My favorite Microstep is “Drink a glass of water when you wake up in the morning.” The last thing I do before going to sleep is I set up a full glass of water right next to my bed. Then, in the morning, I take a few minutes to drink my water, look out the window, and try to remember any weird dreams I had. I feel so much more energized when I’m hydrated, and having a morning ritual helps me do something besides looking at my phone first thing when I wake up!
At Thrive, we have a Slack app called Donut that pairs you with a random team member each week to have a virtual coffee chat. It is a great way to practice the “Invite a co-worker you don’t often connect with out to lunch or coffee, or even a ‘virtual coffee break.’” Microstep. I get to connect with a colleague who may have a totally different workflow. Last week, I took this coffee break on the go and implemented the Microstep of: “Once a day, turn a sit-down meeting into a walking meeting.” My colleague Kyle and I spent 20 minutes walking around the block and learning more about each other!
Everybody has their own way of reducing stress, and personally I am a huge advocate of a dance party break! When I was younger, I didn’t appreciate that taking a break before you desperately need one is better for overall productivity. Now, if I’ve had a stressful day, I blast some Taylor Swift and have a private dance party. I also love FaceTiming a friend or my mom. I find that voicing what is stressing me out to a sympathetic ear always makes the issue seem smaller.
One of the things I love at Thrive is how we start every team meeting with a custom Reset from an employee. As much as I enjoyed making my own Reset with pictures of my friends and family, I love to see what matters most to my colleagues and what brings them joy and calm. It’s a great way to get to know one another as our team expands!