Thriving at work
When it is hard to focus, work can pile up fast and stress can follow you home. This month, Under the Hat is sharing practical tools to help you stay on track, reduce procrastination and manage stress before it leads to burnout.
Employees: Set yourself up for success
- Start first: If you keep putting off a task, make the goal to begin.
- Break it down: Divide big tasks into steps you can finish in 10 to 15 minutes.
- Cut distractions: Close extra tabs, silence non-urgent notifications and check messages at set times.
- Take real breaks: Step away, drink water, eat something and stretch so you can come back more focused.
- Clarify priorities: If everything feels urgent, ask what needs attention first.
- End the day with a plan: Write down your first task for tomorrow, then leave work at work.
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Leaders: Help your team stay focused
- Pair people thoughtfully: Match big-picture thinkers with detail-focused teammates, or independent workers with strong connectors.
- Create psychological safety: Make room for questions, experimentation and respectful disagreement.
- Watch for overload: Check capacity regularly and set clear priorities before stress turns into burnout.
- Recognize different work styles: When people can work in ways that fit them, they stay more engaged and do better work.
- Set simple team norms: Align on expectations for meetings, messages and response times.
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Are you feeling overloaded at work?
The workload-related overwhelm activity can help you slow down, name what is driving your stress and focus on a few manageable steps forward. It includes a simple acceptance exercise, prompts to plan small changes and space to reflect on what is still going well at work.
Download the workload-related overwhelm activity
How our mental health partners can help
You and your household members have access to free, confidential support for:
- Stress and anxiety
- Family and relationship challenges
- Everyday work and life pressures
- Anything affecting your focus, performance or overall well-being
U.S. employees can register with Lyra Health for immediate access to career coaching, on-demand courses, live events and helpful articles designed to prevent burnout and support your day-to-day well-being.
Employees in Canada, through TELUS Health, and in Mexico, through Orienta, also have access to free, confidential support and a range of on-demand resources.
NEW: Manager resources section
Hard conversations are part of leadership and no one should have to navigate them alone. This new section of Under the Hat offers tools to help managers talk about mental health, support employees through grief and respond thoughtfully after a suicide loss.
Save the date: The path to success workshop
April 10, 1 p.m. CT (11 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET)
A high-performance mindset is often celebrated at work. It can also tip into overdrive when perfection and nonstop striving become the standard.
In this workshop, you will learn how to:
- Spot when “high performance” turns into unsustainable expectations
- Right-size your approach to work without lowering your standards
- Optimize effort instead of overdoing it, so your work does not come at the expense of well-being
More details and link information will be shared soon.
