Your mental health is as important as your physical health. It’s high time that organizations and companies recognize this and offer mental health benefits to their employees. Even if mental health benefits aren’t necessarily offered by the company, they can instead hold meaningful mental health awareness activities for employees.
Mental health exercises and activities are designed to improve the mental clarity, focus, and productivity of the employees. Practicing mental health awareness through exercises and activities will build employee morale, improve engagement, ensure psychological safety at work, boost employee happiness and increase the chances of employees seeking professional help and support when needed.
Build company culture and improve employee productivity at work by practicing these 11 activities in the workplace!
1. Set up an escape room in the office
A small space in the office dedicated to employees just to chill or meditate or do whatever they want to unwind and relax for a bit is important. Add in a chair, a few bean bags, a few candles, warm lighting, and a diffuser to set the tone and mood of the room and allow employees to take off some time during the workday to go to the break room and chill for a bit.
They can use the space to read, take a nap, do yoga, stretch, meditate, journal, call a friend or watch an episode of their favorite show. Make sure a fast and strong internet connection is installed and accessible in the room. TDS net can help you with that!
2. Host a stress-combat workshop
Stress puts the body in flight or fight mode, which can cause serious emotional and chronic physical issues if not treated. Moreover, headaches, insomnia, and heartburns are the direct consequences of living with stress.
While every employee is a victim of this serious phenomenon, many don’t know how to deal with it in a healthy way. This is why conducting a workshop on ways to reduce and handle stress can help employees learn healthy ways to cope with it and maintain their productivity in the workplace and at home.
3. Have outdoor events regularly
Outdoor spaces have a lot of green and fresh air which is proven to be good for mental health. Individuals who spend a lot of time outdoors have higher productivity, and reduced stress, depression, and anxiety. Every 2 months, consider hosting an outdoor event and set up a series of team-building activities that everybody can take part in and enjoy!
4. Create art together
An incredible mood booster is creating art. Employees can take a painting class together or take part in online classes to develop a new skill and build a better bond. Art classes can be about painting, drawing, and pottery. It will make the employees feel resilient and engaged plus boost their confidence. It also alleviates stress, anxiety, and depression as its help take the load off emotionally. You can host a paint party on a nice Friday evening after work to end the work week positively.
5. Take part in a gratitude challenge
Regular gratitude is proven to be a mood booster and improve optimism. Those who practice it regularly and are consistent with it feel better mentally in general. Get the staff to participate in a daily gratitude activity. It can be as basic as anonymously filling in a digital or tangible bulletin board with entries of what they feel grateful for or simply journaling in 3 things they’re grateful for each day.
6. Recommend mental health screening tools
It’s difficult for employees to access the right kind of professional help when they’re unaware they have a problem. Recommending mental health screening tools in team meetings, via email, or through bulletin boards promotes mental health awareness and helps the employee find the appropriate professional help if needed.
7. Host a tea party
Conduct a meaningful light-hearted session on a variety of mental health topics – at a tea/coffee event. Ask a mental health professional or local psychologist to come in and talk about anxiety, stress, and depression and or cover a particular theme like stress management and burnout recovery. Invite the staff to attend the session and learn about anxiety and stress-reducing techniques.
8. Explore well-being activities
Enjoy a work day with a light workload and a series of well-being activities. Set up a bunch of different well-being stations like a meditation/yoga station, a stretching area, a coloring book station, a hydration station with fruit smoothies and infused water, etc. All these stations are great ideas to execute for a refreshing yet simple well-being day.
9. Practice confidence training exercises
Physical exercises and sports are excellent at building strength, self-esteem, and confidence. Ask a fitness or karate instructor to come in and offer mini sessions for employees individually or in groups. Physical exercises weekly at work can make a big difference in the employee’s confidence and productivity, so doing them consistently at work every week can boost employee morale and help them gain a sense of accomplishment at the end of every week.
10. Build a bulletin board
Bulletin boards don’t always have to be plain and boring. You can be super creative with the bulletin boards in your hallway by using them to promote mental health awareness through activities. Add a few inspiration quotes on mental health to the board, print resources, attach fact sheets, and pose questions that require opinions and thoughts to be written by the employees on the board. Some questions you may ask are ‘what are you grateful for today?’ and ‘How do you relieve stress?’
11. Practice random acts of kindness
Numerous studies and reports have shown how beneficial doing a kind act for somebody are to our mental health. Doing random acts of kindness triggers the release of happy chemicals, serotonin, and dopamine, which increases happiness and makes us feel satisfied. Set an example and encourage employees to show kindness in any way they can, whether it’s opening a door for someone or helping someone out with a project – showing kindness is a confidence and happiness booster. It also establishes a domino effect that inspires others to be kind too.
To Wrap It Up
Mental health is a crucial part of every employee’s well-being. It covers psychological, social, and emotional well-being, which only amplifies the importance of mental health awareness in the workplace. Carrying out these 11 activities will get the much-needed conversation going in the workplace, as well as help, improve the employees’ mental health.
Another research says that the fast internet can improve mental health in the workplace. A study by the University of London found that workers who had access to high-speed internet experienced less stress and anxiety than those who did not. The researchers believe that this is because the fast internet allows workers to stay connected and productive, which reduces stress levels. The main reason that many offices use TDS internet providers is because of the reliability and speed that they offer.