Striking a Healthy Balance

Hello ASP! Hard to believe it’s been another quarter. I’m sure you feel like the most recent newsletter was only last week. It’s amazing how quickly times flies, isn’t it? It’s this that I want to speak to you about. At least for me, a day whizzes by at light speed, and there is never time to finish it all. Sometimes it tires you right out. I know that at YYC, it is always busy—we are like bees in a hive when we are getting the job done. All well and good, but what I want to discuss is how important it is to disconnect after work as much as it is to be engaged while at work.

We have a wide range of duties that we must perform during each shift, and regular breaks are a must. Whether it be access control, patrolling, escorting, you name it, when at work, we need to be 100% switched on so we don’t cause any errors. It’s not an easy task, especially when duties pull us in multiple directions, when deadlines are on top of us, requests, additional taskings—it’s the nature of our jobs that we are always doing something and there is extremely little down time, and even then, there’s something that we can do.

When the whistle blows at the end of the day, I encourage you to relax, put the phone on silent, curl up with a good book, watch a tv show, play a game, coffee with friends, time with family—whatever it is you like to do that isn’t work, do it! Schedule a part of day during your rotation that allows you to step away; take that break and go meditate, go outside, breathe deeply and ground yourself. Disconnecting from the work world at the end of the day, and taking time to decompress is healthy, it promotes positive associations with your schedule and most importantly, it refreshes you.

The idea is that we need to do everything in moderation which goes for work as well. I say this to you with the hope that it strikes a chord and reminds you to take your health seriously and take time to find balance. What do I do to disconnect and relax? I grab my favorite beverages, get some fresh ingredients from the store, cook up a storm and invite my friends over for games night. From me to you—the secret to balance is to visit your happy place every day. Until next time, take care of yourselves!

• Category: Human Resources