Simple Actions You Can Take on World Mental Health Day 2024 | Johns Hopkins

World Mental Health Day is awarded each year on October 10th and the official theme for 2024 is “It’s time to prioritize mental health in the workplace.' This topic highlights various aspects of mental health in the workplace, from workplace conditions and stress management to the importance of social inclusion and empowerment.

Every manager and every employee can make a contribution to promoting mental health in the workplace. Here are a few simple actions you can take that day and other working days to support the mental health and wellbeing of you and your colleagues.

Here's how you can support mental health in the workplace:

• Express gratitude. A simple expression of gratitude to those around you can promote quality relationships and a more positive and collaborative workplace. Not only the recipients benefit from the campaign, but also those who express it.
• Practice email etiquette. When writing emails, be sure to include an accurate subject line, a concise summary of your request, and a clear timeline or deadline. Feel free to indicate “No reply required” or “Not time sensitive” at the beginning of an email to help recipients prioritize their time. If you want specific people to reply to your email, put them in the recipient line rather than the CC line, and use Reply All only when necessary.
• Don’t prioritize meetings and non-meeting days. Designate two or three meeting-free work days per month and ask employees not to schedule meetings on those days. You can also set up meeting-free days, encouraging participants to be careful about scheduling only meetings that are deemed essential.
• Participate in mindfulness activities. Take a few moments throughout your day to pause and focus on the present. You can spend a few minutes doing deep breathing exercises or meditation to clear your head, improve your mood, and improve your overall well-being during the workday. Resources like the Calm app are great ways to access mindfulness activities.
• Practice job crafting. Try to practice Job crafting for a change throughout the day. You can try changing the type, scope, order and number of tasks that make up your work today, bringing people into contact with each other with whom you never interact but who could be related to your work, or to look at some of your tasks from a different perspective.
• Be a source of social support. Try to actively listen to some colleagues and offer them emotional support. If you hold a supervisory role, it is important that you proactively create a psychologically safe environment, role model mental health practices, and be a source of social support for members of your team.

These practices are just a few examples to consider on World Mental Health Day and beyond to improve mental health in the workplace. Remember that prioritizing mental health in the workplace isn’t just a one-day affair; It is an ongoing commitment that benefits everyone.