How To Maintain Your Mental Health While Staying Productive
Three tips that will help you stay sane in an insane world
Life tends to pull us all in different directions and sometimes can be overwhelming. When we have different responsibilities it can be not easy to maintain our mental health at an optimal level at all times.
Protecting our mental health should always be our number one priority.
However, our mental health tends to be put on the back burner due to responsibilities such as school, job, being a parent & so forth. Many of us wear multiple hats a day.
In our job positions, we tend to take on more responsibility than we should. Creating more work for ourselves than necessary.
I remember being a General Manager at a fast food restaurant and in a master's program. Finding time to maintain my mental health was not a priority as it should have been.
So, how can you protect your mental health while maintaining your productivity?
1.) Enter the Matrix
Unfortunately, we cannot be a superhero like Neo in The Matrix but we can come pretty close in our mastery of managing time.
The “Eisenhower Matrix” is a time management tool used by millions of people to manage their day-to-day lives and business. I use this method as well to bring order to the chaos.
The Eisenhower Matrix puts tasks into four boxes. However, I use a list each day to prioritize my tasks (use whichever you feel most comfortable with is okay). With these four boxes, you need to decide what to do first (urgent priority), what to schedule (think no immediate deadlines), what to delete, and what to delegate. (Imperative action step, imperative action step, delegate list, delete list).
For example, if I have a task that is due the following day then I will put it as a top priority to do. If I’m setting a goal of saving $100 I put it in the important action step. I do not feel dishes need to be put on the list.
2.) Diet & Exercise
There’s no way around it, to protect your mental health and well-being you need to be somewhat mindful of what you eat and incorporate a routine for exercise into your week.
I was stubborn once and refused to change. I simply refused to be more mindful of what I ate and how much exercise I got weekly.
Diet & exercise are non-negotiable for maintaining your mental health. Exercise helps regulate stress hormones in your body. If you want to maintain productivity then you need to regulate these hormones.
Diet is important because optimal food will help your brain function optimally.
I’m not saying you need to flip your life upside down in terms of your diet & exercise but what I am saying is incorporate small changes. For example, I do not like going to the gym. However, I do enjoy walks. So I go on a thirty-minute walk every day.
3.) Schedule in Rest
This is the one item I notice people do not make time for and I understand why.
We wear different hats every day at different times during the day.
However, scheduling rest for yourself is crucial because if you’re not resting then how can you show up 100% for yourself and others? The answer to that question is you can’t.
Find something you enjoy doing and make time to do it. Block it out on your calendar and go do said thing. Make time to sit on the couch for a couple of hours and watch your favorite movie, go on that fishing trip, go on that brunch date with your friend, etc.
Because here’s a bonus tip for you all.
Bonus Tip: Life is Not Always About Being Productive
Don’t spend so much time worrying about being productive in your business, your job, or your personal life that you forget to live in the present moment.
Make time for yourself, make time for others, and most importantly make it a priority to make time.
Thank you for reading!
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