How to Take An Effective Mental Health Day

How to Take An Effective Mental Health Day

Mental health days are so important to your overall health. It's a time when you can rest, recuperate, and recharge. Taking regular mental health days can decrease your overall stress and improve your immune system. Most importantly, mental health days can help you get in touch with yourself and who you are to get the most out of life.

Think about it though – when’s the last time you took a mental health day? Like a real mental health day? You know, where you actually get to engage in rest or activities that bring you calm and/or joy. Not the day off that you literally clean the entire house or running errands. I get it…..I really get it: “well when else am I going to do those things?” Valid. Really. Hear me out though - that’s more of a day off and not what I would consider I mental health day.

For me, mental health days are about decompressing, recharging, and prioritizing yourself. You might be thinking: “cleaning the entire house from top to bottom is going to make me feel better”. I’m not going to argue with you on that – a clean home does make me feel good and I do think it is important. Is cleaning the house going to offer you the rest and decompression time you are looking for? Remember, we are talking about a mental health day, not just an ordinary day off.

When we dig deep into what a mental health day is, it’s truly a time to decompress. For some, it is a time to clear their minds. For others, it’s a time to sleep in or read a book. Many folks tend to use mental health days in a reactive way. Meaning they take the mental health day when they desperately feel like they need it. This makes it incredibly imperative to heal the mind and the body. It’s the “I’m at my limits and need to take off before I explode” mental health day.

What if we started to use the mental health day in a proactive way? Like preventative care. Using it before we actually….desperately….need to. It’s a game changer. It’s meeting my needs before I am in a space that I feel like I am falling apart.

So often in our society, we have a belief that we only need to care for ourselves when something is wrong. Think about – something is wrong with your car and then you take it to the shop. Something is wrong with my ear and then I go to the doctor. A problem occurs with my computer and then I fix it. Preventative care is there but it isn’t as predominant. “you can’t fix what’s not broken” mentality. BUT, we can do preventative maintenance that comes by being proactive about our selfcare. By listening to the needs of our body. By taking an active part in our own happiness and peace.

What that looks like will look different for everyone. A key component will be sitting still with yourself to engage in a plan that is meaningful to you. It’s about nurturing your mind from the inside – out. What do you think that looks like to you?

The first approach I recommend taking – get enough sleep! Sometimes the hustle and bustle of everyday life makes it difficult to get a full night of sleep. A full night of sleep for each person will vary a bit, but many adults require 7-9 hours. Personally, I am closer to the 9 hour mark. I perform during the day so much better when I have a full night of rest. Keep an eye out by documenting how you feel in connection to how much rest you receive. I tend to feel more irritability for anything less than 7 hours.

Next approach I recommend is completing a brain dump soon after you get out of bed (or while you’re still in bed). This is a task I talk to all of my clients about – brain dumping! It’s literally setting a timer for anywhere from 5-15 minutes and writing (typing or even video recording) everything that is in your brain. It could be positive, negative, neutral – all of it! This practice helps you to externalize your thoughts. Doing so engages more areas of your brain to process information and can help you feel “lighter” after the task. Note: when you put the timer on, set a vibration or soft alert  - not the blazing BEEP BEEEEP BEEEEEP. This isn’t a practice to jolt your whole system! We want this to be a place that your brain feels comfortable in.

After the brain dump there are two great options: spend the same amount of time that you spent on the brain dump by writing by using a gratitude prompt (so many on the internet) OR by engaging in a nurturing activity – hot shower, bath, meditation, yoga, massaging your scalp, sitting with a cup of tea, etc.

After the previous tasks are complete, sit for a moment with both feet flat on the floor (if at all possible) and set your intentions for the day. What do you plan to do? Who might you see? Then think of any preparations you may need. For instance, maybe you decide to make it a low key day and decide to curl up on the couch and read a book. Before you get lost in your book, grab a snack and a cup of water. Consider putting your phone on do not disturb. Maybe grab yourself a pair of ear plugs to really decrease the outside noise.

Proactive mental health days are necessary for your overall health and wellbeing. When will you take your next one?