Lois Bowers headshot

What would you give up to have less stress?

Twenty-eight percent of people responding to a recent survey said they would give up a paycheck in exchange for a stress-free day. One day. Three in four respondents said they would do “nearly anything” for a single stress-free day.

That’s a whole lot of stress.

In fact, 10% of survey participants said they couldn’t remember the last time they had had a stress-free day.

The survey — commissioned by Noom and conducted by OnePoll Aug. 30 to Sept. 7, with results published this month — involved 2,000 people.

Fortunately, there are less drastic steps one can take to feel less stressed.

Eighty-three percent of respondents said they believe that everyone would benefit from taking their mental wellness more seriously, and 65% said they’ve been doing just that over the past two years.

Of those who have tried to prioritize their mental health, the biggest motivators were how their mental health affects others (53%), seeing friends benefit from taking care of their mental well-being (51%) and speaking with close family members (46%).

What did survey respondents feel was helpful? Seventy-eight percent said that it’s important to talk about mental health with something they can trust.

But it’s not just friends and family that many of those people are counting on. Many respondents said that when looking for a new position, they prioritize employers that offer health insurance (42%) and mental health benefits (33%).

In this time that finds senior living employers stressing out about their recruitment and retention challenges, it’s worth thinking about what we would give as well as what we would give up to have less stress.

Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Living. Read her other columns here.