Clearcover-ers Receive "Tools to Thrive" During Mental Health Month
Written by Team Clearcover | June 22, 2022
At Clearcover, our people-first culture is focused on promoting employee happiness, which begins with ensuring that all employees are mentally healthy. To support and promote the mental health of all Clearcover-ers, we offer a series of virtual meditation and yoga sessions, ensure flexibility through Focus Fridays and Summer Flex schedules, have a dedicated Slack channel to discussions of all things #mental-health, and program a variety of monthly mental health workshops with the added availability of one-on-one sessions with licensed therapists.
The theme of Mental Health Month 2022, "Back To Basics," inspired the topic for our May workshop: "Tools2Thrive." During the informative and helpful session, Samantha Bill, ERP Therapist and co-owner of The Centered Life, provided us with tools and strategies to build our mental health resilience and manage stress.
To open her talk, Sam explained that our thoughts trigger feelings which lead to certain behaviors and results. Our thoughts and feelings, she told us, are the foundations of how we manage stress and anxiety. With this in mind, she shared three "Keys" to taking control of our thoughts and feelings which will ultimately alleviate stress and anxiety and improve our overall mental health.
Key #1 - Create Calm and Constructive Thoughts
Sam emphasized that we need to detach judgements from our thoughts, insisting that there is no such thing as good or bad thoughts. She went through a list of "cognitive distortions" which are irrational or rigid thoughts that trigger emotions. Included on the list were "catastrophizing," which is the tendency to constantly imagine the worst case scenario. In order to avoid these sorts of thoughts, Sam advised us to instead imagine the best case scenario, or to think through how we would survive the worst case scenario, which we can always do! Another item on the list was "should statements." Rather than thoughts that begin with "I should," Sam encouraged us to think "I want to" or "I don't want to" which give us back control over our thoughts.
Sam suggested everyone do a brain dump at the end of each day during which we type or write out a list of everything that is overwhelming us. This will allow us to look at the big picture and identify any distortions in our own thinking, allowing us to take back control of our thoughts.
Key #2 - Non-Judgmentally Feel Your Emotions
Sam shared the surprising statistic that only 30% of people can identify their emotions at the moment they feel them. She showed us a graphic of an emotion wheel to depict the general emotions most of us feel such as "joy" or "sadness" to more specific terms we can use to better identify our emotions like "triumphant" or "hurt." When we can precisely name our emotions, we are able to take productive actions to manage them. Sam acknowledged that sitting with our emotions can be uncomfortable, but encouraged us to do just that for 90 seconds in order to completely feel any given emotion. After those 90 seconds, we can name the emotion without judgment and decide how to manage it. The more we engage in this exercise, the more control we have over our emotions, and the less stress we're likely to feel. As Sam instructed us, "Manage your mind before you manage your time."
Key #3 - Be Intentional with Your Time and Focus
Sam explained that the opposite of anxiety is to be present. When we're truly present, she said, we are focusing on one thing at a time, and are more efficient than when we try to multitask. Sam offered us a few different strategies to become present including practicing what she terms "transitional mindfulness." Sam recommends everyone, especially remote workers, take five minutes to transition from work to home life and vice versa. At the end of the work day, she suggests shutting down our computers, putting away our phones, and setting a timer for five minutes. During this time, we should process our day, allow our "to do" list to bombard us and then take a back seat before we walk out of the door of our home office and enter our personal lives.
At the conclusion of her talk, Sam challenged us to choose one of the strategies she presented and commit to trying it. If we're able to take even a couple of minutes each day to think about our mental health, Sam assured us that we will be able to retrain our brains to better manage stress and anxiety.
Sam's workshop, the materials she presented, and recordings of past mental health workshops are always available to all employees on our company Glovebox. If any Clearcover-ers feel that they can benefit from more time with Sam to further fine tune their strategies to deal with stress, they can schedule one-on-one time with her or another licensed therapist.
Clearcover will continue to survey our employees to provide additional mental health workshops, one-on-one sessions and other resources to ensure that all of our team members are mentally healthy. If you're ready to work for a company that actively supports the well-being and happiness of its employees, we invite you to apply for an open position at Cleacover today!
