UNFILTERED

Stress. Mental Health. Men. Individually, those words carry a lot of weight. Put them together, and it can feel like a puzzle nobody really wants to solve. For generations, men have been told to “be strong and bear it,” which usually means open conversations about emotional well-being end up feeling a bit like pulling teeth.

But times are different, and honestly, it’s about time! This June, with Father’s Day and Men’s Mental Health Month happening, we wanted to skip the usual corporate buzzwords and just have a real, honest chat. Since we hear from the wonderful women in our office so often, we figured it was the perfect moment to step inside the psyche of our male colleagues.

We gathered seven men across multiple departments, ranging in age from their 20s to 60s, to give us a look at how they handle the grind, survive the daily chaos, and figure out what actually matters when the dust settles.

Meet the Panel

Think of this as your quick cheat sheet before we dive into the good stuff:

Small Cuts and Scrapes

Before the massive breaking points happen, stress has its way of chipping away at the basic foundations of daily life. When life hits peak chaos, the first things to go are usually the things that keep us grounded.

For Mark, it’s instant: Definitely sleep. If there are a lot of things to take care of, sleep is the first to be sacrificed.

Matt watches his own dominoes fall in a rapid-fire order: Most likely sleep, then workout, then sanity. He notes that his entire boundary line shifted the exact moment he and his wife had their child.

Meanwhile, Tim balances the high-velocity world of IT support, meaning he routinely takes a double hit – losing both his sleep and gym time – just to keep the servers happy.

Yet, leave it to our seasoned veterans to completely flip the script on what matters during a crisis. When things get crazy in Sales, Louie completely sidesteps the standard answers and names his absolute non-negotiable sacrifice: My rice. Because hey, a Filipino man must have priorities.

The System Shock

But you can only sacrifice your sleep, sanity, and health for so long before cracks start to show. When the mind tries to ignore the pressure, the body acts as an undeniable wake-up call.

Jeffrey opened up about a terrifying moment of sudden, severe chest pain – a physical breaking point that acted as the ultimate wake-up call, forcing him to rewrite his entire worldview on what is actually worth stressing over.

Jun experienced an equally grounding, highly visible reality check: When stress literally caused my Bell’s palsy. It taught me that I absolutely have to prioritize my health.

For the younger guys, the call comes as a sharp shift in perspective before a physical collapse happens.

Tim recalled that stepping into an unexpected leadership role early on was the defining line that forced him to grow up fast and master his time.

Matt put his finger right on the pulse of the ultimate workplace trap: Grinding is necessary to meet an end-goal. But, burning the candle at both ends is just a big whopping burnout.

For many of the men, these wake-up calls didn’t just change how they managed stress –  it changed what they considered stress-worthy in the first place. The deadlines, emails, and endless to-do lists suddenly looked different when viewed through the lens of health, family, and time.

Mike captured this beautifully, focusing on the fast-moving days of parenthood: What matters most is being present when it comes to family, especially for my son… Time can go by fast, and before you know it, he will be all grown up.

Mark expands that circle of purpose even wider, looking past his own front door toward generational legacy: As a father and husband, what matters most is being present and leaving a legacy. Making sure that my family, my kids, their kids, and generations to come will be good.

Drawing the Hard Line

For many of the men, the lesson wasn’t learning how to work harder – it was learning where to stop. Surviving the grind requires the vital skill of drawing boundaries, and when the world assumes you are available 24/7, saying “no” becomes an absolute survival mechanism.

“Practice saying ‘no’,” shares Jeffrey. My family knows that every Saturday morning is my dedicated time to go biking.

For Matt, drawing the line means handling high-stakes negotiations on the home front: Definitely negotiating with a two-year-old at bedtime!

Jun relies on a much quicker, cheekier tactic to protect his evening peace: Lie!

Mark, however, completely flips the concept of personal time on its head. For him, boundaries aren’t about escaping his household to reset; it’s about making his family the absolute, non-negotiable priority: I would say that my personal time is my family time. My family knows that I’m there for them 24/7.

Boundaries may protect your time, but they don’t magically eliminate stress. The day-to-day grind still shows up every morning, which means having reliable ways to recharge becomes just as important as knowing when to step away.

The Daily Refill Kit

With the big boundaries firmly in place, managing a tough work week comes down to a few necessary things in their refill ‘kit’: flexibility, delegation, and recharging. Across every age, these men agree that sometimes, delegation is needed to recharge. This could mean outsourcing the chaos entirely – by passing the torch to entertainment, technology, food, or even nature.

Matt describes his schedule simply as organized, with some improv on the fly. He pounds his stress to the pavement with early morning runs, calling it the only time I can actively run away from my problems.

Tim automates his bills so he can take a good, long walk to clear the mental clutter.

Jun plays Nintendo, while also enjoying long walks to decompress.

Mike with a highly relatable parenting question: Does an iPad count for my son? He also finds peace in pure predictability: Watching a re-run of a good movie I’ve already seen 10-plus times.

Louie hilariously claims he just outsources “work” entirely and prefers looooong bike rides to clear his head.

Jeffrey also hits the road on his bike for the sake of his own sanity.

And when a comfort menu is required, food remedies range from a warm plate of lumpia to Matt’s absolute baseline: Most definitely tacos!

Meanwhile, Mark relies on a community to keep his home front running smoothly: Gardeners, an amazing network consisting of plumbers, electricians, a handyman, and of course our iRobot vacuum cleaner lol.

Growing up also means your “wellness” gear gets a funny upgrade. The guys find themselves investing in things their younger selves would have laughed at.

Tim now intentionally schedules workouts.

Matt embraces the running he used to hate.

Jeffrey and Mike invest in high-end road bikes and rowing machines.

Jun utilizes a fitness ball.

And Mark’s travel kit now features a very prominent, unglamorous staple: Motion sickness tablets, as part of my travel wellness kit. Lol.