In today’s fast-paced world, we’ve started to see a major focus on health and wellness in the last few years. That makes sense since many people sit at a desk for eight hours a day—or longer.
Work-life balance is a struggle for many people in our 24/7 work culture and the stress of constantly focusing on our professional lives is leading to burnout, health problems, and other issues.
So what can be done? Some people turn to yoga and meditation, fitting in sessions before they head into the office. Others turn off electronic devices at night or keep to a strict sleep schedule.
In order to make meaningful changes for our health and well-being, we may need to turn to an unexpected facet of our personality: our emotional intelligence.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Introduced as a concept in the 1990s, the idea of emotional intelligence is a counterpoint to the traditional IQ measurement of intelligence. While IQ is based on logic and analytical problem-solving, emotional intelligence or EQ is about one’s ability to self-regulate, empathize, and work with others.
A person’s EQ is extremely important in all areas of their professional and personal lives and has been shown to be more important than IQ in determining workplace success.
How Emotional Intelligence Can Promote Healthy Balance
Emotional intelligence can tell you when you need to step back and take a break, but it can also help you maintain healthy habits like “unplugging” every night and control stress at work. Studies show that high levels of EQ have a relationship to wellness in the nursing work environment, and many people intuitively use these skills to improve their well-being both at work and at home.
In the workplace, wellness initiatives like mindfulness practices, mental health breaks, and encouraging employees to unplug are helping people to live more balanced lives. However, employees need to have the EQ to recognize when they need to make their wellness a priority.
Employers can offer encouragement and resources, but ultimately each person needs to recognize what they need and figure out how best to regulate their mood and emotions.
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