Taking a Mental Health Day is Important
We live in a hustle culture. We are urged to “go go go” and be productive almost all hours of the day. When we start to feel the effects of our ongoing work, it can really drain us. It is hard to be “on” like a light switch 24/7. Sometimes we feel true burnout, stress, and exhaustion. In these times, it is essential to put our mental health first. If you relate to this feeling of immense stress, consider taking a mental health day!
When we want to be the best and be on top of our game constantly, it can come at a price. Although work and school are both very important, how we’re doing mentally and physically should be the pinnacle of our lives. When we don’t take care of our well-being, it stops us from performing to the best of our abilities. We cannot live a productive life without allowing rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. To sum it all up, sometimes we need a mental health day!
The Importance of Taking a Mental Health Day
A mental health day is a day where you dedicate yourself to caring for your well-being. This day allows you to recuperate and get back in touch with practices that improve your mental health. You may be thinking, “why is a mental health day important?” “Why should I focus so much on my mental health? I’m too busy!!”
Taking care of your mental health is vital to living a healthy and happy life. Work and school take up much of our time and can drain us completely. Burnout is real, especially in today’s day and age! Researchers share that burnt-out people face intense exhaustion, aversion to their job, and meaninglessness in their work. Job burnout robs someone of the enjoyment they once had for their career and work.
Symptoms of burnout include:
- Exponential stress.
- Loss of joy in what you do.
- Lack of work-life balance.
- Mental/physical decline.
When was the last time you took off a day? When did you last talk to a friend and laugh? If you can’t remember, there is a good chance work is draining you.
You may need a mental health day if you relate to these burnout symptoms. You deserve to recharge and take a day that is focused on YOU, not your work. If you want to have a day like this, try to: use PTO or explain that you aren’t feeling well. If you don’t feel like your boss will allow this or understand you calling out sick, try to make the best of the weekend! Commit to putting your phone and work emails away to immerse yourself in a mental health day fully.
This article will go over valuable activities you should do on your mental health day. If you are interested, keep reading!
Remind Yourself That Taking a Mental Health Day is Okay
As mentioned before, you might feel guilty when you take a break from your productive life. It feels like we are expected to obtain optimal work performance and social interaction every day. To be considered “productive,” we are expected to work hard, socialize, learn more, and constantly improve each day. It is hard to maintain all of these things all of the time!
Most of the time, we lack in one area and thrive in another. For example, you may be excelling in your work life, but don’t see your friends as a result. Alternatively, you may socialize a lot, but your work life is now starting to suffer. Remember, we are all humans, not machines! We cannot be programmed to be excellent at each category in our life all of the time!
A mental health day can help you because it allows you to take a break from everything that consumes your day: work, socializing, learning, etc. Constantly improving yourself is an excellent goal to work at, but we all need breaks from time to time. Life can get pretty crazy, and being able to relax and recharge yourself will help you feel like the best version of yourself.
On this day, repeat these phrases:
- I am allowed to take time for myself
- Having a mental health day does not make me a bad employee, mom, or student
- Everyone needs time to rest and recharge
- Prioritizing my mental health and being honest when feeling drained does not make me weak!
Get Some Rest
One major thing to do while taking a mental health day is to get some much-needed rest! For example, when you are a student, you feel like you are studying or doing homework constantly. You may be pulling a lot of all-nighters as a teen or someone in your twenties attending college, and you realize that you lack ample sleep!
While taking a mental health day, spend time resting and energizing yourself. You may want to take a nap on this day for plenty of hours! However, you may be someone not fond of napping. If this is the case, allow yourself to sit on the couch comfortably. While doing so, do not strain yourselves by doing anything too energy-consuming. For example, you can lounge on the sofa with a nice comfy blanket in your pajamas and read a book. This is a low-energy activity that can allow you to focus on other things while comfortably sitting and resting.
Do Something You Enjoy
When we engage in hobbies that we love or activities that we enjoy, it can benefit our mental health. As this article states, practicing something that we love boost feel-good chemicals within us. So when taking a mental health day, try to do something that makes you smile or fuels your passions. If you like art, delve into painting or coloring in a mindfulness coloring book. You can also journal and write if you enjoy putting pen to paper.
Exercise helps improve people’s moods and regulate their emotions. Try exercising and getting your body moving! Go on a walk with a friend and reconnect or do a fun dance workout video. Whatever you decide, make sure it will make you happy on this day!
Interact With Other People
This suggestion is for more extroverted people. As mentioned in one of our previous articles, introverts can be very social but ultimately recharge when alone or by themselves. On the other hand, extroverts recharge by being with other people and feeling great while socializing! So if you are extroverted, try meeting up with friends and doing something you both enjoy together. If you don’t feel like leaving your house, try video-chatting or calling a friend. You guys can even call each other and watch a movie through your digital device or attend an online exercise class. This way, you are socializing without having to leave the comfort of your home.
Get Out in Nature While Taking a Mental Health Day
Nature can be rejuvenating to many people. If you love the feeling of the sunshine on your skin or the breeze on your face, going outside can help you when taking your mental health day. Go for a walk and practice mindfulness while doing so. Taking a mindful walk is a great way to revel in the present moment and engage your senses. Listen to the birds, feel your feet on the ground, drink water as you walk, smell the flowers, and look at the beautiful world around you.
Nurture Your Body & Do Self-Care
Today, try to nurture your body as best you can. Nurturing your body can be done through eating nutritious food and drinking plenty of water. Self-care practices can also achieve this action. Doing your skincare routine is a great way to care for your skin and pamper yourself. Do a face mask and wash your skin with warm water. These activities are very common self-care practices that many people enjoy doing. You can also take a bubble bath and relax while reading a book or listening to calming music. Treat your body right!
Connect With Animals
If you have pets or know someone with a pet, engaging with them when taking a mental health day would be great. Pets bring a lot of happiness to owners and people around them. Take your dog on a walk or take a cat nap with your cat!
Being with animals is an excellent reminder of the simple joys of life – pets don’t have to work or study for tests. All they want in this world is to be loved by their owners, rest, and eat some good food. We can all take a lesson from these pets!
Mediate When Taking a Mental Health Day
As mentioned in our past article about mindfulness, meditation is a great way to embrace peace in your life. You can meditate on your own or practice a guided meditation. These practices can help you center yourself and find harmony in the present moment. When taking a mental health day, use mediation and yoga to recharge your energy.
Find a peaceful and quiet place to meditate. Sit down and relax your body. Use this time to listen to your inner thoughts and needs. Be open to any ideas that appear and let them pass over you as a wave does in the ocean. You can also try a guided imagery exercise, as explained in our article here.
Treat Yourself
Sometimes we all just need to treat ourselves! Treating yourself involves spending money on or doing something fun for yourself! Is there a product you have been thinking about buying? Is there a takeout food that you’ve really been wanting to try? What movie are you dying to rent or buy?
Do something spontaneous and fun on this day! You deserve to treat yourself with a fun purchase or activity. It may sound silly, but imagine you were dating yourself. It’s nice to buy your partner flowers and do something special for them from time to time. Treat yourself with that same love and care you show to your loved ones. Buy yourself flowers or take yourself out to a nice dinner. You deserve to be treated well!
Merely Exist
Sometimes the best plan is no plan. If you get very overwhelmed with scheduling your life down to every second, you may find it hard to relax or take a mental health day. Sometimes all we need is just to simply exist and be present in the moment.
This idea involves lying around and taking in the world around us. It is okay to want to do nothing at all for a day. We are all under the notion that our lives have to be productive all the time to be meaningful. We need to remember that we all exist with infinite self-worth and value. Just by being ourselves, we are always more than enough! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get certain things done while taking your mental health day. Put yourself on autopilot and simply chill out. If all you did on your mental health day was rest in bed, that is good enough!
Consider Therapy
If you face a lot of stress and feel burnt out in your life, a mental health day can help! However, if you notice that you’ve been continuously struggling in life, you should also consider going to therapy. A therapist can help you manage your stress better and live a happier/healthier life. Therapy allows you to find tools to manage stress better and deal with any feelings of sadness or depression.
Our team at Mind Connections wants to support you! We provide coaching that helps people healthily achieve success and goals. Our therapists can also help you find ways to manage stress and deal with anxiety. If you are a teen or young adult struggling with stress, our team is equipped to help you! You deserve to live a happier and healthier life. Call us now to learn more!
Content Creator, Victoria Gallo; Reviewed by Dr. June Cao