We all know what it’s like to call in sick, but have you ever took a day off not because you were sick per se, but rather you just needed the day to yourself? You may have heard of days such as these being referred to as “taking a personal day” ━ usually used when one has to take care of a sick child or another family member, or if someone close to them has passed away.
But if people can accept a ‘personal, day’ why is it so hard to accept a mental health day? A mental health day is a day to rest or recharge in whatever way works best for you which in turn can prevent you from getting sick, physically, in the future. So shouldn’t they be more acceptable?
Even if you’re not someone that struggles with a mental illness, your mental health is important, and giving yourself time to rest should still be a necessity for you. Mental health days give you the chance to rest, recharge, and recoup before getting back to your day-to-day routine. And you may not only need to take mental health days off from work or school, but there may also be times in which you need to take them from your friends or family too.
Now, I don’t recommend taking “mental health days” all the time ━ you don’t want to abuse these rare and cherishable days, giving them a bad wrap. But, every so often, everyone needs a bit of a break. So here’s why I think you should try taking a mental health day and how I recommend you do it:
WHEN TO TAKE A MENTAL HEALTH DAY:
When you’re feeling mentally drained and/or frazzled.
One sign you need time to rest is when things start to run together and you can no longer keep up with simple day-to-day tasks.
When you’re exhausted and sleep-deprived.
If you have been running on little-to-no sleep, then sooner or later the exhaustion is going to hit you…hard. So if you know you have a week full of late-nights ahead, plan on staying in over the weekend at least for a day.
When you’re having an unusual amount of trouble staying focused.
One sign you’d be better off giving your mind the day off is when you find yourself just unable to focus on even the smallest of tasks. You’d find that you can actually get more done if you just go ahead and take a whole day off rather than repeated taking breaks throughout the day ━ switching back and forth between assignments.
When you find yourself becoming increasingly moody, snappy, and on-edge.
If every little thing is starting to get on your nerves and upset you, it’s probably time to take a step back to regain a leveled head.
When you’re really just not feeling it.
Sometimes there’ll be days when you don’t feel quite right. There isn’t anything obviously wrong per se, but things don’t feel quite right either. When this happens taking a mental health day is a good way to take time to sit down with yourself and figure out what’s really going on and how you’re really feeling.
WHAT TO DO ON YOUR MENTAL HEALTH DAY:
Make the decision to take the day off, and then ACTUALLY take the day off.
While people may define a mental health day in different was, I consider it to be a day to recharge and not have to worry about the things you would on any other day. So when you decide to take a mental health day, you shouldn’t be worrying about the never-ending to-do list in your mind. If it helps you can start off by doing a brain dump of all the things you think you have to do, and then you can stick that list in your planner for the next day.
Put your work away.
If it’s all still just too overwhelming, you can put all your work away ━ put it in your bag or in a drawer ━ somewhere out of sight.
Put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb.”
Unplugging can honestly be such a weight lifted off your shoulders. You can go throughout your day unbothered by the unwanted calls, texts, and any other various notifications from stressful people, all while maintaining the ability to phone a friend for a nice chat if you feel up for it.
Get your body moving.
If the reason for you taking a mental health day has anything to do with feeling unable to focus, frazzled or anything else along those lines, going for a walk or a run could be a good way to rechannel your pent up energy and clear your head. If you’ve just been feeling down, overextended, or just really out of touch with yourself, doing yoga or simply getting some stretching in can leave you feeling more refreshed.
Eat your favorite foods.
This day is about you, so treat yourself to your favorite meal. Making sure to get three square meals each day is so important, but also so often neglected.
Do something that makes you happy.
This can be doing something artistic and creative like drawing or coloring in an adult coloring book, something simple and entertaining like watching a new show on Netflix, or something mindful and calming like meditation.
Have an evening check-in to see how you’re doing.
Towards the end of your day, take the time to see how you feel now. Do you feel better? Was any activity, in particular, more helpful than the others? Checking-in with yourself can help you figure out if you’ve been taking on too much and whether or not you need to reach out to someone for further help with your mental health.
Go to bed early.
Finally, to set you up for a better sleep schedule, going to bed earlier will leave you better rested to tackle that long to-do list the next day that you brain-dumped earlier.