How to Take An Effective Mental Health Day

Think of mental health days as a regular tune-up—not damage control.

In an ideal world, mental health days would be something you automatically work into your schedule to prevent you from getting to a place where you desperately need a break, David Klow, licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Chicago’s Skylight Counseling Center, tells SELF. We’d notice signs of work fatigue early and, instead of pushing through it, proactively take care of our mental health, including the occasional day off filled with restoration and self-care.

But that’s not always how it works. We live in a culture that prioritizes productivity over mental health and often requires us to overwork ourselves, so we don’t prioritize mental health days the way we would, say, taking off for a dentist appointment. And for some people, that always-on mode can lead to burnout. At that stage, mental health days have a very different purpose and effect. “Instead of proactive self-care that will have a cumulative long-term effect, it might just be [about] getting out of the hole,” says Klow.

Too often people think they have to be really struggling before they’re allowed a break, but taking care of yourself before you absolutely have to is how you avoid burnout, says Klow. So try to think of mental health days as proactive rather reactive. See them as nonnegotiable, the way you would jury duty or something similar.

Remember mental health days aren’t all-or-nothing.

As great as mental health days are, remember that they’re not going to work miracles. “People hope that if they can load up on restoration all at once on a mental health day, they’ll return to work completely reset,” says Klow. And when that inevitably doesn’t happen, your mental health will take that hit of disappointment. Instead, keep your expectations in check and don’t put too much pressure on these days. “They are only little scoops of wellness,” says Klow. “You have to make a practice out of it.”

As part of this practice, you should also build in mini mental health activities on the days you’re not taking off. Remember to take breaks, get outside for lunch or a midday trip around the block if you can, and pay attention to signs of fatigue and address them through self-care. The more you infuse your life with small habits of workplace wellness, the more effective your mental health days will be when you take them.

Get into nature.

You probably don’t need me to tell you that the healing powers of nature are plentiful, but how often do you actually take advantage of that? There’s a whole growing scientific field called ecotherapy, and research has shown that more time in nature can be strongly tied to reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in some people.

Depending on where you live, this might be easier said than done. But letting nature nurture you doesn’t have to look like going on an exhausting hike or immersing yourself in the wilderness. You can also just find a park or go to a botanical garden. “Some people think getting outside means activity or exercise, but it can also be sitting in nature and just being,” says Lavella.

Tackle your to-do list.

Taking a break from work to do more work might not sound like the best use of a mental health day, but honestly, it might be for you. Errands, chores, and other tasks can pile up when we’re buried in our work, and having that hanging over you is stressful as hell. “Feeling like we can’t keep up with our life causes an overflow of anxiety that’s hard to shake,” says Lavella. “Sometimes you need a day to handle the things you’re not handling.”In the same vein, this could be a good time to tackle tasks related to making a bigger change in service of your mental health. If you actually kind of hate your job or it’s just not sustainable or healthy for you, you probably should be considering moving elsewhere—but obviously it can be hard to motivate yourself to use your sacred weekends to job hunt. Taking a day off to update your résumé and write cover letters might not be restorative, per se, but it definitely could be transformative in the long run.

Anna Borges 9 Smart Tips for Taking a Mental Health Day That Actually Helps | SELF