The 9 to 5 grind, or in some workers' experience their schedule includes unpaid overtime, it is easy to experience burnout and just feel exhausted.
That eagerness of waiting for a long weekend or your saved-up vacation days makes the calendar just move more slowly. Sometimes you need to take a mental health day. Only you know your mind and body, no one else can tell you need, it is up to you to know when that moment comes.
Whether you have PTO or not, consider taking a mental health day. This is particularly difficult if taking a day off means taking a pay cut, but if you have reached your limit it might be working the financial cost to let yourself rest.
Take a mental health day to recharge, feel more prepared for moving forward at work and get productive work done.
What Is A Mental Health Day?
A mental health day is a self-proclaimed day to put your own mental and emotional needs first, take care of yourself and push off other obligations until tomorrow.
The most difficult part of a mental health day is giving yourself permission to take a break and rest. It is so easy to get caught up in your schedule and put the obligations of work, studying, home life, friends and loved ones, above your own.
Make the decision to take a day only for yourself to recharge and better prepare for your busy schedule. Once your mind is made up, you know what to do. Cancel your obligations for the day.
Of course, there can be a financial barrier involved with taking time off and prioritizing yourself, but when the moment is right take advantage of it. Use a PTO day or call in sick if you have to because, in a way, you are sick, sick of being exhausted.
People go to the doctor every year, but they don't go check in with a mental health specialist annually. At the very least, allow yourself the time to check in with yourself by taking a day to focus on your needs. Stay in bed late, sleep if you feel tired, eat breakfast in bed, enjoy your coffee, practice mindfulness and think about what brings you gratitude.
The Signs That You Need One
That feeling of exhaustion, even after staying in all weekend and getting plenty of sleep, or feeling like every day is Mondy, are two signs that you need a mental health day.
These feelings indicate the beginning stage of burnout. Burnout literally means physical and emotional exhaustion related to work. If you are stretching your time too thin, or your workplace is over-demanding, it is normal to need more than a weekend to recover from months or years of being overworked.
Signs of burnout include: feeling negative about yourself, your job or ability, feeling exhausted or unmotivated, and loss of value regarding your work and daily activities.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, the best thing to do is reflect on how to move forward. Sometimes in order to have the mental energy to reflect, it is necessary to take physical space.
When you take a mental health day, there is no wrong way to do it, just make sure you do what feels right to you in the moment.
What To Do
Now that you have the day free, the hardest part is over. You already organized with your obligations to have some space and made the decision. Now it is time to rest, in any way that feels good to you.
For some people, resting is literally staying in bed, pampering themselves and ignoring the clock or smartphone notifications. Have a self-care day, do an at-home mani-pedi, an at-home hair mask, and pop on your favorite TV show to binge.
Other folks might prefer to spend their mental health day focusing on needs such as organization or getting done errands that they never have time for. If you are a busy bee even on your day off, at least treat yourself to a nice lunch.
No matter how you choose to spend the day, take the time for personal reflection at some point. How has this time off, and taking a step back, allowed you to evaluate your day-to-day grind? Is there a chance that you can make that will give you back more time for yourself?
If not, what can you do each day to help maintain your mental and emotional health in the face of your busy schedule? Decide on how you can dedicate yourself to doing what feels right to you more often, even if that means taking on less in order to give more to yourself.
