stress management – Jellybeans in the City

Self-care for busy entrepreneurs: Nurturing your vital asset

In the relentless world of entrepreneurship, where time is a prized asset, it’s easy for health to take a back seat. The relentless pursuit of business success often leaves small business owners grappling with burnout and neglecting their well-being. However, in the grand scheme of business triumphs, a healthy mind and body are indispensable.

Meal Planning: Fuel Your Venture

Ensuring your body gets the right fuel is non-negotiable. Meal planning might seem like an extra chore, but it’s an investment in your productivity. Busy entrepreneurs can benefit from meal prepping during weekends, portioning out ready-to-reheat servings for the week.

Creative Exercise: Moving Amidst the Hustle

Finding time for exercise can be a challenge, but creativity can solve this. Incorporate light exercises into your work routine. Standing desks and walking pads can help you stay active while tending to business tasks.

Caring for Your Vision: A Bright Outlook

Long hours in front of screens can strain your eyes. Prioritize eye health by taking short breaks, adjusting screen brightness to match the environment, and avoiding excessively bright screens in dimly lit spaces.

Stress Management: Breathe and Unwind

Stress is an inevitable companion on the entrepreneurial journey. Combat it with mindfulness techniques like yoga, meditation, and tai chi. These practices not only promote mental clarity but also enhance heart health and overall well-being.

Collaboration and Delegation: A Key to Success

No business leader can operate in isolation. Entrepreneurs must delegate tasks to ensure no aspect of the business is overlooked. Outsourcing services and surrounding yourself with a capable team can help.

Employee Health: A Cornerstone of Success

Your employees are the backbone of your business. Ensuring their well-being is paramount. Providing employee benefits like health insurance not only fosters a sense of security but also enhances productivity and morale within the team.

Sun Life Grepa’s Health Protection Plans

Sun Life Grepa understands the unique needs of small business owners and their employees. They offer tailored health protection plans under their MSME MyBiz program:

Sun Life Grepa Accident ProSafe: Comprehensive group insurance designed for SMEs, covering accidents comprehensively.
Sun Life Grepa Smart Care Plus: Offering health and protection coverage for employees against major uncertainties like death, disability, accidents, and critical illness.
Sun Life Grepa HIPSTER: An affordable insurance solution providing life, accident, disability, and medical benefits for MSME employees.

Investing in your health and the well-being of your employees is an investment in your business success. Sun Life Grepa’s health protection plans provide a safety net for both entrepreneurs and their teams, ensuring a thriving venture while putting health at the forefront. To find the plan that suits your business, connect with a Sun Life Grepa advisor, visit its branches or Facebook page. After all, a healthy venture is a thriving venture!

Header image by Lifestylememory on Freepik

Details provided in a recent press release.

Family Culture and Wellness Thrive at Sun Life Grepa

Navigating the post-pandemic workplace requires organizations to reassess their practices and create environments that prioritize employee well-being and a sense of belonging. Sun Life Grepa Life Financial, Inc. (Sun Life Grepa or SLGFI), a leading life insurance company in the country, stands out by placing family-centric values and wellness at the heart of its workplace culture.

A Warm Family-Oriented Culture

At Sun Life Grepa, the sense of family runs deep. Employees affectionately refer to themselves as ‘Sun Grepamilya,’ a playful twist on the word ‘pamilya’ (family), reflecting the strong community bond within the organization. The welcoming atmosphere extends to everyone who steps through their doors. Employees at all levels embrace an approachable attitude, fostering an environment where difficult conversations are heard and valued. This commitment to open communication is exemplified through various programs, including the delightful “Up Close with Richard Lim” breakfast gatherings, where selected employees get a chance to connect with the company president. Another initiative, the “HR Kamustahan,” offers one-on-one discussions with key role holders and high performers. These platforms provide a space for Sun Life Grepa to listen attentively to employee sentiments, reinforcing their culture of care and ensuring that everyone feels comfortable being their authentic selves.

Wellness as a Priority

Recognizing the vital connection between employee well-being and a thriving work environment, Sun Life Grepa introduced the comprehensive “SLGFI Cares for You” program in 2022. This initiative encompasses a wide range of well-being initiatives, with the flagship program being the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP provides employees with free 24/7 counseling services covering mental health, financial advice, and legal support. Sun Life Grepa acknowledges the significant role that family plays in overall employee well-being and extends these benefits to employees’ household members.

Prior to the launch of “SLGFI Cares for You,” Sun Life Grepa already prioritized employee wellness through various avenues. Pre-pandemic, employees enjoyed sports activities that promoted physical fitness and team bonding. When the pandemic hit, the company swiftly adapted, organizing virtual wellness sessions on weekends to ensure that employees and their family members could participate. These sessions featured engaging fitness videos and wellness content, complemented by webinars covering stress management, office ergonomics, healthy meal preparation, resilience, and burnout prevention. Sun Life Grepa also addressed spiritual wellness, offering a virtual spiritual retreat during the lockdown, along with virtual First Friday Masses. As the world transitions into the new normal, these church services now follow a hybrid format, accommodating both physical and virtual attendees.

Safety First

Sun Life Grepa places a premium on the safety of its employees while attending to client needs. The company implemented strict safety protocols during the pandemic and conducted extensive COVID-19 learning programs for employees and their families. Shuttle services were provided to employees who had to commute to work to process client claims and deliver critical services during the lockdown. Despite occasional vaccine scarcity, Sun Life Grepa ensured that all employees and their loved ones could access free vaccination programs. The company’s commitment to safety extended beyond monitoring workplace COVID-19 cases; it also offered a readily available medical teleconsultation facility for employees and their dependents.

Empowering Financial Literacy

Sun Life Grepa believes in empowering its employees to make informed financial decisions and become knowledgeable about life insurance. Regular learning sessions on insurance and investments are conducted with industry experts, equipping employees with essential knowledge for managing their finances. To further support this goal, the company offers the Employee Assurance Program, enabling employees to purchase investment products through a convenient salary deduction plan.

Engagement and Growth

Throughout the pandemic, Sun Life Grepa maintained a vibrant and engaged workforce. Employees continued to enjoy a range of activities, from annual summer outings to quarterly town halls, annual Christmas parties, and even occasional movie nights. Sun Life Grepa ensured that employee development remained a priority by providing programs that equipped employees with new skills and ways of working. From data management and presentation skills to business communication and agile ways of working, employees had opportunities to grow and adapt. The company-wide learning programs on “Agile Ways of Working” and “Psychological Safety” further reinforced their commitment to fostering growth and creating a supportive environment.

Recognition and Trust

Sun Life Grepa’s dedication to recognizing and supporting its employees’ achievements remained unwavering throughout the pandemic. Salaries and benefits were consistently provided, and additional support was offered when needed. Various awarding activities celebrated employee accomplishments, including nominations for awards in the global Sun Life office. The result of these efforts is not only high scores in internal engagement surveys but also an official certification as a Great Place to Work™ for November 2022 to November 2023, boasting an impressive 83% Trust Index Score.

“Our Great Place to Work certification validates that Sun Life Grepa employees truly trust the company and their leaders,” says Pinky Moreno, Vice President for Human Resources. “We are continually working on improving the work-life balance of our employees through various people development and culture enhancement programs, ensuring that our workplace remains an inspiring and inclusive environment where people are valued, growth is encouraged, and work-life balance is prioritized. It’s a place for a fulfilling and long-term career.”

Discover the Sun Life Grepa Difference

If you are seeking an employer that prioritizes family-centric values and employee well-being, Sun Life Grepa Life Financial, Inc. is the place to be. With its warm and inclusive culture, comprehensive wellness programs, commitment to safety, emphasis on financial literacy, and unwavering support for employee engagement and growth, Sun Life Grepa provides professionals with a fulfilling and long-term career. Join the Sun Grepamilya today and experience the difference.

To learn more about Sun Life Grepa’s family-centric culture and the exciting opportunities available, visit www.sunlifegrepa.com. Your dream workplace awaits!

Header image by pressfoto on Freepik

10 Quick Tips to Help Your Family Stay Healthy Through the Holidays

The holidays are a joyful time when friends and family members tend to spend more time together. It can be a great opportunity to boost current relationships and renew old ones. But it can also be a time when you’re exposed to a lot more germs than usual. To avoid the sniffles and other signs of illness, here are 10 quick tips to help your family stay healthy through the holidays.

Don’t Stress It

Stress is one of the primary culprits behind a weakened immune system. No matter what age you are, too much stress can compromise your body’s immune response and leave you vulnerable to illness. For adults, minimizing stress may require saying “no” to added responsibilities you don’t have time to take on near the holidays. But for children, stress may not be so easy to combat.

In children, stress can result from too much noise, too little sleep and changes in daily routines. Since it can be pretty hard to avoid these things around the holidays, you may want to give your child’s immune system some extra support and attention. If you’re looking for immune support for 1 year old or older, skip the harsh over-the-counter cold supplements and opt for a baby-safe immune support formula.

Stay Hydrated & Rested

It’s very common for people to become dehydrated during the colder winter months. If you struggle to remember to drink water throughout the day, try setting a reminder on your phone. Set the reminder or alarm to go off every hour or so and take a drink of water when it does.

Another way you can strengthen your body’s immune system is by getting as much rest as possible. When you do experience less sleep than usual, consider taking an elderberry syrup immune support product to give your immune system a little extra support.

Eat as Healthy as Possible

It’s hard to resist pies, cookies and other treats associated with the holidays. The truth is, it’s probably alright to indulge in these types of treats occasionally. But for the most part, eat as healthy as possible throughout the holidays so you can stay as healthy as possible. Sugar and heavily processed foods can weaken your immune response and make it easier for illnesses to overpower you.

If you need ideas for great-tasting plant based food for kids and healthy family-friendly recipes, there are a lot of great tips online. Many experts agree that it’s easier to get kids to like plant-based foods when you sweeten them with fruit or create fun shapes with them. It can also help to let your kids have a say in what plant-based meals you make for them.

Additional Tips for Staying Healthy

In addition to minimizing stress, eating healthy, and staying hydrated and rested, here are 6 more tips for staying healthy during the holidays:

Wash hands frequently
Stay active every day
Eat mindfully and slowly
Fill up on healthy foods before indulging in sweets
Try meditating
Make time for relaxation and self-care

Image by Wiroj Sidhisoradej on Freepik

Three reasons to take up coloring books as your quarantine hobby

Stuck at home because of the quarantine and you’re itching for a way to break the monotony of the days passing by?

Why not do something creative? Drawing or painting from scratch or learning to play an instrument may seem daunting but you can always start with something relatively easy. Coloring books, for example.

For quite some time now, this erstwhile niche pastime has evolved into a trendy pursuit for many, who swear by its contributions to their mental well-being. In a 2016 CNN Report, certified art therapist and Clinical Assistant Professor and NYU’s Program Coordinator for its Graduate Art Therapy Program Marygrace Berberian posited that while coloring books is not the same as completing an art therapy session, it “definitely has therapeutic potential to reduce anxiety, create focus or bring about more mindfulness.”

Wondering how coloring books can bring about a more peaceful and productive state of being? Read on.

1) It can calm a busy mind.

The basic and repetitive motions you use to fill in the intricate designs with shades and hues can engage your mind but also quiet down your anxiety.

2) It can help you catch some zzzs.

With the increase in people’s anxiety levels over the COVID-19 pandemic, the forced isolation to maintain social distancing as well as the abrupt changes in daily routines have led to many reported cases of sleeplessness.

Engaging in an relaxing spate of coloring activity instead of staring at gadget screens, or worse, news reports (!) before bedtime may facilitate a more restful slumber.

3) It can unleash your creativity.

Filling in the blank shapes in coloring books is akin to collaborating with their artists in bringing their work to life. Choosing the colors and applying various strokes are also decisions driven by your own creative vision and executed within your control.

Keep this up and maybe soon, you’ll find yourself more confident in applying your re-developing creativity and decisiveness in other aspects of your life such as your home or career.

Ready to pick up your pencils, markers and crayons but have limited access to coloring books that catch your fancy? Worry no more.

E-commerce platform Shopee hosts Shopping on the Side’s online store filled with adult coloring books sourced from all over the world. Here, you can take your pick among a wide variety of books from meditative mandala patterns, whimsical drawings of fairies, intricate illustrations of travel destinations to humorous comic strips. Shopping on the Side is well-rated by Shopee users who praise the shop’s premium and high quality inventory, immediate shipping of ordered items and secure packaging.