Mental Health is something we are always discussing here at LABUR. We have continued to adapt and grow our knowledge on the importance of mental health and we discuss it often during our monthly DE&I Council meetings. As we continue to learn about all of the various layers of mental health, we started thinking about how it affects us all individually. One aspect we chose to dive deeper into is stress and specifically how to handle stress. To think more in depth about how stress affects us on a daily basis we asked our team members, “How do you de-stress at the end of each day or what do you do to help you focus on your mental health?”
Check out how some of our team members here at LABUR focus on their mental health:
Nick Regan, Managing Director, Delivery
After work I enjoy keeping active and spending time with family. While work is a passion of mine, family and health come first. To me, there is nothing more rewarding and satisfying than sitting down to family dinner after a productive day of work and getting my blood pumping with a workout! With two young girls at home, combining health and family allows me to practice good habits while also teaching them the importance of a healthy work life balance. Keeping physically active and spending time with family clears my mind of all the stresses and allows me to focus on what’s most important and makes me more effective in my work.
Elise Cobb, Junior Associate, Delivery & Care Team Coordinator
I know I have shared a number of blog posts and articles on the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance and prioritizing mental health, so I figured it was time for me to share my own experience.
My favorite way to unwind after work is baking bread. I love the entire process–mixing dough by hand, patiently waiting and judging the rise, cranking the oven to 500 degrees to bake, and of course eating the finished product! Still, the best part is being able to share the bread with others.
When I first moved to Boston, I would bake around once a week for myself and my two roommates–enough to keep the hobby up, but not as satisfying as the multiple bakes per week I was doing in college. I wanted to bake more, but there is only so much bread three girls can eat (it is still a lot)! So, to satiate hunger for baking and feed the people I care about around me, I began bringing bread into the office to share with my coworkers.
I am so grateful to able to share baking bread, something important to me outside of work, with my colleagues in the office. Bringing a loaf of sourdough, focaccia, cinnamon raisin, etc. into work has made LABUR feel more like home than ever.
Darrin Lang, CEO & Co-Founder
When at all possible, I utilize my love for cooking to decompress from the day, and if not possible, I enjoy a good cooking show or two. To me, it’s therapeutic to engross myself in something that provides immediate gratification. I think we can all agree that most of our professional journey is in fact that, a journey, and doesn’t always generate immediate gratification. It can be the journey that tires us out a bit, tests our mental resilience, as well as our faith. Cooking, or learning to cook via shows, takes my mind off of what I can’t control and restores any positivity I have lost from a hard day’s work.
Anna Healy, Team Lead, Delivery
After work, something I enjoy doing is drawing and doing arts and crafts. This is something that I grew up doing frequently as a child and has always been an outlet for me to unwind and destress. Drawing allows me to express myself, spend some time away from a screen and is great activity to do with friends!
Nina Dooley, Junior Associate, Delivery
After work, my favorite activity is playing soccer as a member of Northeastern University’s Division I Women’s Soccer Team.
Throughout my career, I have been lucky enough to travel around the country playing the sport that I love, while also creating life-long friendships with my teammates. Through soccer, I have learned to be a competitive leader, to be self-accountable, and to be a strong communicator.
This spring, I am balancing my 40-hour-week co-op with a Division I sport. My favorite way to decompress and de-stress is to get out on the field with my teammates. There is nothing I enjoy more than having the opportunity to push myself athletically while getting in a good laugh with my best friends.