The mental issues that emerge during isolation in one’s home are rather broad. Some issues are positive, wherein the lack of social activity entails fewer incidents of disagreement and conflict. One enjoys the benefits of their privacy during the day and can multitask with several domestic and professional requirements at their own reasonable pace.
Negative issues like loneliness, depression, lethargy, and paranoia often occur in tandem. Productivity suffers and large sections of the workforce cannot do what they are required to in the time asked of them. Work-from-home requirements tend to meld into the rest of the day, and there seems to be no differentiation between the professional and the personal.
So how can companies solve, or at least alleviate, these negative mental issues? With Mental Health Month coming up in May, it might be the right time to learn Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies that put your brand name in a good light, in the eyes of your customers and employees. We present several promotional product ideas that can acknowledge and arrest the issue of bad mental health.
#1 Coloring
While generally a marketing ploy aimed at children, coloring stress relief is a common phenomenon even among adults. A 2018 study by Ph.D. students in the Hobart and Wilson Smith colleges, U.S., had participants who colored for 20 minutes a day. The results showed positive short-term effects on stress, mood, and mindfulness. Coloring books for adults with color pencils and crayons can be a great choice for your target audience. And don’t forget the children! You can impart awareness to them with this pandemic-awareness coloring book.
#2 Games & Puzzles
They say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. While not always true, in the paranoid microcosm of the pandemic, people need to distract themselves with mental creativity and problem-solving activity occasionally. Small games and puzzles do the trick. Let your target audience revel in the challenge of a Rubik’s cube, or let them enjoy the free-flowing kinetics of a yo-yo. All these seemingly trivial acts contribute to good mental health in the long run. Families can even gather around a board game during teatime!
#3 Stress Balls and Fidget Spinners
Some products are specifically meant to alleviate stress for short-term periods. They allow you to channel your anxiety and frustration into an empowering action, eventually creating a calm mental state. Your brand can give away colorful fidget spinners and stress balls for this exact purpose, and the gesture will give your brand’s name tangible social value.
#4 Small-Scale Outdoor Fun
For most people in their homes, the only source of outdoor activity can take place in their backyards and front yards. You can enable them to indulge in some small-scale outdoor fun with these outdoor fun products like beach balls, flyers, footballs, baseball bats, and more. Family units will especially benefit from these promotional items given that they have other family members to play with.
#5 Fitness Promotion
Many people tend to neglect the value of physical wellbeing on mental health. Allow your customers to move past mind-body dualism and test their bodies with a broad range of fitness products. Bodyweight exercises can be enhanced with resistance bands and any daily routine can only be made more entertaining with a jump rope. Post-workout, there’s nothing more encouraging to the ego than accurate data on one’s accomplishments, made possible through a fitness tracker. A Basecamp hammock for social-distance-friendly outdoor activities like climbing and trekking also encourages your customers to lead a fitness-first lifestyle.
#6 Teatime
One of the most underrated aspects of the day is teatime, a psychological oasis of sorts, when one can take a break during work hours and recalibrate. Tea is a calming drink in itself, and there are various promotional items you can give away to enable this healthy drinking activity. Elegant, earthy-colored ceramic mugs along with tea towels imprinted with a funny one-liner can create their own positive effects on one’s mental health. An insulated cup can be even more useful in cold weather.
#7 Music
Do not underestimate the effects that music can have on an isolated individual. According to a 2018 study by Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson of Mindlab International, music can improve problem-solving performance and decrease stress by about 65%. How do you perpetuate this habit, while creating brand recall for your company? Give away earbuds and speakers imprinted with relevant brand messaging and logos. One listening session a day can make a meaningful difference over the months.
For more promotional product ideas on how to alleviate stress and anxiety disorders among your consumer base, consult with Promo Direct. They have a dependable reputation for aiding brands in North America and picking the most appropriate products for your promotional campaign.