A Mental Health Day

 

Sometimes you just need a break from life. It can be because of a lack of motivation, general irritability, zero interest in work or activities you once enjoyed, or feeling overwhelmed and like you’ll never check off everything on your to-do list…. All of these things can contribute to feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and burnt out. 

 

Here are nine signs that you might be experiencing burnout:

1. Irritability & quick temper. P
2. Withdraw from things that used to be fun and meaningful. P
3. Constantly feeling anxious. P
4. Feeling detached from both work and others. P
5. Cynicism. P
6. Lack of motivation or focus. P
7. Feeling exhausted. P
8. Lack of self-care: exercise and nutrition. P
9. Feeling physically sick. P 

Do these sound familiar to you? I know for me they do. It checks all my boxes. For no apparent reason, I have been unusually irritable lately. There are things that used to be fun, that I just don’t want to do. With the coming election, I am definitely feeling anxious. Working from home has me feeling detached not only from work but form others as well. The current Republican administration has me feeling cynical, because who can trust any of them. In general, I am lacking any kind of motivation. The only motivation I have is to occasionally rant in my posts about politics. I am exhausted all the time. I have not been exercising nor have I been eating the right foods. You all know about my headaches, which are part and parcel to all of these.

 

While my Botox treatment seems to be helping my migraines, they are not helping my sinus headaches. The weather has been changing drastically here in Vermont. Each day we are having 30 to 40-degree swings in temperature, and there is a storm front that will be moving through in the coming days. These things wreak havoc on my sinuses. This weekend was not a good weekend, and I’m to the point that I need a mental health day. The problem is, I have meetings today, a class to teach tomorrow, and I have to be in the office on Wednesday and Thursday. Therefore, I am checking out today except for the short meeting I have this morning.

 

The truth is, we can all benefit from a day to clear the fog from our heads. I have read that taking a mental-health day can improve energy, motivation, mood, and one’s ability to manage stress, and time off might actually increase overall productivity rather than decrease it. While officially, I will be working today, I doubt I will be doing much of anything.