Handling the darker days

 

Now that we’re really heading towards winter in the northern hemisphere, the days are feeling shorter and darker and everything seems a bit grey and gloomy. In Denmark, they talk about the concept of hygge, and in Sweden, there’s mysig; both concepts basically refer to being cosy and comfy at home, wearing thick socks in front of a fire place, having some tea or mulled wine, reading books or playing board games by the light of a fragrant candle, and snuggling up with those you love. That’s great for the evenings and weekends, but how can you apply those ideas to work? And in general, how should we cope with the winter, when so many people tend to feel lower in mood and when it’s harder to get the vitamin D, fresh air and exercise we need?

A recent article in The Telegraph had a number of suggestions for staying healthy in the darker, colder months. Among other things, Sophie Goddard’s piece recommends that people sit by the window – whether at work or at home or while on a bus or train – so they get sunlight, and that they take some time to get outdoors during the day. It’s believed that that getting vitamin D earlier in the day promotes good sleep as well as mental well-being, so even if it’s chilly, bundle up well and go for a quick stroll. (Having a dog or a child is very useful for this, because you really have no choice but to take them out for fresh air and movement.) Anything you can do to make the most of the few moments or hours of sunlight that we get during the winter months here is well worth it.

The article also mentions that mushrooms are a good source of vitamin D and that leafy greens are very healthy, adding a burst of flavour and nutrition in the winter, so try to cook with them where possible. Stews, soups, pasta dishes or stir-fries are excellent ways of enjoying mushrooms and greens. Goddard also writes about the importance of taking your time with your meals, and not wolfing them down. Savour them and let your body digest, while having nice conversations with family and friends.

Another thing that Goddard notes in the article is that shoes bring in a lot of bacteria and that leaving shoes by the front door is one way to keep the germs from spreading. If you don’t already have a Scandi-style “no shoes” rule at home or a Japanese approach, where you slip into slippers upon arriving home, you could consider that. We are already more likely to get germs in the winter, because of being trapped with other people in enclosed areas with the windows shut, so anything we can do to reduce the likelihood of spreading bacteria is worth looking into.

 

Written by B.J Woodstein, PhD

To read the full article, you must be a PILAA Member.

 

 

Learning from the BBC’s ‘Ludwig’

Last month, a new comedic crime series was released on BBC here in the UK, entitled Ludwig. Newspaper articles are positive about the plot and the acting, but as surprising as it might seem, this TV show also holds a number of useful ideas that we can employ in the workplace.
First of all, what is Ludwig? The brainchild, so to speak, of brainy actor-writer David Mitchell (from Peep Show and Would I Lie to You? among other shows), Ludwig is about a man, John, who is a solitary type who works as a puzzle-setter (he publishes his work under the name of Ludwig, inspired by Beethoven). John, it turns out, has an identical twin brother, James, a detective with the police. After a particularly tricky case, James disappears, and his wife, Lucy, and son, Henry, enlist John to try to figure out what happened. This involves John unwillingly pretending to be his brother, going to work at the police station and solving crimes while attempting to get access to files that might reveal information about James, what he was working on and where he might be. So far, so silly.

But within this somewhat intricate plot with all its complications – who knew there were murders on a daily basis in the quiet, academic city of Cambridge? – there are many important lessons about challenging ourselves as a way of developing and growing, and about the use of puzzles.

Despite being identical twins and despite Lucy’s help in giving John information about James, John can’t quite be James, for obvious reasons. He is himself acting as James, and there are a number of small differences between the two men, which, strangely, no one really seems to notice, despite the fact that John/James is working in, of all places, the police force, where you’d think that people are trained to be observant. Besides their natural variations, John also can’t quite bring himself to completely subsume himself to his role; for instance, he (sensibly!) needs to have a pen or two in his breast pocket, which his brother would never have done, given the nerdiness of the look. Lucy frets about this, but actually, John, in the role of James, gets praised for these small changes. People who knew James believe that this is James and that he’s made a few adaptations to his look, and they like it. This shows us that it’s okay to not stay the same, even if we assume that that’s what other people want from us. Sometimes people might object to the changes, but others will be neutral about them, or even positive, and ultimately, we have to be true to ourselves. John likes the compliments he receives, but more than that, he learns that people can handle change.

Written by B.J Woodstein, PhD

To read the full article, you must be a PILAA Member.

Margolles Fourth Plinth and Trans Inclusion

 

Last month saw the unveiling of the fourth plinth, the public art commission ‘Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant)’ by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles. The fourth plinth which began in 1994 sees a leading artist make a public sculpture, held in the space for two years. Since its inception in 1994, there have been 15 different sculptures occupying the plinth, which has opened up a conversation with Britain’s past, present and future histories. Made for public consumption it is a key platform for showcasing and celebrating the importance of art in advocating key debates of our time and showing us new ways of seeing.

The new work unveiled on the 18th of September 2024 by Margolles has been no different. It sees a large sculpture of 726 cast faces of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The label on the plinth itself, recalls the murder of Karla a transgender woman found dead in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and states that the work is made in honour of Karla and the other trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people, who have faced violence and abuse on the grounds of their identity. The sculpture is defined as being collectively made in London, Ciudad Juárez, and Mexico City between 2021 – 2024.

This is a striking piece of work, which stands at 2.5m tall and weighs 3.3 tonnes. Once scanning the QR Code the visitor can find out more information about the piece and how it was created. You learn that each sitter was asked to choose a piece of music or to make a playlist that they could listen to, whilst sitting through the plaster cast process. The whole appointment with each sitter, the artist and the artists assistant, took between 1–1.5hrs and of that, 30 minutes were used for the casting. With such a time encompassing and laboursome piece, what we are witness to, is the sensitive and vulnerable display of faces that are then placed on X shaped fixers, which we are told have been inspired by the form of a ‘Tzompantli’, an Aztec skull rack. We are left with the inside of the casts facing us, as the front of the faces are up against a metal frame, which cannot not be seen.

 

Written by Dr Ope Lori, PhD

To read the full article, you must be a PILAA Member.

Next in Line: Gender roles, values and worth

Last month we saw the landmark ruling in favour of more than 3,500 employees, who had taken their employer Next, the multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, to an employment tribunal, over a six-year battle for equal pay. The case found that staff who worked in the stores, predominantly women, were paid less than warehouse operatives, who were predominantly men. The argument made by the employer, was that the women were paid less in accordance with the ‘market rate’, where warehouse workers are paid more than retail workers, to reflect the labour market.

Next employee Helen Scarsbrook told the press:

“Anyone who works in retail knows that it is a physically and emotionally tough job.”
“We do lots of heavy lifting, the same as the men do in the warehouse. We lift the same boxes they lift.” (1)

And here in lies part of the rub. The image of either men or women working in the warehouse or in the stores respectively, is part of an age-old problem that highlights the difference between stereotypical assumptions on gender roles and the actual lived reality, which we’ll come back to later. It is also a matter of perception, and how we have been conditioned to see such roles and give value to them, based on inherent gender norms. However, the ruling panel stated that this was not the case, and that the difference of pay allocation was purely financial. They said that “direct discrimination” in relation to gender was not at play, and that “there was no conscious or sub-conscious gender influence in the way Next set pay rates” (2). Despite this ruling, in this article we suggest otherwise.

What we are seeing are the effects of social conditioning, and how we have been conditioned to see sex, gender and associated gender roles. They are so engrained that that they become the norm. As the employer stated, this is the first ruling of its kind, which doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an issue before, but that this is the first time that a microscope has been held up to the situation. As we know with the way microscopes work, sometimes you have to adjust the wheel to position the lens and bring into focus what was hidden before.

It’s about choosing to see things differently, hence why the tribunal also stated that the employer hadn’t given enough evidence to show that the lower pay discrepancy, wasn’t due to gender-based discrimination. It was inconclusive. No evidence to prove it and similarly, non to disprove it. I say choose to see things differently, because in order to address the constant battle of awarding equal pay to women and men, we need to actively engage and reflect on our decision-making processes. This is at the heart of mitigating unconscious bias. In fact, we suggest that because gender bias is so engrained in the way that women are seen as the lesser sex, it becomes unthinkable, that such a case could be directly related to gender discrimination.

 

Written by Dr Ope Lori, PhD

To read the full article, you must be a PILAA Member. 

Learning from Michael Mosley

 

Many people in the UK and elsewhere in the world will have heard the sad news about Dr Michael Mosley’s unfortunate untimely death last month at only 67 years old. For those who aren’t familiar with him, he was a medical doctor who became a high-profile broadcaster and author, educating large audiences and inspiring people to try to live better.

While Mosley left behind many legacies, one that is particularly useful for the workplace is his concept of “one thing”. The idea behind one thing is simple: rather than people and organisations thinking they have to make huge changes in their lives all at once, they should focus on one achievable goal at a time. If you try to change too many things at one time or to make overarching adjustments to many aspects of your life, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and incapable. No one can start a daily meditation practice, while also training for a triathlon and changing their diet and taking up a new hobby. But doing one of those things at a time, while still challenging, is more possible. Trying to do too much at once and finding that they can’t do it leads to people feeling like they can’t make any changes whatsoever so then they give up on the idea of improving their lives. Instead, you should focus on something small and manageable. When you succeed with that one task or goal, you’ll feel empowered and then you’ll be able to make another change. And so on: it will snowball and before you know it, you will have made a whole swathe of changes, just as you wanted to, but it will have been easier to make happen than attempting to do it all together.

Mosley recommended a lot of things people could try, and his suggestions were always supported by research and were evidence-based. Examples range from volunteering to balancing on one leg, from weight-lifting to cooking tomatoes. As Mosley pointed out in his One Thing show, volunteering decreases your cholesterol and improves your mental health, while balancing on one leg strengthens your core and challenges you mentally and physically, and lifting weights and doing resistance training decreases your blood sugar and reduces your risk of chronic conditions, which in turn helps you live longer. And if you’re wondering why the tomatoes have to be cooked, it’s because it’s known that tomatoes have more nutritional benefits, especially lycopene, when cooked than when raw, plus then you have a broader range of recipes you can use them in, but of course tomatoes are good for you when raw too, so eat them however you like them.

Plenty of these ideas can be applied to the workplace too. If you’re a manager, you could come up with some small but significant changes to implement at work.

 

Written by B.J Woodstein, PhD

To read the full article, you must be a PILAA Member.