Employee Wellness

Taking care of your body allows you to optimally utilize your energy in order to improve your quality of life both today and in the future.

Healthy Physical Hornet Habits

Prioritize Sleep: Experts recommend people ages 18-64 sleep for 7 to 9 hours each night for optimal health and functionality.

• Disconnect from all electronics and screens at least a half hour before bed to reduce your blue light exposure and allow your body to produce melatonin which creates a natural feeling of tiredness as day turns to night.
• Avoid consuming caffeine and alcohol in evening hours close to when you are going to bed. These substances can make it more difficult to fall asleep as well as diminish your sleep quality throughout the night.
• Create a sleep schedule and pre-bed routine. Creating a healthy routine to implement 30 to 60 minutes before you go to bed at around the same time each night aids your brain in recognizing it is time to sleep and can help decrease stress. Bedtime routine activities may include: meditating, reading, taking a warm bath, listening to calming music or drinking some caffeine free tea.

Move Your Body: Physical activity helps strengthen bones and muscles, can reduce the likelihood of getting certain diseases, improves sleep quality and is linked to brain health and reduced depression and anxiety.

• Consider walking or biking to work as a way to fit activity into your daily routine and reduce your carbon footprint.
• Try going to the gym, participating in an exercise program  few days a week as a way to exercise and meet new people.

Consume a Healthy Diet: The food you eat to nourish your body has a major impact on your well-being and can affect your likelihood of experiencing chronic diseases as well as impact your mental clarity and brain functionality.

• Eat healthy snacks throughout the day to stabilize your blood sugar level and provide a consistent energy supply as fuel. Try snacks with high protein and low sugar such as veggies and nuts.
• Hydrate throughout the day. Water carries nutrients throughout your body and helps regulate body temperature, blood pressure and heartbeat. Individuals’ daily water consumption recommendations vary, but general guidelines suggest consuming around 64 ounces or eight cups daily.
• Limit or eliminate your alcohol consumption. Alcohol is linked to diminished concentration, mood and memory. Further, drinking alcohol can increase your likelihood of developing health issues including dementia, stroke, liver cancer and stomach cancer.

Creating and maintaining healthy relationships can help you create a support network and feel connected to those around you.

Healthy Social Hornet Habits

Build Healthy Relationships

• Call the people you love to catch up, check in and maintain a positive relationship.
• Make eye contact and actively listen to people you are speaking with in order to show them respect.
• Honor the commitments you make to spend time with others and try not to flake on others; before making plans check your schedule and remember to budget time for self-care too.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

• Participate safely in social networking sites to meet like-minded people.
• Cultivate a healthy social media feed by unfollowing accounts that post content that may negatively impact your day and follow accounts whose posts add positivity to your life.
• Allow Yourself Opportunities: recharge your social battery so that you don’t get overwhelmed or burnt out. This can be done by spending time with yourself doing things like reading, listening to music, journaling, making art/creating something or simply allowing yourself to lounge.

Show Gratitude: Try to notice what you appreciate about the people in your life, and let them know the way you feel; this can be done verbally, with a handwritten note, in a text or through your actions. Actions to show gratitude include spending time with the people you care about or giving someone you appreciate a gift. Gifts can be as big or small as you’d like, some ideas may be flowers or a home-baked treat.

Work in Spending Time with Others: Try to fit in spending time with others into your daily routine in ways such as carpooling to work/commuting with a friend, finding a gym-buddy, or spending your lunch break with a coworker

Having a sense of community provides opportunities to further your health in dimensions related to healthy relationships and a sense of purpose which all come together to ultimately allow an individual to reach optimal overall wellness.

Healthy Community Hornet Habits

Get Involved: Dive into your community.

• Introduce yourself to your neighbors so that you can have friends close by and someone to call on in times of need.
• Look for volunteer opportunities as a way to get involved while making a positive impact.
• Check out events at your local community center to be an active participant in your community and meet new people.
  • Kent County: Community Center
• Attend your local farmers market.
  • Delaware: Farmers Market
• Find available resources that highlight upcoming events and deals in your community
  • Delaware: Events
  • DSU: Upcoming Events, Experience the Best of DSU
• Learn about your community’s history by visiting museums, theaters, art, and culture and participating in local tours such as campus and community tours.
  • Delaware: Museums, More
• Shop local to support your community’s small businesses.
• Appreciate nature in your community by stepping outside and exploring local outdoor opportunities.
  • Delaware: hiking, parks, biking

Your financial security related to savings, investments, credit and retirement as well as your ability to budget your spending and plan for your future are all affected by and play a role in your well-being.

Healthy Financial Hornet Habits

Educate Yourself: Learn effective money management techniques.

• Try reading books and listening to podcasts by financial advisors.
• Consider these financial wellness resources.

Test Out Altering Your Daily Spending Habits

• Try a spending detox and set a duration of time for which you strive to only spend on the essentials (food, gas, etc) in order to see how much you can save towards your future financing needs.

Make a plan

• Create a long term financial plan and be sure to review it and update it so that it remains relevant and achievable.
• Set realistic financial goals that keep you motivated and accountable.
• Create a budget and track your spending so that you spend your money diligently and ensure you maintain healthy credit.

This dimension of wellness centers around your personal values and what motivates you and brings meaning to your life each day.

Healthy Purpose Hornet Habits

Be Intentional

• Try to set daily, weekly or monthly goals and reflect each day to evaluate if your actions align with your intentions.
• Volunteer your time or work for an organization that you believe in; dedicating your time and skills towards an area you are passionate about is a great way to feel a sense of purpose in your life.
• Ask yourself “why” before engaging in a task or project to define the meaning behind the activity before you begin in order to stay motivated on tasks that align with your values and reduce time spent on tasks lacking in purpose.

Recharge

• Spend a few minutes each day doing something that renews your energy such as journaling, spending time in nature or meditating.
• Engage in personal and professional development to expand your skills and increase your impact on the world. Consider reading books about an area you hope to grow or registering for a workshop.
• Say “no” to opportunities that do not align with your values or that will drain too much of your energy. Try to embrace “the joy of missing out” as you renew your energy and spend your time on tasks more important to you.

Health Resources: Statewide Benefits

• Care for Alcohol, Marijuana, and Substance Use: ComPsych® website SAPS
• Blood Pressure Resources
• Diabetes Resources
• Healthy Meeting Resources
• Mental Health Resources: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), visit the SBO website
• Nutrition Resources
• Sleep Resources: Calm App DSU link
• Tobacco Cessation Resources