’Tis the season to spread joy to others, share time with your loved ones, and carry on traditions. — Adding some meaningful holiday cheer to the office doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. Hearing about your colleagues’ holiday traditions is a great way to learn more about them, and build even stronger, more intimate connections with the people in your workplace. So, we decided to practice what we preach. We sat down and talked to some of the Zog team across the country. Here’s a run-down of some of our own wholesome, hilarious, playful, and communal traditions.

A new study from Yale shows why playing with a team is better than working out alone — Depression and anxiety can be terrifying. But if you want to feel better, you don’t have to face them alone. In fact, research shows it’s better that you don’t. Instead of traveling down the winding road of recovery by yourself, what if you had a team behind you? What if you had a group of people invested in your well-being, regularly engaging with you on a meaningful level, all while playing a fun game you enjoy?

Rob Herzog, our founder & CEO, makes FUN part of his winter plans (even though he hates it) — Ugh. “Fall Back” is right. It’s dark before I leave the office and getting darker every day. The increasingly frigid weather means my days of biking to work are numbered. Everyone has a limit, and my hard limit is 35 degrees, no snow or ice. But pretty soon, slushy 20-degree days will be the norm. …

It’s not just about fun and candy… there’s a lot more we can learn from this childhood favorite. — What if we told you that your childhood Halloween experiences helped influence your professional career? Witch hats, fairy wings, and Superman outfits may be more important in your professional development than you think. This article will convince you on how you learned to be more risk — taking, creative, and detail-oriented — even when dressed as Dracula.

The World Series starts tonight, and our office is PUMPED. Well, some of us. — Extra innings. Do-or-die Game 7s. Grand slams. Miraculous catches. Heroic strikeouts. Safe to say, all our World Series memories can be found in a mental folder named “Fond — Do Not Erase.” Every year around this time, the crisp weather gives way to the fiery intensity of the last two teams battling for supremacy on the diamond. It’s bigger than that, though.

No budget? No problem! — Maybe you already went all-out for your company’s summer picnic. Maybe you spared no expense on planning the company holiday party. But we get it — the Fun Committee’s budget might be looking a little meager by this time of year. And, the timing isn’t so great. Right now, company…

The traditions, the friendships, and the excitement of the grill. — It’s officially tailgate season. Burgers simmering on the grill while the bratwursts are slathered in a secret family recipe. Cheap beer and soda chilling in countless coolers. Games of corn hole, flip cup, and Spikeball for friendly competition. Lively chatter filled with jittery anticipation. Fellow fans flaunting your team’s colors, as far as the eye can see.

Unless you’re a CPA who derives joy from Excel formulas and crunching numbers, it’s likely that the year-end budgeting process brings up unpleasant feelings for you. To some, budgeting and planning are boring. To most they’re stressful. But to all, they’re a whole lot of work. As the experts in Play At Work, we’re here to give you tips on how you can start to enjoy and be more creative, productive, and innovative as you think about where to spend next year.

Three ways contributing to natural disaster relief is good for company culture — On every news broadcast this week, we’ve seen and heard of the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence. It’s heartbreaking. But we are not powerless. As in past years, many companies have stepped up to the plate and demonstrated that being part of a community about more than just the bottom…