The Important Terms And Conditions For Our Well-being

You may be thinking, what on earth am I on about with the title of this article being about how important terms and conditions are for our wellbeing. Bear with me, and you’ll find out.

 

 

Why Are We Talking About Terms And Conditions?

 

Every online company has some version of a terms and conditions page to protect itself, but why aren’t we as clear about our terms and conditions so we can protect ourselves, too? If they’re critical for organisations (Luger, Moran, and Rodden, 2013), then why aren’t we making them critical for us on a wellbeing level?

 

Let me put terms and conditions another way: boundaries and self-care. Now do you see why they’re important? What else makes terms and conditions important in the modern world is that they work as consent to avoid potential issues (Luger, Moran, and Rodden, 2013). Again, something that can help us avoid issues in our relationships.

 

 

Before Starting To Create Our Terms And Conditions

 

When looking to create our own terms and conditions focused on personal wellbeing, it’s essentially about setting clear boundaries and guidelines for how we protect and nurture our own physical, mental, and emotional health. To accomplish this, we need to think about different aspects of our lives and how they affect our overall wellbeing. Below are a few suggestions, but there may be others as well.

 

Time management and boundaries

How we use and allocate our time is very important to our wellbeing, and a big part of that is being able to say “no” when we want to. This allows us to protect our personal space and allows us to use our time more effectively.

 

Physical health

We could add guidelines for exercise, nutrition, sleep, and general healthcare into our terms and conditions.

 

Mental and emotional health

Including strategies for managing stress, processing emotions, seeking support, engaging in fulfilling activities and hobbies, etc., in our terms and conditions will help us confirm our commitment to them.

 

Relationships

Think about how we want to interact with others to ensure a healthy and supportive connection, building and maintaining our social support network.

 

Work/life balance

Consider how we want to define our approach to professional responsibilities, our personal responsibilities, and how to ensure they don’t bleed into each other.

 

Digital wellbeing

Reflect on how we use technology, and consider if setting limits on screen time, gaming, social media, and technology use would be beneficial to us.

 

Financial wellbeing

Consider our approach to how we use and manage money, and consider making changes in a way that reduces stress and supports our goals if needed.

 

Personal growth

It can also be useful to think about our commitment to activities that help us evolve and develop as a person. Personal growth and learning should be a lifelong endeavour, because we can teach an old dog new tricks.

 

 

Designing Our Terms And Conditions

 

For each area we examine for our wellbeing, consider what we need to do, or not do, to support it. Phrasing them as clear, actionable statements can also be helpful.

 

Time management and boundaries

For time management and boundaries, consider entering something like the following in our terms and conditions:

 

• I will dedicate [X hours/minutes] each day/week to uninterrupted personal time, free from work or external obligations.
• I will say “no” to requests that do not align with my priorities or capacity, without guilt or excessive explanation.
• I will schedule regular “buffer” time between appointments or tasks to allow for decompression.

 

Physical health

For physical health, consider entering something like the following in our terms and conditions:

 

• I will prioritise [X hours] of sleep per night, aiming for a consistent sleep schedule.
• I will consume nourishing foods that support my energy and health, and limit [specific unhealthy foods/drinks].
• I will engage in [type of exercise] for at least [X minutes] [X times] per week.
• I will attend all scheduled medical and dental check-ups.
• I will listen to my body’s signals for rest and hydration.

 

Mental and emotional health

For mental and emotional health, consider entering something like the following in our terms and conditions:

 

• I will dedicate [X minutes] daily to mindfulness, meditation, or quiet reflection.
• I will identify and express my emotions in a healthy way, seeking support from trusted people or professionals when needed.
• I will commit to keeping a journal.
• I will engage in hobbies and activities that bring me joy and a sense of accomplishment.
• I will practise self-compassion and challenge negative self-talk.

 

 

Relationships

For our relationships, consider entering something like the following in our terms and conditions:

 

• I will cultivate relationships that are reciprocal, supportive, and respectful.
• I will communicate my needs and boundaries clearly to others.
• I will make time for meaningful connections with loved ones.

 

Work/life balance

For our work/life balance, consider entering something like the following in our terms and conditions:

 

• I will define clear working hours and strive to adhere to them.
• I will take regular breaks throughout my workday.
• I will delegate tasks when appropriate and possible.

 

Digital wellbeing

For our digital wellbeing, consider entering something like the following in our terms and conditions:

 

• I will set specific times for checking social media and emails.
• I will put my phone away during meals and social interactions.
• I will have a “digital detox” period of [X minutes/hours] before bedtime.

 

Prohibited activities

For prohibited activities, consider what you’d add to a stop-doing list, and use this space to enter something like the following in our terms and conditions:

 

• I will stop leaving my work until the last minute.
• I will avoid aimless scrolling.
• I will stop using excuses to get out of doing the things I need to do, unless I’m in bed sick.
• I will stop ignoring the warning signs that my wellbeing is in decline.
• I will limit the time and energy spent on relationships that are consistently draining or disrespectful.
• I will not allow work tasks to consistently infringe on my personal time.
• I will limit exposure to news or social media content that significantly impacts my mood negatively.
• I will not check work emails or messages after [specific time] or on weekends unless it’s a pre-agreed emergency.

 

 

How To Implement And Stick To Our New Terms And Conditions

 

Now comes the hard part. Implementing and sticking to our new terms and conditions is often where the problems start. Hopefully, the following suggestions will make that a little easier to do.

 

Write it down

Crafting a list of terms and conditions for ourselves is a lot of mental work, and trying to remember all that isn’t likely to happen. Before we even start this process, we should have a pen and paper or a text document open on our laptops. Because we’re going to need it. This will also help make our terms and conditions more tangible. If we’re feeling extra creative, then maybe turn it into a physical poster.

 

Review them regularly

Just as organisations will review their terms and conditions, so should we for our terms and conditions. Things change, we will change, and our needs will change. Revisit our terms and conditions monthly or quarterly to ensure they still serve the purpose we made them for. Then, if needed, add any changes that will help get the most out of them.

 

Sharing them

Sharing our terms and conditions is optional, but if our boundaries and other needs are going to involve others, sharing what’s relevant with those who it would help to know will help them understand our needs.

 

Thus, when we create our terms and conditions, it’s beneficial to make them as easy to understand as possible; that way, it’s accessible to all who need to know about them and should help avoid confusion (Luger, Moran, and Rodden, 2013).

 

 

Be kind

We’re not aiming for perfection here. There will be times we don’t fully adhere to our terms and conditions, and that’s ok. Shit happens. We’re only human. So, acknowledge and accept it when we don’t fully adhere to them, learn from it, and recommit to them.

 

Start small

Terms and conditions are often long, and the ones we make for ourselves will feel long in their own way. Don’t try to implement everything at once. Focus on a few key areas at a time, maybe one or two; otherwise, we’ll set ourselves up to fail.

 

Consider consequences

Think about what we might want to happen if we violate your own terms, as this is standard in an organisation’s terms and conditions. However, it’s not about punishment, but about understanding the impact on your wellbeing.

 

Instead, it’s about listing the negative effects of not taking an action. For example, if I don’t get enough sleep, I know I’ll be tired, irritable, and less productive the next day.

 

 

Summary

 

Creating these terms and conditions is an empowering act of self-care. Having this wellbeing list can help us to live a healthier life, and having our boundaries listed can be a great way to commit to our wellbeing. It puts us in charge of our wellbeing. So, what area feels most important for you to focus on first? What would you add to your terms and conditions?

 

As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, please share your experiences with creating your own terms and conditions in the comments section below as well. Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, you can sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, click the red bell icon in the bottom right corner to get push notifications for new articles.

 

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References

 

Luger, E., Moran, S., & Rodden, T. (2013, April). Consent for all: revealing the hidden complexity of terms and conditions. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 2687-2696). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stuart-Moran/publication/258403459_Consent_for_All_Revealing_the_Hidden_Complexity_of_Terms_and_Conditions/links/63297d6c873eca0c009f35cf/Consent-for-All-Revealing-the-Hidden-Complexity-of-Terms-and-Conditions.pdf.