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For most of us, work isn’t usually synonymous with playfulness or kid-like wonder. But there’s plenty of evidence that we collectively need something less-serious to perk up our workdays. Udemy Business reports that some 

 of employees are bored at work, and psychologists tout downtime as 

Further, some research supports that focusing on 

 in general can make people, in fact, feel happier. This might come in the form of small 

 during our daily routines, like savoring a snack or exchanging GIFs with an office BFF. Taken one step further, “

”—tapping into childlike nostalgia and joy—can incite a mood and creativity boost that spills over into the rest of our work.

Next time you or your team are feeling stuck in the day-to-day, try a nostalgic, just-for-fun activity to spark some kid-like joy. Beyond a benefit of immediate lightheartedness, your current work challenges may just feel a bit lighter, too. Start with one of the easy-to-execute ideas below, then let your imagination run free.

One of the quickest routes to reliving your past in the best way: Cue up a playlist with all your favorite hits of yesterday. Blondie, Modest Mouse, old-school Mariah… choose your own adventure! Throw on the top tracks you used to listen to while flopped on your bed in high school and rock out while you tick off your to-do list. Turn up the fun as a team by soliciting songs for a shared throwbacks-themed playlist.

For delicious-smelling cheer, pull out a favorite family recipe and get baking. (Extra points for bakes with sprinkles, marshmallows, or other kid-approved elements.) You’ll be the star of the office when you bring your creations in to share the next morning. 

If you’re WFH, snacking on homemade goods is pretty much guaranteed to put a sweet pep in your step. Whether you grew up craving cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies, or pumpkin bread, recreating the recipes of your past is a surefire way to get some nostalgia kicking.

If you have kids or friends who do, you’ve probably seen some colorful finger painting, creative stick figures, and abstract cut-and-paste artwork that shines despite its lack of technical skill. Sure, fondness for the mini artist who made it comes into play, but the idea of making something hands-on without pressure for it to be “good” or have a “point” can feel especially freeing as an adult. 

 and try a simple, low-barrier craft like painting pottery, building a terrarium, or making candles (easy with a kit) with your colleagues. See if your team budget will cover the cost of supplies, or if leadership is willing to bring on a pro to lead the group.

Remember when you were a kid and your parents told you they’d pick you up at school and take you somewhere special? Whatever the destination, it made the school day fly by with excitement. Recreate the experience by planning something purely fun (even silly!) after work. 

Play unapologetically: Set a date to go ice skating, see a cheesy movie—with popcorn, candy, and soda, of course—or rally your team to go to an arcade-themed bar or another 

Want to Be Happier at Work? Have Some Fun

Recently, New Stand CEO David Garcia joined an I Hate It Here 

 on wellbeing in the workplace, hosted by people-ops pro Hebba Youssef. The pair put their combined experience together to address common stumbling blocks when it comes to improving company culture from the inside. 

Read on for their strategic answers to live questions from HR pros about turning wellbeing intentions into effective action, handling disengaged leadership, and leveling with an employee who isn’t meeting expectations.

I'm starting a mental-wellness employee resource group at my company. We're struggling to go beyond vague goals to daily action. What do you recommend?

HEBBA: I highly encourage you to find a professional who can help, somebody who can help facilitate a conversation. If the ERG has a budget, ask for it. One, because your mental health is important. And, there are parts of our mental health that are confidential, so none of your employees should feel like they have to disclose confidential information about what they're dealing with in an unsafe or unfit space.

DAVID: Ask, what role do you want the employee resource group to serve? Is it an education function? Is it a development function? Is it a support community? Then you can build out what the daily actuals are.


What about when you're new and notice that culture is low, but the org doesn’t seem to have a desire for change?

DAVID: It's on you to assess the company during your interview process. If you've identified this before you join and decided to join anyway, I think you do have a responsibility to help promote positive work culture and be the change. A lot of times, one person can change a group dynamic, so you could be that person. 

If you joined and unexpectedly encountered this kind of low culture or that the company has no desire to evolve, you need to assess the trade-offs. Are there aspects of your role—like increased scope or pay—that you're willing to trade off culture or wellbeing for? Or are you willing to make the additional investment in that company to see it grow?

If the answer to one of those questions is no, then you've made a decision that you have to revisit. If the answer to either one of those questions is yes, consider whether or not you want to stay and get something out of it. What is winning to you?

HEBBA: Sometimes it's really hard to change an organization. I'm not saying it's impossible, or that we should run away and be scared of it. But human beings do not like change. So if you join an org where there's low desire for change, it's worth exploring 

 What are they afraid of? And how can you as a People person unlock that fear for them, where they end up becoming an organization that wants to change?

That's big-picture stuff, but it's something to think about. I would never tell anyone to take an HR job if they do not like conflict—a big part of change will probably incite some kind of conflict.

How do you deal with an employee who uses wellbeing issues as an excuse for not completing tasks?

DAVID: In my experience, most people come to work wanting to do a good job and do not come to work with the intention of 'getting one over'  their employer. So I don't think you design policy around edge cases. But for employees who are not working with integrity, you need to have coaching conversations and set clear expectations around performance and what is acceptable behavior.

This goes back to high-quality management. You have to be able to have a nuanced, one-on-one discussion about wellbeing, as it relates to your personal state, as well as how it connects to performance. You need to be able to discuss taking advantage of trust and accommodations the company is providing. It’s a conversation that requires a high degree of empathy, but also confidence in the assessment.

"Most people do not come to work with the intention of 'getting one over' their employer."

HEBBA: When a manager comes to me and says someone is not performing or completing their tasks, the first question I ask is, ‘Have you told them what's expected of them?’ It's also the first question in the 

 Q12 Employee Engagement Survey. Knowing what's expected of you at work contributes to engagement. If a manager says ‘no,’ I tell them that they need to go tell their team member the expectations first—and come back to me if, after that, they're still not performing. If there's anything I can fix in this world, it's manager training.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

3 Major Company Culture Challenges, Answered

This month, our CEO David Garcia joined Hebba Youssef, chief people officer at Workweek, to kick off season two of Youssef's HR Therapy discussion series. Watch their 

 on "Why You Should Care About Employee Wellbeing,"

and read on for the key insights Dave shared, in his own words, for improving workplace wellness.

How can employers positively affect employee wellbeing? To me this is a cultural question. Culture as the way teams manifest, share, and protect their collective beliefs. So the first step is, do you believe wellbeing is important? Then, how is that manifested? How is it protected?

With this approach, there are three things an employer can do to promote wellbeing:

1. introduce healthy, guilt-free downtime

Downtime should make up 20% of the workday, and it's one of the most necessary aspects of your day. Downtime increases productivity and creativity and improves brain health. 

The challenge is that when you engage in downtime, you have "productivity guilt." Productivity guilt is hustle culture dragging over into how you're assessing yourself, where you're feeling like you should be doing more. Productivity guilt can be reinforced formally, like when you reward effort instead of outcomes, or informally, like a late night message from the boss with the expectation that you're responding.

Downtime is like sleep. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Most downtime today is spent browsing the web—scrolling Twitter is not necessarily good for your brain health. As an employer, you can make genuinely refreshing and recharging socially acceptable. You can do that formally by scheduling meetings to default for 15 or 45 minutes, or eliminating stacked meetings so people have times to refresh. 

Productivity guilt is hustle culture dragging over into ... feeling like you should be doing more. 

You can even do something like Shopify did recently, which is remove all recurring meetings. If you're more of a remote culture, you can move away from instant messaging and Slack and use email and internal blog posts more, so people can work async and not feel like they're always required to respond.

I know somebody who only schedules 25 or 45 minute meetings, giving people 5 or 15 minutes back. I've found myself running from meeting to meeting and being like, “I'm so sorry, I need to use the bathroom, or eat this oatmeal.” I was like, why am I showing up half myself? Because I had no downtime to recharge in between.

At New Stand, we think about relationships through shared experience. Sadness is intrinsically tied to community—do you feel fellowship with your colleagues? Take the concept of a work best friend, or you may have called it a “work spouse” in the past. If you have a best friend at work, you're 2x more likely to report satisfaction at work. Because you have a trusted person you can express yourself to in a safe way.

As an employer, you can encourage low-pressure socialization, something like an onsite event. We've hosted things like truffle-tasting workshops which have no impact on work, but people get to meet new colleagues and try something out. Or if you're remote, you can play a game on something like Zoom and even invite team members to join in anonymously, so people can just get into the habit.

Ultimately these are demonstrations of care from the employer to the employee. One of the big things we track is, do you as an employee feel like your employer cares about you? If you say yes to that question, you're 9x more likely to stay at a company for more than three years. That, to me, is the biggest thing an employer can do—demonstrate your care.

If you have a best friend at work, you're 2x more likely to report satisfaction at work.

The last thing is the most important and the one I'm most passionate about. If we go back to wellbeing being informed by your outlook for the future, recognition is one of the most important aspects of why you work somewhere and why you stay. So creating a culture of recognition is incredibly important in fostering wellbeing.

Most people get some kind of recognition annually, but only around 2% of people receive recognition every day. About a third of your staff never gets recognized at all. And it's not just about low performance; people are just not being recognized. As part of cultivating stronger leaders, we need to teach why recognition is so important, and also 

 you recognize: You acknowledge effort, recognize contributions, and then reward outcomes. Because if you reward effort on its own, you only cultivate hustle culture.

You literally pay nothing to recognize someone. When people are like, ‘Oh, I can't do employee wellness, we don't have money, we're in a recession,’ recognition is free. You can go recognize your employees and they will have higher satisfaction at work. 

About a third of your staff never gets recognized at all. And it's not just about low performance.

If there’s one thing leaders can do to start improving wellbeing at work, what would it be?

Introduce guilt-free downtime. Make taking a break socially acceptable at work. It doesn't cost you anything. It's the idea that you can opt out of a meeting if you need to go for a walk or do whatever you need to do. 

The way we think about work since the pandemic has definitely helped advance us, but there were also steps backward, like this bleed-over in time. The stat is something like you're working 20% to 30% more when you work from home, because you start earlier, stop later, you’re working through lunch. And this has affected our perception of how and when to show up.

 The hardest part as HR professionals is that a lot of our leadership teams don't want their employees to take breaks, secretly. So when we introduce this concept of guilt-free downtime, it's going to be interesting to see how leadership reacts. Because ultimately, your culture should be modeled by your leaders.

3 Ways to Improve Employee Wellbeing ASAP

If you’re like most people, the turn of the calendar year might have inspired you to make a few wellness intentions. Whether you’ve resolved to start taking AcroYoga regularly, experiment with adding greens to more meals, or just take more long outdoor walks, these new practices are often easy to implement—and difficult to keep going.

Likewise, if you’re a leader or employer, you’re likely surrounded by people who’ve resolved to pursue some healthy habits this year. These habits are key to keeping employees happy (and productive!), since wellness strategies can help ward off the evil of burnout. Encouraging a workplace environment that prioritizes mental and physical wellbeing is the first step, but here are a few specific suggestions to help support your cohort as they pursue personal wellness year-round.

No man is an island, as a wise man once said. Set up regular opportunities for interested coworkers to meet for fitness-related activities. Instead of your next work-sponsored happy hour, get a group together for a brisk hike or a game of basketball. For those who committed to moving their bodies more regularly in 2023, connecting with others who are engaging in like-minded pursuits increases the chance of continuing on when the going gets tough.

Wellness begins in the mind, and we’ve all learned that therapy and meditation are key to fostering a healthy lifestyle. If your company doesn’t already offer mental health benefits, inquire with HR about potential new perks like a corporate account with a mindfulness service such as 

 can similarly make everyday wellbeing more accessible. And a recurring behavioral health workshop or speaker series is another great way to put wellness front and center long-term.

Signing up for a gym membership is one of the most obvious yet effective ways to put your money where your mouth is and get started on a new fitness routine. If you can help by creating an option for those at your company to join a gym for a discount (or for free!), or by sharing an already existing option, now is the time. Your colleagues will appreciate it—and an irresistible promo might just be the incentive they need to keep up their new gym-rat lifestyle.

It’s a new year, but for many, the feeling of being burned out continues. One of the best ways to counteract burnout is to take time away from work. Some companies have caught on and even offer designated wellness or mental health days, but if yours doesn’t, consider allowing your employees to take a sick day from time to time to recharge. 

Not in a decision-making position? Tap your manager to get their temp on the occasional personal day to recoup after an intense period, or even a couple half days if that’s all you can swing. If those you work with are feeling centered and calm, there’s a way better chance they’ll be able to honor their wellness intentions—and professional commitments.

In January, there’s wind in everyone’s sails, and setting intentions feels easy-breezy: “Of course I can do that all year!” But then February comes, then March… To maintain focus, try challenging your team to keep an intention journal this year—and do it yourself, too. Every day, take a minute or two to jot down something about your goal. How did it feel to accomplish it? What did it feel like on a day you couldn’t quite achieve it?

Journaling might be inherently personal, but you can make the challenge more communal between coworkers to help keep each other motivated. Start a Slack channel to cheer each other on, or feature team members and their wellness commitments on the company Instagram account. Even just checking off a shared habit tracker can help keep you and your fellow journalers more accountable. Either way, writing things down in black and white will help you and your teammates stay on the path to healthier living.

How to Support Employee Wellbeing All Year Long

If you’re someone whose Airpods are a semi-permanent feature while running errands, commuting, or trying to find zen in Trader Joe’s, then we bet you’re already a podcast connoisseur. Luckily for anyone interested in upgrading your Monday to Friday, there are a bunch of options out there to inspire, improve, and enhance work life for you and your team. We’ve rounded up our favorites below.

As an organizational psychologist (e.g. someone who focuses on the science of human behavior at work), Adam Grant is an expert on what makes people in the workplace tick. In this podcast, he speaks with a wide range of professionals—top execs, Olympic athletes, a server-turned-CEO—to explore the science of how to make your workplace healthier and function better.

There's a whole lot of leadership and business advice out there to read, listen to, and scroll (and scroll and scroll) through—but not much of it focuses on hard truths facing women of color in the workplace. Each episode of 

addresses challenges like racial gaslighting, having your name mispronounced by a coworker, or being addressed as the most junior person in the room… when you’re the boss. Hosts Dee C. Marshall and Mita Mallick share insights from their own careers, and give practical tips along the way on how to thrive at work.

Each week, host Guy Raz interviews the world’s best-known entrepreneurs on the story behind their instantly recognizable brands. All the big names are here: from TaskRabbit to Telfar, Jetblue to Casper. For an open conversation with the best in the biz about navigating challenges in business, leadership, and how to bounce back from failure—you can’t go wrong.

Keeping up with the onslaught of news breaking every day and maintaining some sort of peace in your notifications can be challenging—particularly when some of that news could be critical to your work. To manage the onslaught, we like this daily rundown of top business stories. Recent eps covered inflation, the gig economy, and those losing out in the job-market recovery. Plus, episodes are a digestible 25 to 27 minutes.

“Inflation may be losing steam … here and there”

Have you ever wanted an agony aunt for all your weird and wacky workplace questions? Author Anne Helen Petersen’s recently launched podcast delivers practical workplace advice in response to real listener questions. For example: “What do I do when my company thinks our toxic culture can be fixed with Taco Tuesdays?” Inspired by her popular newsletter, the pod will feature similar deep dives on workplace conundrums like calendar etiquette, flexible WFH policies, and the concept of lunch (important!). Listen for validation that you’re not the only one overthinking Slack, and submit your questions 

“Big Office Feelings with Josh Gondelman”

Looking for practical steps to kick-start your entrepreneurial side, or just want to add some inspiring success stories to your vision board? On 

, Nicaila Matthews Okome interviews Black women entrepreneurs (like Myleik Teele of CurlBox and Lisa Price of Carol's Daughter), who share their strategies, challenges, and wins on their way to building profitable businesses. Along the way, Nicaila shares real, practical steps for building your own success story—from financing and funding, to finding a retailer, to knowing when it's time to hire.

“321: How Shontay Lundy Got Black Girl Sunscreen in Every Target in America”

Are you thrilled when someone suggests kicking off the meeting with a round of icebreakers? If so, you might like this podcast by famous Chicago improv theater, Second City. 

 applies the art of improv to the workplace. Featuring conversations with writers and experts who are challenging conventional business approaches, host Kelly Leonard, Executive Director of Learning and Applied Improvisation at Second City, explores how improvisation practices can impact your work life and your business.

“Kathryn Finney – Genius Guild – Investing in amazing Black founders”

7 Podcasts to Boost Your Workday

More employers today are focusing on how to create an environment that doesn’t just foster good work but also satisfaction and fulfillment for their employees, including when it comes to health and wellbeing. Outlets like 

 have noted that the concept of employee wellbeing has expanded beyond physical wellness to include considerations like mental health, emotional safety, and sense of purpose.

We sifted through a swirl of reporting about employee wellbeing to get a sense of the conversation this past year, and what the future of wellness at work may look like. Read on for five points we’re taking with us.

Employee Wellbeing Isn’t Just About Work

, individual wellbeing encompasses five aspects: career, social, financial, physical, and community wellbeing. While it’s obvious employers can impact career wellbeing, they can positively impact overall wellbeing by offering support in other arenas, too. 

Promoting holistically happy team members—who then show up more engaged in the workplace—could include providing financial literacy resources, stocking healthy snacks, creating affinity groups, and helping teams get involved in the neighborhood.

Managers Set the Example for Workplace Wellness

Three main ways org leaders can help foster a less anxious workplace, per 

: Lead wellness from the front, make unstructured time social, and think about how company benefits can target wellness. When interviewed, many employees said it’s hard to take  initiatives like days off seriously when all the managers are still working. Holding leaders accountable for prioritizing wellness on their teams—and modeling it themselves—empowers everyone else to follow suit.

Holding leaders accountable for prioritizing wellness on their teams—and modeling it themselves—empowers everyone else to follow suit.

Personal Hardship Should Be Part of the Plan

 observes that, unfortunately, we’ll all experience grief and loss—and that will inevitably impact our work worlds. Being able to support and accommodate team members through the big and difficult things in life is an important part of building a work environment that values wellbeing. Writer Zane Landin urges employers to be proactive in creating emotional spaces for employees to share and acknowledge struggles they may be going through.

LGBTQ+ Workers May Be Apt Mental Health Leaders

 points to data from Mind Share Partners’ 

 that suggests LGBTQ+ workers have the ability and opportunity to become mental health leaders in the workforce. Per the study, individuals in the community are frequently affected by mental health-related and othering experiences, and were “more likely to feel comfortable talking about their mental health at work.” So they may be primed to lead in wellbeing, not just for their own communities but for the workplace at large.

Yup, Working Fewer Hours Makes People Happier

Is simply working less a wellbeing magic bullet? We’re not saying yes, but we’re not… 

 saying yes. A huge survey in the UK about the four-day work week is at its halfway point and 

 reports, “88% of surveyed participants said that the four-day work week is working well for their business.” 

Anecdotally, executives are seeing increased employee wellness with their new schedules. While this doesn’t mean none of us should ever work a Friday again, it’s worth thinking creatively about extending time off in ways that work for our respective workplaces.

5 Fresh Takes on Employee Wellbeing

It’s no surprise that health is at the front of nearly everyone’s mind right now, and you may be curious about what your options are when it comes to taking more time off than just a few sick days. While many of us have a vague awareness that medical leave exists, you might not know exactly how it works. (Yes, it can be intimidating; no, it’s not just you.)

To clear up any confusion off the bat: All companies with 50 or more employees, as well as public agencies and public and private schools, are legally required to grant 

 (people who’ve worked for the employer for 12 months and for 1,250 hours within those 12 months) up to 12 weeks of medical leave a year, per the Family and Medical Leave Act. But it’s important to note that this law doesn’t apply to everyone, and leave still may not be simple to take for those it does.

Owen L., a former software engineer for a tech company*, took medical leave from August to December 2021. I emailed him to talk through the highs and lows of making that happen. Read on for his firsthand tips for pursuing it, moving through the process, and, of course, making sure you take care of yourself.

Medical leave is for everyone, not just “exceptional” cases

If your condition is seriously getting in the way of you having a productive work day, then medical leave is for you. The point of this right is that your job will be protected while you take the time you need—within the federal law’s 12-week stipulation. Know that you may not get paid depending on the specifics of your company’s policy, but your healthcare benefits will continue. 

“I don’t remember the exact moment that I learned about taking medical leave, but I think it was during my first few months working at my then-employer,” Owen explains. “I remember thinking ‘Oh, it isn’t just reserved for a very tiny selection of people who are on their literal deathbeds?’”

Medical leave can be for anything from a mental health issue to any kind of physical ailment that gets in the way of your ability to perform your job. A sudden, severe accident or illness, a significant chronic health condition, or recovery from a major surgery (along with an endless range of other situations) would all qualify.

Know your story and be ready to put it to paper

When applying for paid leave, be sure to have documentation from your medical doctor of the issues you’re experiencing (such as a letter and/or redacted medical report)—and have it ready with as much advance notice as possible. Talk to your doctor about what they think, both in terms of the scope of your leave and how to best explain why you qualify for it.

Owen’s psychiatrist, for instance, signed off on the relevant attestations describing his mental-health situation. Still, his first application was denied. After talking to others who’d taken leave from his company (through an anonymous forum for employees), it became clear he’d need to provide a more spelled-out narrative of why this break was necessary.

The lesson: Even if you’re denied, consider reapplying with different or stronger documentation. Review your paperwork for missing info, and check with the party processing it for any clerical errors or feedback. (If it’s really a “no,” you can still pursue unpaid leave, if that’s viable for you.)

If your condition is seriously getting in the way of having a productive work day, then medical leave is for you.

Tell your team as much or as little as you want

You’re legally entitled to medical privacy at work, so talking to your team is up to you. Love your boss? Go ahead and share anything you want to about your leave, but you aren’t obligated to. “I just made a meeting with my manager and was like, ‘I’m going on medical leave for two months, maybe longer,’” says Owen. “I was really vague because I felt kind of self-conscious about it, but I also knew there was no expectation for me to say anything past that.”

Owen adds: “My manager responded by being like, ‘Oh god, I hope you’re okay! Definitely take the time you need.’ Overall, it’s probably the ideal response.” With coworkers, Owen was more open about what he was going through and even asked another coworker who’d also just taken leave for advice about how to approach it. This support made the whole thing seem less like an elephant in the room.

Figure out what you’ll need to return to work successfully

Leave can also be an opportunity to plan out how to prioritize your health when you do go back to work, whether those are support services you need at your job, changes in how you personally approach work, or other measures. Owen spent some of his time away figuring out how to steer his career in a direction that would minimize stress. “That time to rest and reassess everything was so important,” he says.

You can make an action plan for your return to work by thinking about if you need any new accommodations in your role. This might mean proposing or requesting things like switching to remote work, changing your schedule, or requiring more accessible tools and spaces in your workplace. You may even need to switch jobs within your company depending on the nature of your leave, which is also a protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Upon his return, Owen reports, “People were generally understanding that I would need some time to ‘ramp back up,’ which was helpful.” If you’re overwhelmed getting back into things, talk with your manager and team about your plan to ease in and what that timing could look like. Coming back to work shouldn’t be scary; start fresh with a work-life balance that works for you.

*Owen’s departure from the company didn’t have to do with his taking time away from work.

So You’re Curious About Medical Leave

Athletic superstars may endorse the benefits of breakfast (thanks to the cereal industrial complex), but most of us non-Olympians would rather hit snooze than plan beyond a black coffee and questionably brown banana. The good news is, you don’t need two hours and Serena’s skills to make a breakfast fit for champions. Try one of these under-30 minute breakfast options next time you need to quiet your symphony of stomach growls (yes, we can hear it on the 9am Zoom).

Wishing you were on a warm beach halfway across the world, instead of robotically replying, “Yes, I can see your screen?” Try this for a 5-minute vacation: Find some plantains (check out your bodega or specialty grocery store), or a couple bananas will do. Slice your plantains lengthwise or diagonally, so you end up with pointed ovals. Melt a pat of butter in your pan, toss in the plantains, and cook until everything starts looking golden and syrupy.

If you’re using bananas, be sure to coat them lightly with brown sugar before you cook. Now drop them on top of a bowl of your favorite yogurt, then bless the whole situation with some crunch. We like a handful of toasted nuts or coconut, but do you. (Full recipe 

This one goes out to all the hard-working souls who deal with kids, a dog, or a side gig on top of their commute every morning. (Bonus if too much of your paycheck is going to your daily 

 habit.) The night before, grab a muffin tin and coat the cups generously with cooking spray (asking your kids to smear olive oil on with their fingers totally counts) before filling about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way with your usual scrambled egg mixture.

Top with bacon and shredded cheddar, or play Ina cooking for Jeffrey with some prosciutto and chopped broccoli rabe. Bake until the egg sets and begins to fill each cup, about 20 minutes. Once they’re done to your liking, take them out and let cool for 5 minutes at room temp before you stick them in the fridge. Pop a couple of these one-bite wonders in the middle of drop-off line drama or while being pulled down the street by your Great Dane mix. Not stealing another pack of your kid’s Pop-Tarts sounds like a win to us.

Chinese Fried Soy-Sauce Eggs (With Congee)

Your boss unexpectedly canceled the first meeting of the day, *air fist pump*. Or, you’re in a procrastination spiral for an assignment that’s due by noon. Either way, treat yourself (deadlines are hard!) with some morning umami via this no-brainer fried-egg upgrade. 

Heat a glug or two of oil in a pan and crack in your eggs. Don’t skip heating your pan first; it’s the trick to getting those nice, crispy edges. Once the yolks are about set, pour on a few drops of low-sodium soy sauce so the flavor gets a chance to soak into said crispy edges. Eat plain, or serve over 

. Feeling your Emily Mariko-influenced self? Sprinkle on some chopped scallions and chili crisp, or drizzle on sesame oil to taste.

Waking up at 8:50am for a 9am conference call is one of those moments that helps us appreciate WFH life, even despite the brief emotional crisis upon waking. Once you’ve found your laptop and located the meeting link to click at the ready, pop open a box of pancake mix and make the batter according to the directions on the package. 

Drop the batter in small pancake-sized dollops onto a microwave-safe plate and nuke for 45 seconds to start. Check them; maybe add some chocolate chips or rainbow sprinkles because you deserve it. Continue to microwave for 15-second increments until your tester fork comes out clean. Now turn that camera off, and leave the walk for a $7 croissant to tomorrow.

If it’s only Wednesday but you’ve already woken up twice thinking it’s Friday, go ahead and pretend you’re brunching on a Saturday. This sophisticated, 2.0 toast is a fresh option when avocado toast has started to feel a little plebeian (the horror). This gem, discovered while spelunking through 

, is a smart way to make use of any particularly oily, ready-made pesto, not to mention a great time-saver. 

Simply plop some pesto (slightly less than a dollop, but more than you think) in place of oil when cooking your eggs. You’ll end up with an incredibly herby, eggy topping for your favorite crusty bread. Top it off with red pepper flakes to give things a kick. And if you’re offended by the idea of avocado being played out, go ahead and add it!

Now that your #fitfam coworker has finally convinced you to try keto, give this healthy (masochistic?) take on an everything bagel with cream cheese a shot. It tastes kind of like a Philadelphia sushi roll without the rice, and with way more pepper crunch. 

Slice open a bell pepper lengthwise, clean out the insides, and spread on your cream cheese. The vegan kind works fine, if you want to talk about it incessantly later. (Just kidding, we’re actually deeply invested in the tofu vs. other subs debate.) Top with everything bagel seasoning and your cured meat of choice, like soppressata. As with a lot of things, the spicier, the better.

6 Non-Boring Breakfasts You Can Make in Under 30 Minutes 

We could reasonably be accused of spinning the content wheel and landing on “horoscopes” this week (SEO is a harsh mistress). But it’s also nice to let go of any illusion that we’re really in control of what’s going on in the universe, let alone the factors determining our daily lives toiling at dual monitors. Cosmos take the wheel, baby!

One thing we do know is what it feels like to tell ourselves, with the best intentions, that we just need to make it through this week. But refilling our tanks doesn’t just magically happen in our precious off-hours. To that end, when you’re down to 5% charge physically, mentally, and emotionally, try these celestially aligned ways to decompress, recalibrate your work-life balance, and refuel your snap-crackle-pop. To be clear, we’re not certified astrologists—just extra.


The literal goats of the zodiac rule the house of career, achievement, and public image, which explains why you’re always getting a shoutout on the all-hands. But rapid firing emails before the bodega’s even open takes its toll. 

Recognition is your love language, so take the time to be your 

 hype person: Write a fake award speech for your wins this week (guarantee the jokes will hit). Your sign craves structure and boundaries too, so set hard cut-off times to prioritize quality time with the S.O., on Fridays, and before that big bach weekend.


The sauntering water bearer, you bring healing, life-giving vibes while irrigating groovy, progressive ideas. Between creative directing your org’s “sick” sustainability campaign and strategizing its social-impact investments, you’re pretty much a professional do-gooder. But don’t forget to water your own seeds, literally. 

 Hit up the community garden function or river-cleanup hoedown to honor your ruling house of networking. Fill your cup with gossip from the mutual-aid cronies and neighborhood eccentrics; the revolution can wait ’til tomorrow.


 you. You’re the Meryl Streep of work experience, with the emotional intelligence, the intuition, and the range. But your tendency to slip between fantasy—you’re just doing this while building up your travel-influencer TikTok—and the fluorescent-lit reality of corporate life can be exhausting. 

Feed your sensitive soul with an emo, arty moment. Scribble out a poem about the beauty of direct deposit, craft a bitching “boss energy” playlist, or write a spicy love letter to a hot coworker. (A plea from HR: 

 terrified of you, Aries. You stay crushing sales goals, you won the holiday pie bake-off, and you relegated us to alternates on the softball team (okay, fair on that one). Your borderline-unsettling ambition is why you’re on the fast track to the C-suite...and burnout. 

To serve your ruling house of self after a punishing week of pitches, race to be first in line for whatever shiny new thing you’re dying to flex: a selfie at the next Chapel Bar, rare tickets to that Bushwick designer’s interactive show, or a freshly minted cartoon-wallaby NFT.


Taurus lords over income, money, and self-esteem, so it makes sense you’re lined up for a big fat bonus and know you’re worth it. Whether you’re a finance guru, seven-figure entrepreneur, or in-demand life coach, you’re all about self-investment. You’re probably reading this from your weekly wine-and-romance novel bath, but don’t forget to serve your senses through nature too. 

 Taurus bulls bliss out in serene landscapes, so plan an indulgent picnic or trip upstate. Splay out in the grass, devour a $15 hunk of Manchego, and be bullish on staying a little longer.

In the busy-ness Olympics, you’re a gold medalist, Gemini. Your celestial motif is twins, because you’re so interested in everything and everyone you need a clone to get to it all. At work, you’re a comms queen/king/royal who’s quick to share what you think, making you a talented multi-hyphenate in fields like marketing, publishing, and politics. 

Nothing quickens your pulse like being in the thick of things, so why not start an anonymous, tell-all industry Instagram account? Or gift yourself a deep dive into some niche celeb drama—it’s the little things.


Work from home was made for nesting-forward Cancers. Remote or not, you’re a pie-in-the-sky ideas machine with the follow through to actually get things done—you’ll happily go big 

 go home. But when roadblocks thwart your labors of love or your boss takes your shine for granted, the pincers jump out. 

 Put your work phone on airplane mode and retreat to your “shell” to ride out a mood. Burrito-wrap yourself in a weighted blanket, light a seance's worth of scented candles, and assemble the ultimate treat-yourself snack spread.

Presenting in themed costume when absolutely no one asked for it. Making an unscheduled toast at the Friday bagel breakfast. It takes a lot of steam to be the most passionate person in the room, and let’s be real, being the team cheerleader can be an uphill battle right now. 

 Take a break from the role of wildly optimistic, gives-it-all leader and revel in the spotlight on your own terms. Steal the mic at karaoke all night, or do a “challenge” (think: ice bucket, milk crate) and post the living daylights out of it.

Your meetings are tighter than your pre-pandemic jeans, and your decks could sell Google Docs to Microsoft. Perfectionism is your fight song, Virgo, and the devil really can be in the details. 

Step away from the spreadsheet (yes, stop over-analyzing the thing in your head too), and work something just-for-fun into your laminated daily routine. Maybe it’s channeling Virgo sister Padma and cooking a weird new recipe, or getting into funky rug tufting. The messier the project, the more you'll get out of your silly little head. 

 like a toxic trait, Libra. Balance and symmetry are the key to your final form; just check the color-coded budget sheet you made. You’re all about connecting with anyone and everyone, which makes you the go-to project mediator, happy-hour organizer, and everyone’s favorite Slack buddy. 

Dominated by the house of partnership, you’re a softie at heart. For a power boost, pour some TLC into a one-on-one relationship—throw your bestie an impromptu party for dumping their ex, or surprise your kid with a “yes to everything” day.

No one at work’s quite cracked your code yet, wise and mysterious Scorpio. But thanks to your intense magnetism, you probably could’ve gotten their buy-in on an instant blood-test machine or a $47 billion coworking-startup valuation. Maybe you’re a trend forecaster, a hot-shot investor, or a firebrand CEO; even if you ran a high-stakes Animal Crossing ring, we’d follow your ballsy, prophetic lead. 

Intimacy and emotional energy are your oxygen, so seek out meaningful bonds. Join a support group for recovering mansplainers, gather your people for the cookout/hot pot/carne asada, or call up the friend who makes you go, "damn, that's real." 


Okay Katniss, we see you firing off new initiatives like arrows to your work-nemesis’ heart. These symbolic archers are info junkies and insatiable adventure heads. Major giveaway: Your bio includes "digital nomad on the thought leadership circuit." Your free-thinker vibes might not be for everyone, but living out loud is your primary M.O. 

When the board doesn’t see the genius in your latest breakthrough, finally start that truth bomb-packed podcast/vlog. Or there’s always the next swami-led, biohacking surf retreat, man. 

How to Reset Your Work-Life Balance, According to Your Sign

This much we know: Despite the pseudo-serotonin of “breaking” headlines, glossy images, and insanely cute animal clips, social media causes FOMO, turns us into “likes” monsters, and can make us feel inadequate in general. Plus, it exacerbates mental health issues like anxiety and depression. But for most of us with a pulse and a phone, social media is part of our daily routine. (Cue me tapping into my third cousin’s ex-girlfriend’s 2018 vacation “highlight.”)

Logging off at the end of the day—and disconnecting mentally—can be tough, but there are ways to reclaim your headspace and stop the endless scrolling. And who better to advise than a few social media pros who make their living online.

“For me, the balance that has helped has been removing Twitter from my phone and only using it on my desktop,” says Addy Baird, a political reporter who uses social media to follow trending topics and communicate with sources. This, she says, keeps her interaction with the platform “more purposeful and limited, rather than just habitual use.”

Lots of social platforms still exist on desktop, but they’re often clunkier, so it’s harder to get sucked into an endless scroll hole.

If you can't bear to fully delete an overused app from your phone—whether it’s Tinder or Slack—the next best option is to hide it from yourself. Peter Slattery, a social editor for Morning Brew, puts his social apps into random folders on his phone when he’s off the clock. Often, he says, “I find myself tapping on apps by reflex outside of work hours, so hiding it counteracts the impulse. You get used to which folder it’s in, but it works for a little bit.”

Hypothesis: If you tell enough people that you’re logging off, it will eventually become true.

To help you snap out of impulsively tapping into a given app, try installing a barrier to the sweet, sweet adrenaline rush of seeing how many people commented on your homemade five-layer cake. Enter screen time limits: When you’ve hit your self-restricted time allotment on an app, a bouncer-like screen stops you from going any further. (On an iPhone, just go to Settings, then Screen Time.)

“Around the holidays last year, I set one-minute screen time limits on my email and Slack,” says Addy. “I noticed I was compulsively using them even while not working. I have to override it on work days, but when I’m off, that little barrier to entry definitely helps keep me offline.” If you’re not ready to press the “one more minute” button 30 times a day, set yours to 10 minutes or half an hour and hope the disruption is annoying enough to prevent a longer binge.

Hypothesis: If you tell enough people that you’re logging off, it will eventually become true. Peter says, “I set pretty clear boundaries with my boss about when I’m on and offline.” Not everyone can log off exactly at 5 pm, but you can be honest with your manager around when you’re quieting notifications after reasonable work hours.

With friends who expect you to reply to their Snap upon delivery, try just saying something like, “I probably won’t look at messages or DMs during work or when I’m spending time with other people. I like to stay present with what I’m doing, but I promise to answer later if not immediately.” If an app match sends you a late-night message, set expectations by being consistent in responding the next day.

Another tip from Peter: “I keep my work computer in one room and personal computer in another. I’m not logged into work accounts on my personal phone nor on my personal computer.” The philosophical question here is, naturally,

 If someone Slacks me and I have no way to see it, is it really an emergency?

While you may not have two computers, we can all practice a little physical distance from our devices. Run to the bodega without your phone or challenge yourself to keep it across the room for a few hours—let your dog sit on it, lose it while you make your bed, or hide it in a bookshelf if it helps. Realize that actually, it’s fine to “miss” whatever latest update.

When you’re feeling drained with a social media hangover, remind yourself that what you’re seeing on these apps isn’t “real.” That flawless influencer used three different filtering apps to look that good, that stunning dinner-party spread was cold by the time it was photographed, and that scene queen is a sweet, anxious introvert in reality.

“I have a mental boundary around social media,” says Emerson Obus, who manages social media for musical artists through a marketing agency. “I’m hyper-aware of how far it is from real life because I post on other people’s behalf.”

When you’re feeling something over a high school friend’s post, call them to catch up. Always favoriting a friend of a friend’s tweets? See if they want to hang out. Instead of giving in to the simulacrum of a social life, partake in yours for real. At the very least, you’ll end up on your phones…together.


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