Time To Talk Day on 3rd February invites us all to break down the taboos and talk openly about mental health. As a distributed agency, over the past decade since we began, we have been acutely aware of the importance of staying in touch and checking in on our colleagues. We have never had traditional water cooler moments, so we have had to be creative when it comes to getting to know each other, maintaining our human connections, and checking in.  

When the pandemic hit, we were unaffected in one sense by the major shift in work routines as offices closed across the globe, however, we need to pay continual attention to our working from home culture to ensure the lines between being home and at work do not become blurred. We work hard to create environments where people feel safe and secure to open up about how they are doing. It is a two-way thing – it takes guts, trust and personal responsibility to be open.  

Time To Walk and Talk 

It can be so easy to go under the radar when you are working from home and your main point of contact with co-workers is mainly via a screen. At Emberson we schedule regular face to face meetings (within government guidelines) to grab a coffee and check-in as often as is practicable for the team to do so. We have recently launched a regular walking meet up club ‘Walk and Talk’ which encourages our Team and our supply partners to schedule time together outside for a regular stomp. Bring your dog, bring your kids. Get in touch if you’d like to join us.  

Bath Mind – Top 10 Tips  

We are big fans of the mental health charity, Mind – and we have worked closely with Bath Mind over the last few years on in-house mental health programmes for our teams. We know sometimes talking about mental health can be difficult, but very often short conversations can have big impacts and act as stepping stones to seeking the right level of support you need. No matter how small or inconsequential it may seem, if it bothers you repeatedly and affects your day-to-day life, then it is time to talk it through with someone and share it.  

The brilliant team at Bath Mind have put together ten top tips for talking about mental health to mark #TimeToTalk Day 2022. Check out the link below and the full range of services offered by the charity.  

https://www.bathmind.org.uk/news/time-to-talk-day-10-tips-for-talking-about-mental-health/