Why I put mental health weeks on my calendar
It’s impossible to stay in the fast line all the time. Shocking, right?
Sometimes you need to slow down and catch your breath.
As an enneagram type 3, I have to force myself to take breaks from my work. I LOVE what I do, but I also know that I can get burned out out if I don’t work to create some meaningful boundaries.
At the start of every year, I go into my calendar and reserve eight weeks foir mental health.
Yes, in addition to vacations
Yes, in addition to personal days
Yes, in addition to everything else
You might be wondering what a mental health week actually is.
It’s okay if you don’t know. I made it up.
For me, a mental health week means fewer meetings, more white space on my calendar, and a lot of catching up. I’m still working, but I’m intentionally taking myself off turbo speed and choosing to work at a slower pace.
Like yours, my business is also a small shop. That means I tend to take on more than I can reasonably handle. I start falling behind. I go down rabbit holes (thanks to social media scheduling platforms) that last for hours or days. I have to deal with a true dumpster fire (say, all my electronics choosing to die at the same time) that takes all my attention away from the already jam-packed week.
You're not alone. In today’s world, it’s all too common, and we all deal with it, especially those of us who run businesses or organizations.
How to make rules for your mental health weeks
The rules are made up, so you can tweak them to align with your specific needs. Generally, here’s what the rules look like for me:
Select random weeks to block off at the beginning of the year. You might have to move them around as the year goes on for various reasons, but I suggest keeping eight weeks on the books at all times.
Block the entire week. None of this “I’ll take a long weekend” BS. You need a whole week. And mark your calendar as busy. No exceptions, no last-minute meetings, nothing. Just do it.
Schedule appointments you typically neglect (for example: alignment for my truck, body shop to fix my seatbelt, doctor appointments, and…oops, I’ll schedule a dentist appointment for the next mental health week).
Keep the meetings that need to happen, or maybe the ones you want to happen (like the small biz mastermind that I love) and reschedule the ones that can wait. I use Calendly, so once my calendar is blocked, this happens automatically. Pretty nifty.
Make a loose plan for what you’d like to get accomplished, but don’t be rigid. Start with the tasks that keep you up at night, the things that you know need to get done but just don’t have time to tackle during a normal work week.
Catch up, create plans, and get all the things out of your brain. Let yourself work creatively.
Most importantly, don’t overthink it. Block your calendar and forget about it. This week caught up with me, but I was so grateful because I had been running at 90mph for quite a few weeks in a row. I’ve also had three mental health weeks so far this year. My readers probably didn’t notice, but I sure did!
Your inbox is full of other people’s priorities. Board member needs and requests are important to them, and to you, too. Your staff, volunteers, donors, the list goes on… everyone has their own priorities and because of your position (and probably because you’re a nice person), you always go above and beyond to help people get what they need and make things happen.
You never put yourself first, and it creates a cycle of burnout.
And if we're being honest, you don't need a vacation, because that will just add even more work to your overflowing list of things to do.
You need a chance to catch up with limited distractions.
A mental health week just means you can refocus for a minute and get a few of your priorities knocked out. You’d be amazed how much more calm and creative you feel, and how much more patience you have, when you check off a few tasks that are weighing heavily on your mind.
It’s magical.
What questions do you have about mental health weeks? Can you add a few to your calendar?
I’d love to hear what you think about this!
P. S. One thing I didn't mention is I also planned ahead and got extra groceries to do some meal prep. Planting is coming up, which means we'll be eating meals out of the back of my truck in the field in no time. Plus, prepping some extra meals allows me to eat better and feel better during those extra busy weeks.