We talk a lot about how Calm can aid in offering mental well-being support to people. But what does that look like in practice? And how can Calm support your employees throughout the workday, both during and outside of work hours?
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at some of the ways your employees (and you!) can use Calm to manage stress, combat anxiety, sleep better, rekindle motivation, find focus, and get moving.
(Short on time or visually inclined? Check out our gallery of use case videos instead.)
Here’s how Calm fits into working life
When you find yourself feeling anxious
Anxiety has become commonplace. Even if you’re not one of the 40 million adults in the U.S. estimated to experience an anxiety disorder, you and your employees are still likely to experience it in stressful situations.
But meditation exercises and relaxing sounds can help you get past attacks of anxiety and neatly back on track.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Imagine you have a big meeting with some important clients. You’re as prepared as you can be, but you still feel that pit of anxiety brewing in the pit of your stomach.
So you turn to your phone. You consider trying a meditation session, but you think you’d be better served by some nature sounds this time around. You decide to explore the Calm soundscapes library.
When you need to physically loosen up
The nature of many jobs today is that a lot of us don’t tend to move around much while doing them. Or, when we do, it’s repetitive motions that strain the body. But this is a fast track to body aches, restlessness, and low productivity.
Because moving around helps us physically—and mentally—reset. This is why it’s so important to take time out of your day to go for short walks, or to do a few quick stretches.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
It’s been a long day, and you’ve been sitting at your desk for hours. You’ve been pretty productive overall, but you’ve noticed that—over the past hour—your concentration has begun to dip and your back has started to hurt.
So you decide to give yourself a break. You don’t think you have the time to go for a walk around the block today, but you do have a few minutes to spare to do some stretches. You open up the Calm app and start the Afternoon Reset session, to relieve your stiffness and reset your mind and body—ready for the rest of the day ahead.
When you need to destress
Stress is increasingly part and parcel of modern life. Whether it’s work, relationships, or something else entirely—we all deal with stress at some point. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to manage it.
Meditation and mindfulness exercises can help you improve your stress management skills and mental resilience, while breathing exercises can help to alleviate the physical effects of stress.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Say you have several deadlines pending that week. You can feel them creeping up on you, and you’re getting overwhelmed and stressed as a result.
So you take a moment to open the Calm app. You breathe, following along with the Calm breathing circle. Then you decide to take 12 minutes to start the first of the 7 Days of Managing Stress guided meditation sessions on de-escalating stress.
Afterward, feeling much calmer, you return to your work—ready to get started.
Of course, none of these should be used as a bandaid over more systematic, underlying issues. Mindfulness isn’t about trying to rid people of emotions—it’s about listening to and accepting those emotions. So while these exercises are immensely useful for ‘right now,’ be sure to tackle the causes of stress at the source if you suspect it’s becoming chronic!
(If you’re not sure what the signs of that are, you can check out this post on everything you need to know about burnout at work.)
When you need to find your focus
If you have a lot on your mind, it can be hard to focus on the task at hand. And your work can suffer as a result—which, in turn, can cause further stress and anxiety as tasks build up.
Calm can help you find your flow again. With a wide library of helpful, focus-building content such as guided meditations, breathing exercises, and educational masterclasses, Calm can help you train your mind to be more mindful and grounded, so you can focus better in the moment.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Imagine you’ve got a report to submit by three that afternoon. It’s almost ten, but you’ve barely made any headway on it, having inevitably gotten distracted by your phone, your email inbox, making multiple cups of coffee, and more. Forcing it just isn’t working.
So you decide to take a moment to try something else. Opening the Calm app, you take a moment to listen to the first of the Staying on Track meditation sessions.
(Meditation, after all, has been proven to help reduce the mind’s tendency to wander.)
Once done with your session, you take a breath, put all distractions aside, and get back to preparing your report.
When you need to boost your motivation
Loss of motivation happens. It’s not something to beat yourself up about. But when there’s work to do and deadlines to meet, re-finding motivation can be essential.
Because when you’re motivated, you’re engaged. And when you’re engaged, you do your best work—and, most importantly, you enjoy yourself in the process. (We talk about that more in this post on the flow state and how you can harness its power at work.)
Calm can also help with that. When you next find yourself feeling unmotivated and uninterested in the task you’re doing, try listening to one of our motivational meditations or pick something uplifting in Calm Music.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
You’ve been working on this project for the past few weeks. And, while you like it, you have noticed your motivation is suffering—and it’s affecting your work.
So you decide to open up the Calm app and find something to play in the background while you work to perk you up. (You decide on the Afternoon Pick-Me-Up playlist. It seems like just the thing.)
When insomnia is affecting your work
Work is easier when you’ve had a good night’s rest. But sometimes it can be hard to get an adequate amount of sleep—especially when you’re anxious about the next day’s big meeting or long to-do list and are finding it hard to turn your brain off.
We’ve written about this before, in our post on the 7 Ways Sleep Affects Wellness in the Workplace. But what can people actually do to improve their sleeping habits?
The Calm library of Sleep Stories and gentle music can help. With soothing voices narrating a range of stories, soft instrumental music, and even simple meditations designed to help facilitate sleep, there’s something for everyone.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
You’ve struggled with getting to sleep in the past—either because you were distracted or because you simply couldn’t drift off. It’s always been a low-level concern, but recently you’ve noticed that your sleepless nights have begun to affect your days.
Knowing that you have a big presentation the next day and need to be well-rested, you decide to try and listen to one of Calm’s adult sleep stories. You browse through the options in the Calm app sleep section, and select one narrated by a celebrated voice you like.
That done, you put your phone aside and settle in to listen. And, without realizing it, you drift calmly off to sleep.
There’s no ‘right way’ to use Calm. Everyone needs to experiment to find the exact combination that works best for them. It’s important to remember that mental health and well-being is an intensely personal journey, and there’s no one-size-fits-all method that will work for everyone.
But, when you’re in the business of looking out for and managing others, it’s something you’ll need to consider. With Calm for Business, you have a readily available tool to help you find your path to workplace calm. Try it today.
