“A vacation helps to relieve stress and boredom, gives us a change of scenery, provides us with adventure, and helps to bring us closer to the people in our lives.”
E. S. Woods
July 1st is a long weekend here in Canada (Happy Canada Day!). It’s also a long weekend for my southern neighbours in the US (Happy Independence Day!).
So, in light of the long holiday weekend, I decided to highlight a piece I wrote about a year ago about taking a day off in the middle of the week, what I call a Mental Health Day, and the five lessons I discovered in the process.
Lessons Learned From a Personal Mental Health Day
1. It takes a few attempts to discover what makes you feel balanced.
Many areas of my life have been in sync for the last few months. I’m exercising regularly, paying more attention to my diet, spending more time with my family, actively engaging in hobbies, and developing a meditation habit.
However, there are still many things about living a balanced life that I’m discovering.
On my mental health day, I rediscovered the joy of just doing the simple things in life. But I also learned that I need to be intentional and proactive about it. I have to schedule a time to do these simple things.
2. Going somewhere different can foster creativity.
My wife and I drove about an hour out of town, parked the car, then went for a comfortable walk in a natural setting. In that environment, I had more creative thoughts than usual. The walk reminded me of how one’s environment can influence and shape one’s thinking. As a result, I felt mentally stimulated and relaxed simultaneously.
3. You Can Make Big Adjustments to Your Wheel in a Day.
I call this the Principle of Equal Influence.
This principle says that there are some areas of your life where you only need to spend a few minutes per day instead of hours to balance that domain of your Wheel successfully.
Although I only took one day off (about 8 – 10 hours), I felt I adequately addressed several areas of my life for the whole week.
4. Now and then, you’ll need support from others to adjust your Wheel. My wife and I wanted to make the most of our day off. But, with our kids in school, we needed to ensure they were picked up, fed, and safe.
My in-laws did us a huge favour by picking up the kids from school and spending the rest of the evening with them so that Sabrina and I had a couple of extra hours by ourselves.
The lesson here is that when you are trying to live a more balanced life, you’ll need the support of others from time to time.
5. Disconnecting from electronic devices can help with your mental health. I saved this tip for last because it was the most significant discovery I made (or rediscovered) on my day off.
Of all the different experiences I had that day, shutting off my cell phone significantly impacted my ability to relax and rejuvenate.
Shutting off my phone made me more present and appreciative of where I was. It also brought a sense of peace to my mind.
Rest, Reset, and Reconnect
Vacations are great. But you don’t have to go far, spend a lot of money, or schedule a lot of time off to appreciate what they can do for you: they help you reset, relax and reconnect with yourself and those you care about.
I hope this post reminds you of the importance of taking a personal mental health day and the value of doing simple things on such a day.
Richard