TL;DR: Wellness doesn't have to feel like another item on your to-do list. Choose from 20 simple wellness quests focused on energy, mental well-being, nutrition, connection and fun. 

When did taking care of yourself become so much work?

Drink more water. Get enough sleep. Exercise. Meal prep. Meditate. Stretch. Call your friends. Reduce your screen time.

Suddenly, wellness has its own to-do list.

So we're trying something different.

Your mission: choose one wellness adventure this week.

We've created 20 small quests across five destinations: Energy Expedition, Mind Mountain, Nourish Nation, Connection Crossing and Fun Frontier.

There's no right path to take. Start wherever you want, choose a quest that sounds good and give it a try sometime this week. There's no streak to maintain, no leaderboard and definitely no requirement to complete them all.

Although if you're an overachiever, we're not going to stop you.

Pick your path. Choose your quest. Let the adventure begin.

The Sunday scaries are officially dictionary material.

Merriam-Webster recently added a fresh batch of words and phrases to its dictionary, including looksmaxxing, trash panda, yacht rock, vibe coding and, yes, Sunday scaries.

If you’ve ever been enjoying a perfectly good Sunday when your brain suddenly reminds you about Monday morning, you probably don’t need a definition. The Sunday scaries describe that anxious, uneasy feeling that can creep in as the weekend winds down and the workweek gets closer.

Maybe you start mentally running through your to-do list. You remember the meeting you forgot to prepare for. Your inbox suddenly feels very present, even though you haven’t opened it. Or you simply feel a pit in your stomach knowing the alarm is going off tomorrow.

Sound familiar?

While a little anticipation before a busy week is normal, regularly dreading Monday may be worth paying attention to.

TL;DR: New research suggests that exposure to light while you sleep may be associated with changes in heart structure and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. While the study doesn’t prove that nighttime light causes heart problems, creating a darker bedroom is a simple step that may support better sleep and heart health.

Streetlights shining through the window. A TV left on. The glow from your phone or even those tiny lights on chargers and electronics.

Most of us have at least a little light in our bedrooms at night. But new research suggests that nighttime light exposure may be associated with changes in the heart, giving us another reason to think about how dark our bedrooms really are.

A study published in the European Heart Journal found a clear link between nighttime light exposure and structural changes in the heart, the kind of changes that show up before cardiovascular disease does. Below, we'll break down what the researchers found, why it matters, and what you can actually do about it tonight.

Employees are juggling a lot, and burnout continues to be a real challenge in the workplace. Taking time to recognize your team can go a long way toward helping employees feel seen, valued and appreciated.

So why limit employee appreciation to a single day?

Hosting anEmployee Appreciation Weekgives you more room to celebrate your people in ways that feel meaningful, without trying to squeeze everything into one afternoon. It also gives you the flexibility to mix things up throughout the week, from small surprises and fun activities to wellness perks and opportunities to simply make the workday a little better.

And it doesn’t have to mean five days of elaborate events. A few thoughtful touches spread throughout the week can make a big impact.

Below, we’ll share ideas for building an Employee Appreciation Week your team will actually enjoy, including how flu shots and wellness screenings can fit naturally into the celebration.

TL;DR: Being active at work isn't necessarily the same as intentional exercise. New research suggests leisure-time activity may offer health benefits that physically demanding work doesn't.

If you spend eight hours walking, lifting, carrying or standing at work, hitting the gym afterward might sound a little ridiculous.

You moved all day. Surely that counts as exercise, right?

It counts as physical activity, but new research suggests our bodies may respond differently to movement we do at work and movement we choose to do in our free time.

In fact, a large new review found a surprising difference between leisure-time exercise and physical activity on the job, especially when researchers looked at dementia risk.

So, if you already have a physically demanding job, do you still need to exercise?

TL;DR: Flu, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccines can help protect you during the fall respiratory virus season. Here’s what to know about each one.

Fall is almost here, bringing pumpkin spice, sweater weather and, like clockwork, flu season.

But this year's season looks a little different. Changes in federal vaccine policy, including a legal dispute that has disrupted the CDC's usual advisory process, have created more uncertainty than we're used to seeing heading into fall. And without a federal vaccine campaign this year, employers and individuals may have more questions about what to expect.

The good news is that flu, RSV and COVID-19 vaccines are still available, and vaccination remains an important way to help protect against respiratory illness this fall and winter.

For employers, now is a good time to start sharing clear information with employees and making vaccination as convenient as possible.

Wondering what's available, who should get what and when? We've broken it all down below. Consider this your cheat sheet for fall 2026 vaccine season.

TL;DR: Workspace design can affect how stressed, focused and comfortable employees feel. Small changes like better lighting, less noise, natural elements and more control over the environment can help support employee well-being.

Think about the space where you work.

Is there constant chatter in the background? Harsh overhead lighting? A desk squeezed into a busy walkway? Maybe your home office doubles as a laundry room, storage space and place where everyone seems to need you at exactly the wrong moment.

These details might seem small, but your surroundings can affect how you feel throughout the workday.

Our brains are constantly taking in information about what's happening around us. Noise, lighting, temperature, visual distractions and even whether we feel like we have enough personal space can influence our stress response.

That's where workspace design and nervous-system regulation come together.

A thoughtfully designed workspace won't eliminate workplace stress. Deadlines will still exist. Your inbox will still fill up. But creating an environment that reduces unnecessary stressors can make it easier for employees to focus, recharge and feel comfortable throughout the day.

Here's what employers should know about designing workplaces with employee well-being in mind.

TL;DR: Your brain is naturally wired to feel more motivated after a "fresh start," whether it's a new week, birthday, or even just tomorrow morning. By intentionally creating these reset moments, you can make healthy habits feel easier to begin and stick with.

There's something about a Monday morning, a new month, or even a fresh notebook that makes you want to do better.

Maybe you'll finally stick with morning walks. Maybe you'll stop letting your inbox grow into a monster. Maybe you'll actually remember to drink more water this week. Whatever the goal, that little jolt of motivation feels real, and it turns out, it is.

Psychologists call this the "fresh start effect," and it's one of the most useful (and underused) tools for building better habits at work and at home.

This post breaks down the science of why our brains crave clean slates, when these moments naturally show up on the calendar, and how you can use them to actually make a habit stick.

TL;DR: The questions nurses hear most often are usually the ones many people are wondering about. Asking them is part of taking charge of your health, and getting answers can help you feel more confident about protecting yourself and those around you this flu season.

Every fall, nurses roll into break rooms and conference rooms across the country and set up shop for a day (or two) of workplace flu shot clinics.

And every year, the questions roll in right along with the employees.

Some questions are practical. Some are nervous. A few are just plain funny. But all of them come from the same place: people want to feel informed and comfortable before they roll up their sleeve.

This post rounds up the questions nurses hear most at workplace flu clinics, plus the answers they give so employees walk away feeling confident, not confused.

TL;DR: Employee wellbeing isn't built through one program. It's created by many small, connected efforts — from mental health and movement to leadership, recognition, and preventive care — that support the whole person. When these pieces work together, employees and organizations both thrive.

Ask five people what "employee wellbeing" means, and you'll probably get five different answers.

One person thinks gym discounts. Another thinks mental health days. Someone in finance is thinking about retirement matching, and someone in HR is thinking about all of the above, plus about ten things nobody mentioned.

They're all right, actually. That's kind of the point.

Wellbeing isn't a single line item you can check off with one program or one perk. It's a web of overlapping factors, and when one piece is missing, the rest of the picture gets harder to see. A company that nails free snacks and step challenges but ignores financial stress or bad management is still going to have burned out, disengaged employees. The pieces have to work together.

Below, we break down what actually makes up employee wellbeing, and why treating it as one program instead of a whole ecosystem is where a lot of workplace wellness efforts fall short.