focusing on where we are similar versus where we are different makes people believe that they are in an environment where they can freely share what they like. Some companies have introduced Slack as one of their main platforms in establishing remote work culture. Other companies turn to Facebook and other social media platforms to develop this necessary area of team bonding.

2

Have the team discuss a shared topic.

An interesting activity would be asking team members to watch a movie, start reading a book, an article, watch a documentary or a TED talk and have them discuss freely during team building meetings what they think. This establishes closeness by hearing what other people have to say outside of issues involving work.

3

Prepare Ice Breaker Questions and use Question Card Decks.

You can also generate a question for the day that entices thought provoking answers or just a simple icebreaker question such as: “Are you a coffee or tea kind of person? If neither, why not?”. This provides an opportunity for people who want to connect but do not know how to connect, start conversations. We encourage the use of question decks that stimulate conversations. These decks are more often created to start conversations and develop relationships. Once the team members get into the flow of the card game, the rest of the conversations are up to them. Being able to share and gather knowledge about teammates not only humanizes them it also helps us see where we all are alike.

4

Do online co-op games of any nature.

Try working as a team in achieving an intended goal in online games. Someteams can choose to play in sports games or a team bingo game where prizes can be split among the winning group. This builds the value of trust and reliance in your team without placing the element of work. How can we best apply this? Set a “play time”, whether during break time or during team building activities and make sure to have everyone’s investment in the game. When the game is done don’t stop there! Discuss this in team chatting channels and plot your next big goal.

5

Have a shared meal online.

Ah, this can be one of the most accessible and easiest things you can do to bolster a psychological sense of oneness. Remotely, this is doable by ordering the same take-out meal the team will agree upon and have everyone eat this during the set team building. Studies have shown that having people eat the same meal can make this group feel closer. It is mainly subconscious and psychological. Shankar Vedantam, a social scientist, chimes in during a podcast, and says that the more people eat the same kind of food the more it increases agreeability of the relationship. Food can shape trust and cooperation, especially if you eat the same kind of dish. The commonality in all these strategies is seeking human connection and the similarities we all share. While working from home may pose as a beneficial set-up today, it does not discount the challenges. This February, Rocket Station sees the value in every relationship that is built. We seek to be part of a community that seeks to capitalize on human connection and the enhancement of lives. The online community platform is an amazing tool where like minded people can break bread together, talk about things that matter and engage in meaningful conversations.

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Success, accomplishments, and consequent rewards are things every person and company strives for. However, it is easy to observe that not everyone manages to reach these goals. In the same way, not everyone who gets these goals are equally happy about the results. Why is this though? There are countless possible reasons, but a fundamental idea that is quickly forgotten and dismissed is having the correct values.

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