Hectic Media Work Requires Good Overnight Recovery

The Management Group of Keskisuomalainen Newspaper Undertook a Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment to Evaluate and Build up Their Resources.

Keskisuomalainen News Corporation considers the well-being of its staff very important. In a hectic work environment their coping is put to a test every day.

“It is important that our key personnel have enough strength to handle demanding situations, which are quite frequent in a hectic job like ours. We need to have the resources on reserve,” says the editor-in-chief Pekka Mervola.

The management group of eight persons undertook a Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment in November 2012 and a follow-up measurement six months later in May 2013. They received feedback both as a group and individually.

According to the results, the group had started to pay more attention to recovery between the two measurements. From the preliminary measurement, the group´s average resource index had improved significantly from 42 to 67. This means that a larger share of their sleep-time was spent recovering although the work days remained just as challenging as in the beginning of the assessment. The amount of exercise had increased especially with those who were not physically active at the start.

A low level of recovery during working hours was common to the whole management group. The role of good and sufficient overnight and leisure time recovery is therefore especially important.

“In terms of physical activity, the management group of Keskisuomalainen was exceptional. Being a hectic, round-the-clock job, it would be easy to make excuses. This group had understood the importance of exercise and thus taken the time for it,” states Firstbeat Exercise Physiologist Tiina Hoffman.

Importance of Overnight Recovery

For the vice editor-in-chief, Inkeri Pasanen, the follow-up measurement was conducted during a very stressful period, which can also be seen from the results.

“I wouldn’t be able to handle such stress constantly. On each day the levels of daytime recovery were lower than recommended. On one day there was none. In contrast, during the first assessment conducted in November, the recovery was on a good level,” says Pasanen.

As an active person, Pasanen was able to recover well overnight, despite of having a stressful day at work and running late in the evening.

The night between Sunday and Monday on the other hand was more fragmented and recovery started much later than on other nights.

“It was interesting to notice that still after 30 years, I am nervous about the Monday mornings,” says Pasanen with a smile.

From his Lifestyle Assessment report, Pekka Mervola noticed the influence of disrupting his daily rhythm.

“The day after my friend’s 50th birthday was all red even if being a day off from work and there was no alcohol involved.”

On the contrary, Mervola was happy to notice that his work, writing, was all recovery on the report. Also driving his car was shown as recovery on the report, even when driving in challenging conditions of winter Finland.

Establishing the Grounds for Small Yet Effective Lifestyle Changes

“I found the experience of Lifestyle Assessment very positive. The measurement was easy to conduct and gave me a lot of information about myself,” says the Head of Sales of Keskisuomalainen, Aslak de Silva.

De Silva, who has a background in sports, was especially interested in seeing the importance of recovery. -Being able to recover well overnight despite of the frequent wake-ups of our youngest child, was very positive news, says de Silva.

After the first measurement, De Silva abandoned his the late night exercise routine, which was also beneficial for his recovery in the follow-up measurement.

“Even though I might have missed out my planned daily workout, I rather took time for relaxing and ensuring good overnight sleep. Taking time for calming down before going to sleep is important,” thought de Silva.

Da Silva also commended the personalized approach of Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment and the possibility of being able to compare his results to those of the group. “I can see the influence of my actions in a very concrete way. I was able to find grounds for making the small changes,” says de Silva.

Also Pasanen was content with the assessment. “The Report shows the impact of my daily workload, rest and sleep in a visual way,” she said.

Pasanen was motivated by her results and is certain she will be taking them into consideration also in the future. “I will be paying more attention to sustaining a regular daily rhythm also on weekends and learn how to take time for recovering also during work,” Inkeri Pasanen explains.

“Firstbeat is an exciting Finnish and internationally oriented company, which was interesting to get to know. The most important reason for conducting the Lifestyle Assessment was, however, being able to evaluate and promote the well-being of our management group and that goal was achieved well,” says Mervola.