Google’s Dr. Megan Jones Bell On How to Create Better Habits Around Stress

An Interview With Shawna Robins

…Make it fun — Stress isn’t fun but reducing stress can be. Find ways of bringing even little bits of fun into your wellness routines. Our brains also like novelty so vary your routines like trying new workout classes or listening to new mindfulness or sleep courses…

In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become an inevitable part of life. Developing better habits to manage and reduce stress is essential for maintaining overall well-being and productivity. What are the best practices and strategies to create lasting habits that help individuals cope with stress effectively? As part of this interview series, we had the pleasure to interview Dr. Megan Jones Bell.

Dr. Megan Jones Bell is director of consumer and mental health at Google where she leads a clinical team supporting strategy, research and product development for Fitbit, Google Pixel Watch and Pixel phones. She was formerly chief strategy and science officer at Headspace and helped guide Headspace through its transformation from a meditation app into a comprehensive digital mental health platform, Headspace Health. Megan founded one of the first digital mental health start-ups, Lantern, where she pioneered blended mental health interventions leveraging software and coaching. She started her career at Stanford University where she was an assistant professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your backstory?

I come from a long lineage of physicians and always saw myself working to improve the health and wellbeing of others. Through my family members’ and my own personal experiences with mental health, I became passionate about prevention at an early age and sought out a career as a psychologist and researcher in this area. My passion for increasing access to evidence-based approaches for mental health care led me early on in my career to the conviction that, when developed responsibly, technology could be a positive tool in people’s lives.

I began my career as an Assistant Professor at Stanford University where I ran a research lab focused on digital behavioral medicine and practiced as a clinical psychologist. While at Stanford, I developed and researched digital approaches to improve mental and physical wellbeing and from there started a company, Lantern, that was one of the first start-ups to use coaching with an app to help manage stress, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. The evidence-based content and coaching model was licensed to Omada Health, Spring Health, Ginger, and others, and is still used in those products today.

Once I left academia to join the technology industry, there was no going back. I felt more able to lean into my passions for building and scaling high quality wellness products, shaping culture to promote wellbeing, and improving health at a massive scale. I followed my commitment to using technology to improve health to my current role at Google. The opportunity to work across products and reach billions of people is a dream.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to your particular career path?

In 2012, I thought I had my forever job as a faculty member at Stanford University. I loved the mix of research, teaching, and patient care. However, there was growing dissonance between the impact I wanted to make in the world — helping improve mental health and wellbeing for millions of people — and what I could do from the walls of a university. I ended up joining forces with two other entrepreneurs and starting a company. In 2012, this wasn’t something I’d ever heard of a psychologist or doctor doing so it felt like an enormous risk at the time (and I had some very negative reactions from other academics) but I’ve always been happiest and at my best when I’m part of something new and unformed. Becoming an entrepreneur was the scariest decision I’d ever made, but one I’ll always be glad I made. We now have a wonderful community of former clinicians and researchers who have started companies or who lead clinical, product, and research work in tech. I’m proud that we’ve created career paths that didn’t exist even 10–15 years ago. And the best part is now that I’m at Google, I get to update my goal from impacting millions to billions — a mind-boggling privilege and responsibility.

Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority in the stress and wellness fields? In your opinion, what is your unique contribution to the world of wellness?

As the clinical director of consumer health at Google, I lead a clinical team supporting strategy, research and product development for Fitbit, Google Pixel Watch and Pixel phones. We helped create Fitbit and Google Pixel Watch stress measurement and management tools, which not only tell you when you’re experiencing stress and what your baseline stress levels are, but also prompt you to try and understand what’s causing this reaction.

Prior to Google, I was Chief Strategy and Science Officer at Headspace where I led our efforts to build a product to help people develop healthy routines to help manage stress, improve sleep, and improve overall well being. I also helped establish research collaborations to validate our approach and improve our scientific understanding of how mindfulness can be used to improve health.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

My family has Quaker ancestry and one of the values that my father has always emphasized is that your life should be of service to others. This has been a North star value for me and helps me center my personal and professional choices on impact to others. This has helped me cultivate pursuits that give my life meaning and purpose — something we all need to be happy in the truest sense.

Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Let’s start at the very beginning so that we are all on the same page. What is the definition of stress? How is it different from anxiety or being overwhelmed?

At its most basic, stress is a series of physical responses to something. You know that tingly, heart-pumping adrenaline sensation that signals something’s out of whack? Then you’ve seen firsthand how your body can send signals that something’s off. When we’re stressed, heart rate increases, body temperature rises, and you may even break a sweat. Stress is the body’s natural response to imbalance.

Stress can become a significant problem when it causes distress or when it’s chronic, which can potentially lead to negative health outcomes like trouble sleeping, anxiety or high blood pressure. What matters is what you’re able to do about your reactions to stress.

What are some common misconceptions about stress and habits that people should be aware of?

Many would say that technology — cell phones, social media, apps — is a stress inducer. However, technology can be a key source of information and a tool for learning and practicing helpful stress-buffering routines. It can help you track your stress levels and understand your stressors in a more individualized way. When we bring awareness to the way our approach to technology impacts how we feel mentally and physically we’re better able to use technology in a way that fosters wellbeing rather than detracting from it.

While stress is often seen as negative, it isn’t always bad for you. Our body doesn’t differentiate between excitement and anxiety, it simply registers stress. Sometimes, a bit of stress can be beneficial. For example, feeling stressed about a presentation might help you deliver it with more energy. Similarly, pre-race jitters can enhance your performance. However, excessive or prolonged stress can be detrimental to your health, leading to sleep problems, anxiety, or high blood pressure. Managing your stress reactions is key.

Can you share an example of a successful habit transformation that effectively reduced stress?

Research shows it takes 66 days on average to cement a new routine, so about 2+ months. When starting to build a new habit, consider actions you can take where you can experience results / start to see palpable, not dramatic, changes (i.e., how you feel in the morning). For example, try two weeks of meditating consistently or a physical activity you enjoy.

I’ve spent a long time learning to recognize my stress warning signs and I try my best not to ignore them. I prioritize time each day for routines that help me feel calm, connected, and strong — such as taking a walk by myself outside, having play time with my kids or calling to check in on one of my friends or family members, and getting daily physical activity. I also know it’s not about getting things right each day but more about my pattern over the course of the week that matters.

Recently I was struggling, like many people, to find the time to do it all — take care of my kids, work, let alone have time to maintain my wellbeing. The logistics of meetings, pick-ups, appointments, etc. felt impossible. I thought back to a time when I was in a stable routine with exercise but also worked hard and had a “life” outside of work. What was different then? One actionable thing that stood out was that I woke up a lot earlier and exercised first thing in the morning. For me, there’s a strong connection between exercise and mood as well as overall reactivity to stress — and research proves this. Instead of compressing everything into “peak” hours I added workouts and work blocks early in the morning and phased myself into the new routine over a couple of weeks. I’ve felt more patient, focused and energized since I made the change.

What are some key daily habits that can significantly reduce stress levels?

Give yourself permission to have restorative breaks throughout the day — it helps your focus and prevents stress from spilling over into the evening. This could involve mini meditation breaks, movement breaks, sitting outside listening to music, or just a short chat with a friend. When we invest in ourselves we replenish our capacity to withstand stressful situations.

Beyond short restorative breaks, some of the biggest levers we have to strengthen our stress-resistance are exercise, meditation, restful sleep, nutrition, and social connection. Building up routines in each category will help improve your overall health and well being and buffer you from the negative effects of stress.

How can individuals identify and replace habits that contribute to their stress?

When you’re stressed, your body releases the hormone cortisol. This can lead to physical changes like an increased heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure, along with tense muscles and sweating. Even if you have a good handle on identifying your stress in the moment, picking up on your body’s stress response patterns can help you better react to or even prevent stressful episodes.

Fitbit offers various features and tools to help with this, such as Fitbit’s stress alerts and Google Pixel Watch’s Body Response sensor that continuously tracks a combination of your heart rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature and electrodermal activity to flag when you’re having a physical stress reaction. Features like Stress Management Score and mood logging show you trends over time, too, so you can get a bigger picture of your mental health.

Getting this kind of external confirmation that your body is showing signs of stress can be a validating signal not to brush off what you’re feeling. Seeing how you experience stress over time can also clue you in to patterns that you can prepare for in advance.

Breathing practices and meditation can also help you bring more awareness to your body which will help you notice stress in earlier stages so you can more effectively respond to stress in the moment.

How can someone stay consistent with new stress-reducing habits amidst a busy schedule?

Don’t change anything at first — just find out where you are. It’s really hard to sustain pace by making all changes at once. I think about this step as establishing your baseline. Observe what routines you already have — those can be helpful anchors for layering on new ones. What routines are healthy and helpful — make a plan for how you can maintain and create more space for those.

A powerful way to change behavior is remembering past behaviors and taking stock of what has worked/hasn’t worked in the past. You can then feel empowered to decide: What am I gonna try next week? It comes down to: What will YOU incorporate into your routine? Pick a couple that you can sustain over time as your “norms” and start implementing simple changes over time.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and revise. If you treat it as an experiment not a performance you’ll feel less pressure and cultivate a curious mindset that helps you be creative and patient with yourself.

Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you please share “5 Ways to Create Better Habits Around Stress”? If you can, kindly share a story or example for each.

1. Make it fun — Stress isn’t fun but reducing stress can be. Find ways of bringing even little bits of fun into your wellness routines. Our brains also like novelty so vary your routines like trying new workout classes or listening to new mindfulness or sleep courses.

2. Socialize — Surrounding yourself with people / a community that brings you joy, is a great way to reduce feelings of stress. Socializing helps buffer stress, but can also be an opportunity to talk about issues that are causing stress and allow you to receive emotional support from those around you.

3. Prioritize sleep — Healthy sleep is a critical component of our wellbeing. While eight hours is often cited as the standard amount of sleep each night, length of shut-eye is not as important as sleep quality and consistency. Try your best to stick to a regular bedtime and wake up time to feel refreshed and ready to take on the day.

4. Get sweating — Daily physical activity is a great way to combat stress and help boost endorphins. Almost any form of exercise or movement can help decrease your stress levels, so be sure to pick an activity that you enjoy — whether that be going for a walk, dancing to your favorite songs, gardening, jogging or going for a bike ride.

5. Mindfulness — Give yourself permission to have restorative breaks throughout the day — it helps your focus and prevents stress from spilling over into evening. We’re all busy with our day-to-day schedules and the stressors that come with it — but a mindfulness session, journaling or short walk outside are a few ideas for an easy, peaceful moment.

What role does mindfulness play in developing better stress management habits?

Practicing mindfulness is one of the most powerful ways to manage and reduce stress. When you have an idea of what affects your stress levels, you can take small steps to lower it. Fitbit research found that those who regularly engaged in mindfulness activities saw positive changes in their resting heart rate, Sleep Score and Stress Management Score.

How can technology be leveraged to support the creation of stress-reducing habits?

Fitbit’s Stress Management Score helps you understand how your heart rate, sleep, and activity levels impact your physiological stress and allows you to better plan out your day. For example, if your score is higher, it suggests your body is showing signs of more stress, so try to fit in a breathing exercise or walk. If your score is lower, it suggests you’re less stressed, so maybe it’s the day to tackle a big project.

Using Stress Management Score can also help you assess what factors are contributing to a higher or lower score. Maybe you practiced mindfulness early in the morning leading to a lower score, or were up late working on a project which could increase your score. It’s all about identifying those stress levers and taking steps to find balance.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who is the Director-General of the World Health Organization. I’m lucky to already work closely with WHO through our partnership between Google and WHO. I’d like to talk about two things: One, thank him for prioritizing mental health. Two, discuss how to help countries move faster and more effectively to address the mental health crisis.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Keep up with my work on the Google Keyword blog and my LinkedIn to see the latest in mental health and wellbeing research.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

About the Interviewer: Shawna Robins is an international best-selling author of two books — Powerful Sleep — Rest Deeply, Repair Your Brain and Restore Your Life, and Irresistibly Healthy — Simple Strategies to Feel Vibrant, Alive, Healthy and Full of Energy Again. Shawna is the founder and CEO of Third Spark, an online wellness hub for women over 40 who want to reignite their sleep, reset healthier habits and respark their lives. Shawna is a sleep expert, hormone health expert, and a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBHWC). She has been featured on many podcasts including Dr. Mindy Pelz’s “The Resetter Podcast” and in Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, and The Huffington Post. A free download of her latest book can be found at www.thirdsparkhealth.com/powerful-sleep/ You can follow her on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.