Mental health days are a hot topic lately.
Especially when it comes to managing stress at work or school.
When you're busting your butt at work,
covering for slackers,
taking on more than you can handle,
and missing out on family time,
it makes sense that you would start to feel overwhelmed, burnt out, and resentful.
And that you might need a mental health day.
I get it.
Sometimes you need a break to recharge and take care of yourself.
But when you’re using them the wrong way,
they can backfire and make you feel even worse.
There’s nothing wrong with rest and recovery but,
when your mental health days are about sleeping in, watching TV,
and ignore work emails.
But then your coworkers start blowing up your phone,
and the guilt creeps in for not being there.
And the next day, you're back at work, still stressed,
anxious about what your boss thinks, and feeling like you've screwed up,
something has to change.
So, here's the deal.
Using mental health days effectively means
more than just sleeping in and avoiding work.
It's about actively taking care of yourself - exercising, meditating, journaling, or
It's also about coming up with solutions on how to handle the things that
stress you out and make you anxious
by creating and holding boundaries to prevent burnout.
By finding time to take care of yourself at home, and
by learning to trust yourself so you feel confident.
If you’re using mental health days to avoid the things that make you anxious or stress you out you are only making it worse.
Your brain thinks it’s solving a problem by
NOT having to deal with what makes you feel anxious or stressed at work,
NOT having to have the conversation with your team, or
NOT sharing your brilliant idea because you’re afraid what someone else will think.
Here’s how.
You’ll learn to create and hold boundaries that give you more time and energy,
To say what you need and want to say so you are proud of yourself and what you’re achieving,
And learn to calm your body so you can think clearly and feel confident and capable of handling whatever comes your way.
Talk to you soon,
Megan
