What to do if you're struggling with your mental health at work; NPR, March 10, 2022

Jordan-Marie Smith, NPR; What to do if you're struggling with your mental health at work

"When you're not in the right headspace, being at work can be difficult. 

Whether it's depression, burnout, anxiety or something else, struggling with your mental health while you're waiting tables or sitting behind a desk can disrupt your life and your job. 

But there's a stigma to taking time off to care for your mental health that's not present with physical health. The mindset is, "Just work, work, work, push through it and get to the other end and deal with it," says Jody Adewale, a Los Angeles-based psychologist and medical advisor for the mental health advocacy foundation, Made of Millions. 

Addressing your mental health needs is important — and human. "It's not a character flaw or a character defect or a sign of weakness," says Adewale. "It's something that everyone I think on this planet will experience at one point or another in their life."

Life Kit asked mental health professionals how to spot an issue and what the options are when you do. 

While we know there's no such thing as the perfect job, there are tools for both employees and managers to make work a better place to be...

Resources

Here's a non-exhaustive list of resources for workplace mental health:

• The CDC offers a wealth of resources, including a glossary of terms and suggestions for managers.
• Did you know you can train in mental health first aid? Here's where to find training and mental health aid resources. 
• Made of Millions is a global mental health advocacy group that offers lots of training and resources. Here's their letter to your manager, and here's their global directory of resources.
• Not 9 to 5 is a global non-profit focusing on mental health advocacy in the foodservice and hospitality sectors. Their website offers a lot of great workplace mental health resources.
• Here's a breakdown of how to implement psychological safety in the workplace, from ShiftCollab, a therapy collective

Let Children Get Bored Again; The New York Times, February 2, 2019

Pamela Paul, The New York Times;

Let Children Get Bored Again

Boredom teaches us that life isn’t a parade of amusements. More important, it spawns creativity and self-sufficiency.

"Kids won’t listen to long lectures, goes the argument, so it’s on us to serve up learning in easier-to-swallow portions.

But surely teaching children to endure boredom rather than ratcheting up the entertainment will prepare them for a more realistic future, one that doesn’t raise false expectations of what work or life itself actually entails. One day, even in a job they otherwise love, our kids may have to spend an entire day answering Friday’s leftover email. They may have to check spreadsheets. Or assist robots at a vast internet-ready warehouse.

This sounds boring, you might conclude. It sounds like work, and it sounds like life. Perhaps we should get used to it again, and use it to our benefit. Perhaps in an incessant, up-the-ante world, we could do with a little less excitement."