When our electronic devices start behaving strangely, the first thing we do is reboot. If not, that’s what the level 1 tech we call will tell us. Every single time.
It’s a bit surprising, then, that the techs (doctors) in our lives don’t tell us the same thing. If we find ourselves behaving strangely, or things aren’t working quite as we’d expect…why not reboot?
That might look like a nap. A massage. Or maybe it’s a mental health day.
Time for a reboot
In the fall, I received an email from the local superintendent of schools. A student had recently gone before the board, sharing the experiences of students as they returned from 18 months of remote learning.
The news wasn’t good. The kids are struggling with their mental health. I’ve heard from my son’s teachers that all the kids were having a hard time with distractions. The world of before is not the world we’re in now.
And we’re all feeling it.
The result was the addition of mental health days. Thanksgiving break was extended to the full week, to give the kids more days. Some teacher workdays were made optional for the same purpose.
Pushing through stress doesn’t make things better. The school recognized the occasional reboot could be beneficial.
So I did the same.
Time for spice and time for nothing
As a full-time single mom, I’m on all the time. I barely get the kid out the door in the morning as work goes into full swing. He comes home just as my last calls are wrapping up. Then it’s dinner, homework, and maybe some hang out time.
Unless he decides to talk or game with friends, my only quiet time is when I sleep. Until the weekends, when he sleeps in and I can start my day with time for myself.
Longing and living for a few quiet hours a week is exhausting, and not bringing a quality version of me to any aspect of my life. I can find myself getting cranky or “off” more easily when I haven’t written in a while. Talked to a friend. Or otherwise prioritized both the “spice of my life” and quiet time to do nothing.
In a prior company, many roles ago, my team had known me for years. If I was ever “off,” they’d ask me when was the last time I took a day to myself. It was a prompt that I needed a mental health day.
Now, I’m in a new place with new people. No one knows my patterns but me. I have to prioritize taking time for myself. Allowing for the occasional reboot.
Establish mental health days
Throughout COVID, we’ve seen the impact of changes to our routines and coping mechanisms. More companies have been creating mental health days. Shutting their doors so their employees can have time to recover without worrying what’s waiting for them when they return.
But what about when COVID is more of an endemic? When most folks are back in offices and doors are generally open?
Historically, many companies offered vacation time and sick time. Eventually, those got blended into time off that the employee could decide how to use. Maybe it’s time to go back to protected time for a specific purpose.
Establishing and integrating mental health days into the year or benefits packages. Making it the norm instead of an exception.
Otherwise, we put the burden on employees to prioritize their own mental health. And, in the case of hourly workers and many industries, that may not be financially possible. Yet prioritizing our mental health ultimately helps us perform better.
As the great resignation rages on, a focus on employee mental health can be a differentiator. We’ve all been struggling. Companies that prioritize helping us cope and manage our priorities (including our health) will lead in the quest for talent.
Proactively reboot
It may not be easy to take time off for a personal day when time off is limited, and potentially earmarked for family vacations or sick visits.
Yet if we don’t, how enjoyable will the vacations be? How many more sick visits will we need from chronic stress?
I’ve been working on scheduling time off for myself into my calendar. That might mean asking a trusted family member to stay with my son and staying overnight somewhere. Or taking days off when he’s traveling to see his dad.
Recently, my son left for a long weekend and I took the time off from work. There were meetings that popped up last minute, and I was tempted to login anyway. I had to remind myself not to. To honor time with myself the same way I’d prioritize my family on vacation.
I asked for help with the meetings and didn’t work. I wrote a lot during that time. Slept. Walked. Visited with one friend. Talked on the phone with a few folks. But mostly mentally, emotionally, and physically rested.
It might have looked like “doing nothing” but it was something. It was allowing my brain and body the space to recover. To have a solid foundation for the coming weeks and months of whatever the world would bring.
Mental health days – our version of a reboot – should be considered as necessary as a wellness checkup with our doctors. When’s the last time you had one? Maybe this will be your reminder to schedule it.
