Set Aside Time to Meditate, Reflect or Debrief
You would be surprised how even just 10 minutes of meditation would boost your mental health. It’s scientifically proven to reduce stress, depression, high blood pressure, anxiety and more. It even helps boost creativity, productivity and resiliency. The app Headspace has free and short (for those on a time crunch) guided meditations to help calm and reset your thoughts during your day.
Filter Your Social Feeds
Just because you operate online doesn’t mean you need to welcome everyone to the party. What you view is what you ultimately consume and after a while it can and will infiltrate into your subconscious.
Follow accounts that make you happy, educate, motivate and support you positively. If it makes you feel negative in any way, it doesn’t need to be there. Protect your peace and hit unfollow, mute, delete, unsubscribe, block, etc.
You also can control what you respond to. Not everything needs a response. Platforms such as Instagram even allow you to block certain keywords or allow comments at all.
Limit Screen Time
Almost half of the world’s population is digitally connected and spends an average of 2 hours daily on social media alone. If you operate in the digital space then I can guarantee that number multiplies exponentially.
If filtering what you view is not doing enough to help your mental health, then try limiting the amount of time you spend online. Since quitting all things digital is most likely out of the question, set up time limits. The iOS platform has settings you can create on your phone that creates a timer when active on social platforms. The Moment app offers a coaching bootcamp to teach you how to spend less time on your phone.
Create Self-Care Goals
Let’s face it. Life can be straight up stressful. This is why self-care should be among your top priorities. Yes, we all would like to book (once it’s safe again…) that round trip to Maui, but self-care can mean the simplest of things such as drinking your water, taking your vitamins and getting adequate rest.
If you are like me, my day can go from zero to sixty from the moment I wake up so it can be very easy to become engrossed in my work and skip essential needs like lunch. I like to use apps to send me pause reminders. I recommend the app Aloe Bud which is a free app that sends self-care reminders throughout your day. If you enjoy fitness, a great app that is also free is FitOn that provides some awesome and brief home-based workouts to help you rejuvenate during your day or de-stress after a long one. They even have workouts you can do from your desk!
Whatever is your form of self-care, be intentional on setting time for it in order to maintain balance in your life.
Take a Break
It is okay to walk away from being online altogether. Sometimes all we need is to click Factory Reset to realign back onto the right track.
But what if you need to be online? Try to then reserve your weekends to shut completely off. Schedule your items in advance so they can go to work while you are not. If you have someone you can temporarily delegate some work to in order to have a real break, do it.
Listen to Podcasts
Rather than scroll through social feeds that can be exhausting visually, you can give your eyes a break by listening to podcasts. Podcasts have increasingly become popular in recent years and can range from entertaining to educational.
Ask for Help
Every job can have its hectic times, but if you find yourself drowning consistently then there is a problem. And unfortunately discussion of mental health in the workplace is still taboo, especially in certain industries.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, “fear of discrimination and feelings of shame are among the leading reasons people do not disclose to colleagues about their mental health.”
Whether an appropriate colleague or close friend, find a supportive person to confide in so you can release that pent up stress. If you are a leader, sharing with your team can encourage others to speak up.
Additionally, it is equally important to be an advocate for mental health. Strive to create a healthy and supportive work environment that is an ally in mental health. This will reduce stigma and boost workplace satisfaction across the board.
Regardless of how being online impacts you, it’s extremely important to be self-aware and keep a watchful eye of signs that your mind and body is asking for a break. Our world, especially in the digital space, is fast-paced so take time for yourself, protect your mind and body and get back to crushing it in your field!