4 ways to help you manage stress

Working from home has been an adjustment for many people around the world, including our employee. As we continue to adapt and find new routines, we can’t forget to take care of ourselves, especially as we may be caring for others, trying to stay connected with friends and family, and working toward goals.

Blending work and home in the same space remains a challenge, and we may be feeling more stressed than ever. Here are a few simple actions that can help you manage stress and take care of yourself, according to Dr. Kent Bradley, health and wellbeing advocate, and Dr. Kelly McGonigal, health psychologist and Stanford University lecturer.

1. Find routines that work for you and your household

Whether you’ve replaced your morning commute time with a walk around the neighborhood or you’re helping your children with distance learning during the day, finding the right routine can help you feel more centered. You could start your day with a quick yoga session, a quiet cup of coffee in your kitchen, or schedule a weekly virtual happy hour with friends or colleagues.

For Adobe employees, we’ve been having them utilize LifeDojo, our behavior change program that can help you build one positive new habit at a time with the help of a life coach over the course of 12 weeks.

2. Move

Research suggests that certain movements can help us have more energy and improve our outlook on life. Try this three-minute series of movements from Dr. Kelly McGonigal, which can be modified depending on your physical ability.

• Stretch and Take Up Space (1 minute): Move and stretch any part of your body, whether it be your face, neck, arms, or legs.
• Shake and Bounce (1 minute): Shake your hair, hands, or arms and bob your head or shoulders up and down.
• Making Circles (1 minute): Move anything you can in circles — maybe your neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, or legs.

Repeat as needed when you start to feel tired or are having trouble focusing. Take it up a notch and work out a few times per week if possible. For Adobe employees, we have virtual group exercise and even recommendations for family fitness fun.

3. Reframe your mindset

It can be easy to dwell on negative feelings or feel overwhelmed by a constant stream of troubling news. When we reframe our perspective to focus on what we’re grateful for, we can start to see our daily lives in a different way.

Take time to think about what you’re grateful for and consider writing it down and having it near you during the day to help redirect your mindset toward the positive.

4. Make time to rest

When you don’t give yourself time to relax and recharge, burnout can hold you back from finding joy in everyday things. Be sure to take time away from work to rest, sleep, and take care of yourself.

While it’s important to rest your body, it’s just as important to give your mind a break, which is why we offer Adobe employees free access to the Headspace App and other meditation experiences.

There are home situations that may make working from home more challenging and require more patience and understanding during this time. At Adobe, we encourage employees worldwide to talk to their manager about flexible schedule options and explore time off benefits to help balance personal needs with the needs of the business.

How we’re supporting our employees

We care about how our employees feel — from good health and eating well to being happy and resilient. Wellbeing is about how you feel physically and emotionally, which helps employees bring their best self to any situation. Some of our meaningful benefits include:

• Wellbeing resources: The health and wellbeing of our employees is always our top priority, and resources are available to alleviate stress and anxiety. Employees have access to resources such as virtual wellbeing seminars, 24/7 counseling services, apps for meditation and personal health coaching, and a wellness reimbursement fund.
• Virtual learning: We pivoted our live employee career development courses by creating a virtual learning series aligned to our Adobe Capabilities to ensure that we keep investing in and supporting our people managers and employees during this time. Courses range from how to lead virtual teams, leading through change, building inclusion, and more.
• Work from home expense fund: As work and home blend into the same space, this fund provides $500 USD to all employees to create comfortable and ergonomically friendly workspaces.
• Time-off grace period: To help those who face extenuating circumstances that make it difficult to work from home, we offered a grace period to employees who accrue time off wherein they are able to take time off without deducting from their paid time-off balance.
• Regular company-wide day off: Taking time off is important to manage life outside of work or recharge, even if we can’t go anywhere. While we have PTO and COVID-19 time-off benefits available for employees to use, we know that there is power in taking time off together to fully unplug. In 2020, we instituted a global day off every three weeks on Fridays. In 2021, we have continued our global days off to align with monthly cultural events, such as Lunar New Year, International Women’s Day, and more.