How are you feeling at work?

Welcome to Clock In, TIME's monthly LinkedIn-only newsletter about the changing world of work. In this edition, we've got stories exploring the intersection of work and health, both mental and physical.

How to set boundaries at work—even when it’s uncomfortable

Angela Haupt reports: Setting boundaries at work—in this economy—might seem like a pipe dream. Not be available 24/7? Not smile and accept every new assignment? Not push back when a colleague tries to steal your time?

It could be your best career (and mental health) move: Establishing expectations for what you will and will not tolerate is key to increasing productivity and wellbeing, experts agree. “Boundaries are limits or personal rules that protect your time and energy and allow you to perform at your best,” says Melody Wilding, a licensed social worker and author of Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work. “Everyone likes certainty and clarity, and that’s what boundaries provide.”

Haupt spoke with experts on how to set boundaries around six common work scenarios. Read the full story here.

Do you still have to isolate if you catch COVID-19? What the experts say

Jamie Ducharme reports: Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist who often interprets COVID-19 research in her newsletter, says that, if anything, five days of isolation isn’t long enough to stop people from spreading the virus. “COVID is not the flu,” she says. “We remain far more contagious for longer with COVID.”

If stopping infections were the only consideration, Jetelina says she’d recommend people isolate themselves for 10 days. The challenge, she says, is that public-health policies have to take into consideration what’s realistic and manageable for the general population—and with limitations around sick leave and affordable child care, many people can’t afford to pause their lives for 10 days.

Read the full story here.

How to cultivate hope when you don’t have any

Angela Haupt reports: The antidote to any despair might be hope, experts say. It’s one of the most powerful—and essential—human mindsets, and possible to achieve even when it feels out of reach. “Hope is a way of thinking,” says Chan Hellman, a psychologist who’s the founding director of the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma. “We know it can be taught; we know it can be nurtured. It’s not something you either have or don’t have.”

Many people, he notes, don’t fully understand what hope is—and what it isn’t. Being hopeful doesn’t mean engaging in wishful thinking or blind optimism. Rather, it’s “the belief or the expectation that the future can be better, and that more importantly, we have the capacity to pursue that future,” Hellman says. The opposite of hope, therefore, is not pessimism, but rather apathy, with its loss of motivation. And while wishing is passive, hope is about taking action.

Haupt asked experts for strategies that can help cultivate hope—even when it feels unattainable. Read the full story here.

3 ways anxiety can actually help you

"In our society’s quest to be anxiety-free, we tend to miss out on many valuable opportunities presented by this normal human emotion," writes David H. Rosmarin, PhD.

"Many times, when my patients are overwhelmed they tend to take on more demands. Ironically, they take on additional projects at work, volunteer for community service, and provide additional support to their friends.

Unfortunately, this can lead to disastrous consequences since, at some point the scales cannot stand being out of balance and they break. Working harder, faster, and longer hours when one is already ragged can create chronic stress, which has been associated with heart disease, cancer, and stroke, as well as numerous less severe medical conditions."

Read Rosmarin's suggestions for letting anxiety help you here.

TIME is looking for America’s Top GreenTech Companies

This year—for the first time—TIME will debut a ranking of America's Top GreenTech Companies, in partnership with Statista, a leading international provider of market and consumer data and rankings. This new list will recognize the most innovative, impactful, and successful companies whose aim is to reduce human impact on the environment.

Does your company fit the bill? Click here to apply.

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This newsletter was curated by Kari Sonde and edited by Samantha Cooney.