Drivers of Form - March 2021
Every month, we dedicate time to reflect on how the FormScore community feels, what the main drivers are, and think of ways to support you.
Here is what we observed in March: The overall average score was 6.57, which saw a slight decline compared to February’s overall average score of 6.63. The report below suggest that this is due to work, stress and poor health.
Your March in Form
The change of seasons, longer days and the sun shining (on most days), had a positive impact on our Form.
Warmer days gave us the opportunity to spend more time in nature and perhaps exercise outdoors. In March we invested on our physical health and turned to exercise to improve our form and wellbeing.
With lockdown restrictions easing here in the UK, and the weather improving, perhaps we took the opportunity to spend time outdoors with friends and family. As a result, we felt more connected and in better form.
We also started feeling more hopeful and optimistic about future travels as the world opens up slowly.
As always, some drivers have a negative impact on our form. We know that it can’t always be sunshine, rainbows and unicorns, and we don’t always strive for high form. What’s important is to take a moment to notice how we feel and what affects or drives our form. Only then we can look into ways to improve it, become more proactive when we notice what triggers low form, and as a result, learn to be more intentional about our wellbeing.
It will come as no surprise that stress and work had the most negative impact on us and also had the lowest average score when logged.
What do you do to better manage stress and show up at work in your best form?
Having a consistent sleep routine is a good place to start. Waking up feeling rested after a good night’s sleep, will fuel our energy, which will improve our form and will likely make us feel more productive at work.
Exercise remains a good old remedy for low form. If ‘taken’ in a proactive fashion, it will keep stress at bay; when as a reactive method it has the power to combat and cure stress.
Most selected Drivers of Form
When we compare the drivers of form logged in March, with those logged in February:
We notice the biggest change in Weather, which gain an impressive popularity of 89%. This means that it was selected a lot more frequently in March, compared to February.
This next biggest change is in Connections, which gain popularity by 58% and Exercise by 39%.
When it comes to the biggest decline in popularity:
It’s interesting that Energy was logged almost half as much in March, compared to February, with a decline of -40%. Other unpopular drivers in March were Stress and Work.
Starting with the most selected drivers of form in March:
When selecting a score, the most selected driver was Connections, followed by Weather and Sleep.
Does this resonate with you? Do you feel more connected with others or is the last leg of lockdown more difficult for your? Do you reach out to your loved ones more often or do you miss them even more?
When it comes to weather here in the UK, we experienced all seasons in March alone. Sunny and warm days followed by snow and then sun and cold again. How did the weather changes affect you?
And how has your sleep been recently? Has the change of clocks affected your sleep or do you enjoy the longer days?
Drivers with the most impact on Form
Here, we look at the drivers with the biggest impact on our Form.
It will come as no surprise that Exercise is in the top spot, for the second consecutive month. It’s followed by Connections and then Weather.
This is a reminder that exercise and connections have the power to lift our form and and help us feel better. So next time you feel low, why not put your trainers on, or reach out and talk to a friend?
When it comes to drivers that had the most negative impact on our Form:
Stress management continues to have the most negative impact on our Form for the second consecutive month. This is followed by Work and Sleep. We often see these 3 drivers as closely related and having an impact on each other. If we sacrifice sleep, we feel tired and have low energy, which means that we are not as productive at work. And when we add stress to the mix, it can’t help but bring our form down.
When we look at the impact of the drivers logged in March, compared to those in February:
Travel* had the biggest impact, with a positive effect of +0.08. However, it’s worth noting that:
It was only logged by a small number of Formsters but had a big positive affect on their form.
As we are currently in lockdown, this driver of form brings our hopes up but it will not be realised until some time in the future.
We then see a big positive change in weather and connections, which we know were also the most selected drivers, overall.
When it comes to the biggest negative changes compared to February:
Work, although not in the most selected drivers of form, had a huge affect on our form. Is this down to projects that had to be completed by the end of the Financial Year?
The other drivers in which we saw a negative change compared to February is finances and energy.
Average score when selecting a Driver of Form
Here we see the average score selected when a driver of form was logged:
Exercise was usually logged at an average of 7, followed by Weather and Travel, which were also logged at an average of 7.
With the weather improving, longer and warmer days also give us an opportunity to exercise outdoors and spend time in nature. These drivers, combined with future hope for travels, as lockdown restrictions ease, helped us maintain a high form.
Looking at the lowest average scores, stress was logged the lowest overall, at an average of 5. When work and finances were the drivers of our form, they were logged at an average of 6.
Comparing the average scores logged for each driver in March, with those in February:
When travel* was selected, we saw an average of a 0.6 higher score compared to the score logged in February. This shows that we are hopeful about traveling again soon. Weather and exercise were also scored higher in March compared to February.
Looking at the biggest negative changes:
When work, health and stress, were selected, they were logged as a lower score, compared to the score logged in February. This means that their impact felt a lot more negative in March.
Are you interested in building up a picture of what is driving your own Form? Head on the App Store or Google Play, search for FormScore and watch your drivers of form build up.
How are your people today?
Here is where it gets even more interesting: Seeing the drivers of form, the impact and influence they have on teams within organisations.
You get to observe which teams are on higher form, and how they perform. You also get to see the teams that struggle the most so that you can offer specific support.
You get a better understanding of whether work has a positive or negative impact on your people.
How satisfied are they in life.
How resilient they are.
How each age group experiences different form and is affected by different drivers.
The difference between genders and so much more…
We can’t wait to share this insight with your organisation!