Prioritizing Self-Care: Take Time off for Your Mental Health

You’ve likely heard it before, and you will probably hear it again.

It’s time to take off for your mental health.

When you take time off for your mental health, you can enjoy benefits that support your daily life and your goals.

Hustle culture can encourage you to work through the pain, the pitfalls, and the days when you don’t feel like yourself.

Breaking the habit of pushing through can mean that you take time to come back to yourself and improve your mental health. This doesn’t have to be perfect, and you can make progress.

The Impact of Stress on Mental Health

When you don’t take time off by choice, it can mean that you are forced to take time off due to illnesses brought on by the impact of stress.

According to the American Psychological Association, both short-term stress and chronic stress can negatively impact your overall mental health.

Short-term stress can mean that you experience uncomfortable sensations within your body like a stomachache, sweaty palms, a headache, or even gastrointestinal problems.

However, chronic stress can mean a more severe reaction.

Chronic stress can lead to disease and can suppress your immune system so that you are more susceptible to sickness and illness.

Body and mind can be connected when it comes to stress and the impacts can be long-lasting.

Overcoming Barriers To Self-Care

Since you know that the impacts of stress can be severe, it may be time to start thinking about how you can overcome the barriers to self-care.

It can be difficult to start taking care of yourself when you are a caretaker for others, have a demanding career, are impacted by the events of the world, or have kids.

These very real barriers can definitely make practicing self-care more difficult; however, it doesn’t have to be impossible to overcome these barriers in your daily life.

So, how can you overcome obstacles when it comes to taking time off for your self-care?

Shorten The Self-Care Time:

You don’t have to take a 2-hour bath to feel relaxed (though you can and we won’t judge).

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You can spend 5 minutes taking a pause, saying the serenity prayer, or taking a box breath.

No matter how busy you are during the day with your many different roles you can still make time for a quick check-in with yourself.

Shortening the time and lowering your expectations can be beneficial when it comes to self-care.

Take An Extra Moment for Yourself in the Morning:

Those uninterrupted moments in the morning can be really lovely.

If they help sustain you throughout the day, you can wake up a few minutes earlier to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea without interruption, wrap yourself in a blanket, or read a motivational quote.

Limit Social Media:

The time you are spending on social media can be time spent on a self-care activity.

When you give yourself a boundary with social media, you may have pockets of time that you never knew existed.

This could mean that you take a quick walk around the block, go outside to feel the sunshine on your face, or prepare yourself a snack that feels nourishing to you instead.

Use A Mental Health Day:

Employee mental health days may be available through your workplace, and if so, it can help you in prioritizing self care and improve your self care practices.

If you don’t get paid mental health days, self-care is still important. It may be worth it to take a day off anyway so that you can eliminate a mental health issue.

You don’t have to create more time to find more time in your schedule.

Small shifts can make a world of difference when it comes to self-care and overcoming the barriers that prevent you from practicing it.

Self-Care Activities To Improve Mental Health

We know your time is precious, so which self-care activities can be most beneficial to prioritize?

Sleep:

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Part of taking time for self-care might mean you get more sleep, not less. This can be one of the best ways to help improve your mental health.

When you are rested, you can concentrate, limit overeating, and improve relationships with others.

Take Walks:

The practice of taking a walk independently or socially can improve your mental health.

Whether you are outside or inside, the power of walking is impactful.

It can be a way to socialize with friends, move your body, enjoy nature, and find joy.

This is a small practice that can make a big difference.

Create:

You may not have time to make a masterpiece and doodling, free drawing, and coloring can all release trauma from your body. It can also be a way to connect with your inner child and creative parts.

If you struggle to tap into your creative side, therapy can be helpful.

In IFS therapy or Internal Family Systems therapy, connecting with your inner child and other parts of you that keep you from being in touch with your creativeness can be an important part of healing so that you can love every part of yourself.

Tapping into your creative side, however that looks for you, brings lightness and playfulness – both of which are great for your mental health.

Self-care can be some of the best care.

There may be barriers initially, and when you take the time to prioritize yourself, you may find that it takes less thought over time.

By creating a self-care plan now, you may be saving time later.

Choosing to take time off for mental health can help you to empower yourself again.

When you ignore self-care, you may be forced to take care of yourself through hospital stays, chronic illness, or by creating habits that aren’t worth keeping like substance use.

If you are not sure where to start, we’ve got you. Our clinical team of Denver therapists can help you to develop long-lasting habits that support your self-care plan.

You are not alone.

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Written by: Randi Thackeray, MA
Clinically Reviewed and Edited by: Julie Reichenberger, MA, LPC, ACS, NCC