How we spent our first Mental Health Day Off 

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. Now more than ever, being kind to your mind is essential to a healthy and happy wellbeing. In support of our wellness and mental health, on October 9, we had our first Mental Health Day Off - a restorative day dedicated to unplugging from work focusing on practicing wellness in whatever form that looks like to us.  

We followed up with some of our teammates to see what practicing wellness and mindfulness looked like for them on our first Mental Health Day Off!

Diane – Sr. Legal Solutions & Quality Specialist

“I have spent the last year on a journey - learning to accept that I am not perfect, I can’t control everything, and unfortunately, from time-to-time, I am going to make mistakes. Stop judging yourself and others and open your eyes and see what is…listen…breathe….take it all in, and use all of that emotion to move forward stronger and just a bit wiser than before.” That is exactly what I did with the Mental Health Day off that Thomson Reuters gave me. I dropped my kids off at school in the morning and did what I love – play tennis for an hour. I gave tennis up 13 years ago after having my second child. I have always been very active, and before COVID-19, I worked out every day on my way home from work. When everything shut down, and my routine was gone, I had to figure out what to do to keep myself active outside. So, I had to find what I was passionate about and decided to finally take up tennis again."

Rich - Senior Manager, Benefits Americas

“I recently received my new Peloton Bike+. The bike arrived at the perfect time to help keep me moving, motivated, and connected to others. I went on a ride with two Thomson Reuters colleagues via the Peloton app - it was a blast, and I loved the comradery. This year has been filled with many ups and downs: the loss of my dad, living in NYC through COVID-19, being away from my family, and long hours. Staying engaged and exercising has helped to elevate my mood and decompress. On my Mental Health Day off, I connected with a friend/colleague and got in a solid ride!!! I keep the Peloton in my home office as a constant reminder to keep moving!”

Nikki – Sr. Legal Solutions & Quality Specialist

"My husband and I practiced our favorite social distancing activity - FISHING! It is the best way to relax, clear my mind, and enjoy some quality time with the love of my life. We will be fishing for muskies - also known as "the fish of 10,000 casts" - on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota and hoping that we get lucky and catch one! We've been having a good season thus far, and here are our biggest catches yet in 2020. Please forgive the COVID hair. The pictures are a little deceiving as mine on the right is actually longer than his. I'm just better at taking pictures."

Justin – Manager, Digital Solutions

“#WorkingAtTR meant a company holiday for #mentalhealthday and that my daughter and I got to take my mom for breakfast on her birthday!”

Michelle - Quality Analyst

“Sometimes I seriously forget that my not-so-little niece just turned 7! I was so happy to be spending an extended weekend with this sweetheart — thank you to Thomson Reuters for giving us a Mental Health Day Off! I got to be with her during her online classes, and then we spent the whole afternoon relaxing, just eating cookies and watching YouTube videos; it was such a happy day together!”

Maggie – Senior Project Manager

 “What do you do when work gives you the day off for World Mental Health Day? You invite a friend over for lunch. I made blackened steak and blue cheese salad and a gluten-free apple cake.”

Curious about how the rest of our teammates practiced wellness for their Mental Health Day Off? Check out #WorkingAtTR on social for more!