COLUMBIA, Mo. – You know the drill. The calendar is overflowing, you’re running late and finally leaving the office for meetings. And then you notice a teary-eyed coworker with a quivering lip who softly utters, “Have a good day.”

Do you have time to stop? No. Should you make time? Yes, says University of Missouri Extension pesticide applicator training coordinator Sam Polly.

Polly says he too often sees stressed-out farmers, ag industry people and colleagues. Even though his “hair on fire” schedule often dictates the workday, he tries to find time to lend an ear and offer a kind word.

Rural communities where Polly teaches pesticide safety are especially vulnerable to stress and mental health challenges, says Karen Funkenbusch, director for Missouri’s Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance program.

Compared to urban residents, rural Missourians face pervasive stigma and geographic barriers to getting mental health care, according to the Journal of the Missouri State Medical Association. Funkenbusch says that makes it especially important for people in rural communities to be aware of challenges friends, neighbors and acquaintances might experience in their everyday lives.

During May, Mental Health Month, Polly and Funkenbusch offer 10 tips to lighten the load for others:

1. Encourage breaks. Set the example by taking a 15-minute walk occasionally. Ask a coworker to join you on a “walk-and-talk.”

2. Just say no. Set boundaries and accept that others have them also. Learn to say and accept “no.”

3. Check your judgment. “Offer a nonjudgmental listening ear,” says Polly. “Let them know they are not alone, and thank them for having the courage to face their challenges.”

4. Be the example. Encourage others to show kindness by setting an example. Lift others up by jotting a message on a sticky note and leaving it on a windshield, computer screen or mirror.

5. Accommodate. When possible, build flexibility into your work and home environment.

6. Give grace. Before your colleague even arrives at work, they may have already done a day’s work: getting kids to school, cooking breakfast, throwing in a load of laundry. They might have had to deal with forgotten homework or lunch money, a flat tire, an escaped pet. Before you add to their anxiety, pause and remember that employees are people whose days sometimes get off to a rough start. Ask yourself if their performance is helped or hurt by how you react, and give grace where you can, says Funkenbusch.

7. Put elephant on the menu. Step back and break tasks into manageable portions. Think about, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

8. Start the day with gratitude. When you see a coworker struggling, suggest that they write down three things they are grateful for each morning. Make it a morning habit to think of three things or people you are grateful for while you brush your teeth.

9. Seek awe every day. Take a walk and relish in the little things like icicles on the barn, the smell of freshly cut hay, spring flowers, fall color or the bawl of a newborn calf. Polly calls it “medicine for the mind.”

10. Use available resources. Find resources in the Mental Health Toolkit, from MU Extension and the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center, at http://muext.us/MentalHealthToolkit, or follow Show-Me Strong Farm Families at https://facebook.com/ShowMeStrongFarmFamilies.