3 Small But Effective Ways to Improve Your Mental Health
If you need a mental vacation, this is for you.
I need a mental vacation. Meaning I need my body to stay at my desk and continue working while my mind can run off somewhere else and completely unplug and relax.
The last few weeks have been incredibly busy. I’ve been filming, editing, and uploading videos daily, trying to write every day (keyword: trying). I’m going to the gym every morning, trying to get my steps in daily, trying to eat right, hydrate, read every day, and also doing 20–30 hours worth of contract work.
In addition to all of that, I’ve been trying to be a good girlfriend. It’s not easy when you feel so mentally and physically overwhelmed that all you want to do is run away and hide somewhere until the storm passes. I keep having to remind myself; it’s not a storm — it’s real life.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed with life and all of your responsibilities, I feel you. This is why I wanted to talk about three little things that I’ve been implementing into my life in order to improve my mental health in the midst of the chaos.
Control what you’re consuming on a daily basis.
Two years later and the world is still a mess that can impact your mental health in a variety of ways.
Ever hear, “You are what you eat?” Well, the same saying applies to your mind.
You are what you allow your mind to consume.
You can’t expect to have a healthy mind if you constantly feed it junk. If you’re starting your mornings off with news, tweets, and other various sources that feed you crap that most likely just brings you down, you need to start monitoring what you’re consuming.
I’ve noticed that if I start listening to podcasts first thing in the morning that talk about the state of the world, I get angry. I’m unable to focus on my work.
If I read articles online that are negative, I feel negative.
What you can do:
Think of what you consume mentally as brain food. If you start your morning off with a bag of Doritos, your body will hate you for it — the same goes for starting your day off by reading depressing headlines and anxiety-inducing thoughts first thing in the morning.
The other day I was having a conversation with my mom; she sounded down and irritable. When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I don’t know. I woke up feeling good and rested. Then, I went on Facebook, and now I just feel overwhelmed and afraid.”
Choose what you start your day off with. Choose what you consume throughout the day. Choose what you give your attention to.
Good quality sleep = good quality you.
You can’t function at a high level if you’re unrested.
Studies have even shown that sleep deprivation is the same as being drunk.
Have you ever tried to work while drunk before? It doesn’t work.
On top of feeling like utter dog shit, your irritation threshold is low because sleeping restores mental energy, and if you’re sleep-deprived, you didn’t get the chance to reset fully.
You’re also slow, mentally foggy, and focusing will be nearly impossible because sleep deprivation alters brain activity.
When your body is not properly rested, it can’t function as it should. And every motion requires extra effort, which tires your body out even more.
What you can do:
Determine if you’re someone who prefers to wake up early or if you like to stay up late.
I’m not going to preach that everybody should wake up early if they want to be productive. This method works for me, and it works for other people — but some people thrive on working late into the night and sleeping in later.
Figure out what works best for you but prioritize quality sleep. Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up around the same time every morning.
Don’t eat too late at night so your insulin doesn’t rise in the middle of the night and wake you up. Make sure your room is dark. Set the room temperature to be more cooler because sleeping in a colder room improves your sleep quality.
I go to bed every night by 9–10 and wake up by 5–6. If my sleep quality is poor, I know I won’t be as productive, so I try to take it easy at the gym, hydrate, and aim for better sleep the following night.
Take mental health breaks.
I’m all for that hustle and grind lifestyle. I thrive off having a busy schedule and being go-go-go. But I’m smart about it.
I take breaks every weekend. I do social media detoxes. I avoid watching the news and instead read fiction books or something light in order to give my brain a break from the chaos and the negativity.
If you work for yourself, it’s extremely hard to take time off. Your mind refuses to shut up about the 7 billion projects you said you wanted to work on.
My boyfriend always tells me that if it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t ever leave the house except to go to the gym. He’d just work all day long.
Being able to unplug and detach is the best form of self-care.
What you can do:
When you plan your work week out in advance, schedule a day or evening for yourself to completely unplug.
For example, whenever my boyfriend and I go on a date night, we’re not allowed to talk about any stressful topics. Instead, we focus on uplifting and inspiring conversation and anything positive that happened throughout the week.
On Saturdays, we go about our day without a care in the world about anything. We get breakfast; we talk about dogs, we go grocery shopping, we go to the gym, we make dinner, we laugh, we drink wine, we watch a movie, we relax — we go back to real life on Sunday feeling rejuvenated.
In the evenings throughout the week, set work boundaries. No phone in bed, no work after dinner, read something light before going to bed. Create an unwind routine for yourself that you genuinely look forward to every day.
Life can be extremely overwhelming, and we like to put our mental health on the back burner in the midst of stress.
When people hear others say “you need to take better care of your mental health” they immediately think therapy or subtracting things from their plate.
This can be a turn off for some people, I know it was for me, which is why methods like the ones above can be incredibly beneficial.
To reiterate,
- Control what you consume on a daily basis. This ranges from what you listen to, what you watch, and who you talk to.
- Good quality sleep will equal a better quality you. Don’t ever put rest and sleep on the back-burner. It’ll only bite you in the butt.
- Take mental health breaks. I’m not saying take the week off because you’re stressed or overwhelmed. I’m saying — unplug. Do a social media detox. Take a Saturday off to reset. You’ll come back feeling 10x better and you’ll be even more productive.