Recently, a CEO I worked with said something that really stuck with me: “Cyril, we’ve just gone through insane growth, but more importantly, you’ve helped us keep our sanity.”
A while ago, I had worked with the leadership team at a large Australian company, and about a year later, I caught up with the CEO to check in. She said the work we’d done had not only improved their performance but also made a real difference in how the team felt—more in control, less stressed, and overall just handling things better. They’d made simple changes to the way they worked, and it completely changed their experience of work and life.
Bonjour. In this video, I want to dive into mental health at work. Yesterday, 10th October, was Mental Health Day, and this year the World Health Organisation is focusing on mental health in the workplace.
Now, there are lots of things that can affect your mental health at work but from recent research, number one is excessive workload, number two is feeling out of control and number five is work-life imbalance.
I see this all the time with the people I work with. Leaders who love their jobs, but the question lurking in the back of their minds is: “Is this sustainable?” Their workloads feel overwhelming—probably 2 weeks’ worth of tasks to cram into one—and it feels like a never-ending cycle of emails, meetings, and to-dos. This constant push starts to spill over into their personal lives, creating stress that impacts their families, health, and overall wellbeing.
Over the last 20 years, I’ve learned one important thing: stress isn’t linked to how much work you have; it’s linked to how you manage it.
I’ve seen senior leaders with enormous workloads who remain calm and in control, and junior employees with far less on their plates, yet completely overwhelmed. The stress comes from having a brain that’s constantly running in circles: “Did I forget something? I still need to send that email. I never finished that document.” That mental overload can be exhausting.
So, how do you take control and lower your stress levels? I’ve got three simple suggestions for you: Clarify, Progress, Protect.
1. Clarify Your Priorities
Every quarter (or whatever works for you), take some time to get clear on your top 2-3 priorities. I do this every three months, asking myself: What will make the biggest impact long term? If everything is important, nothing is. So, figure out the things that really matter, and let the rest fall away if it has to.
2. Make Progress on Those Priorities
It’s one thing to know your priorities, but another to make progress on them. Personally, I review mine weekly. I ask myself: How can I move these forward? And here’s the key part—I block out specific time in my calendar to work on them. This isn’t just “get around to it” time; it’s booked in like any other meeting.
3. Protect Your Time
Every day, distractions will try to steal your focus—emails, meetings, requests from colleagues. But the biggest thing you can do to protect your priorities is to learn how to say no. I’ve worked with leaders at all levels, and I’ve found that even the most experienced people struggle to say no. Whether it’s saying no to colleagues, or even saying no to yourself and that ever-growing to-do list, it’s crucial to set boundaries.
Learning to say no isn’t about being difficult—it’s about protecting your ability to focus on what really matters.
These three simple steps—Clarify, Progress, and Protect—aren’t just about boosting performance. I’ve seen them have a profound impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing. And for me, the most rewarding feedback is when someone tells me, “I feel more in control—not just of my work, but of my life.” When I hear about how these small shifts improve someone’s health, relationships, and mental space, that’s when I know this approach works.
So, my question to you is this: How are you doing with your mental health at work? And how are the people around you coping?
This is this week’s Work Smarter: Live Better tip. If there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Take care and have a lovely day.
A bientôt,
Cyril
