As we approach 2018, the last thing that anyone would want is to imagine carrying over the frustration, depression and anything else that disappointed them during 2017.

Luckily, we always have a festive season towards the end of the year which provides everybody with ample time to reflect on the year, forget about anything that happened, have fun with their loved ones and end the year on high note. Stress is a normal thing especially towards the year-end considering all the many things you've been through, but depending on how you deal with it, you can either carry it forward or resolve to have a better 2018.

This article will, therefore, take you through a few tips for reducing stress during this festive season and start your 2018 as a rejuvenated person.

Focus on all the positive things that you achieved:

One mistake that most make is letting all the negative things take up much of your thinking. The way your mind responds is directly dependent on the type of information that you feed it; as a result, if you choose to focus on the negative things, it will automatically lead to more stress and depression. However, if you choose to appreciate all the positive things that you achieved during the year, you will not only be reducing stress but you will also feel more relaxed and energized to start the following year. 

Surround yourself with positive people:

Spend ample time with your loved ones:

Usually, during the year, we indulge in a lot of activities which doesn’t always involve those closest to us. Try to stay close to your loved ones at this time of year because you can make them feel appreciated, happy and comfortable and they can do likewise for you.

Observe your diet:

When one has stress, there is a high likelihood that you would default to alcohol or overeating. This is a very common habit among a good number of people under stress especially during this festive seasons where there is a lot of parties.

This can be fun while it lasts but come January 2018, reality will catch up with you, trust me, you don't want to start your year that way. To avoid such frustrations, work on your diet, make sure that your diet programs are full of vitamins and minerals salts. Besides, despite the fact that there may have a lot of parties which only comes ones in a year, avoid binging, just take enough and enjoy.

Engage in exercises:

When you've been stressed towards the year-end, workouts may be a perfect way to keep such problems at bay during this festive season. There are a lot of activities that you can engage ranging from swimming, going for hikes with your loved ones or friends, mountain climbing, cycling among others. Such exercises, will not only help you achieve body fitness but will also help you in reducing stress as kick-start the year 2018.

Mayfair, we care.

With 2018 getting nearer and nearer, it's easy to get excited by the prospects of traveling abroad and spending some well-earned quality time with the family or developing new business contacts and opening new markets.

However, before you let the excitement cloud your judgment, there are a few things you must look out for to ensure your safety when traveling.

Here are the Dos and Don'ts when traveling abroad in 2018:

DON'T...

DO...

Take all this advice and you will avoid unnecessary upset.

Mayfair, we care.

Risk assessment is a fundamental part of good health and safety practice in the workplace. It is the careful investigation of what in your workplace could cause harm to the people and identifying sensible measures to control risks that may occur. Risk assessment is important for safety management since it helps one know whether the company have taken enough precaution to prevent any harm occurrence. Risk assessments protect both employees and the business, as well as ensuring that the business complies with the various legal requirements.

Many people think that incidents occur due to negligence or mistakes from employees when often it’s due to insufficient management controls. It’s also important to note that carrying out risk assessment will not totally prevent the occurrence of accidents and ill health but will play a crucial role in reducing such incidents. 

Some of the ways to improve risk assessments are:

• Proper training of both employees and employers to help them in knowing the various ways to mitigate and prevent risks.
• Regular inspections around the workplace.
• Having specific outlined work procedures.
• Employee fitness to ensure good health.
• Sufficient and competent supervision.

Specific reasons why risk assessment is important:

• For financial reasons. Effective safety and health management in the workplace contributes to business success. Risk assessment prevents accidents and health issues which inflict significant costs that a company could do without. 
• For legal reasons. In case of an accident, there may be significant legal consequences towards the company once investigations are conducted and no safety statement and risk assessment was conducted. 
• Moral and ethical reasons. The procedure involved in carrying out risk assessment has employers ethically bound to ensuring that their employers do not incur any avoidable accidents or suffer illness by reducing the likelihood. 

Risk assessments should be viewed as a positive thing for all concerned as being aware of, understanding, and avoiding potential accidents is a measure that those who take risk assessment seriously, will benefit from.

Mayfair, we care.