There are days when I feel energetic and full of life. When I can do everything on my daily to-do list and more.
When my mind is sharp and my ideas seem to make sense.
When I feel like I am achieving my goals and making my deadlines.
When I am certain that all is well and everything is going to plan.
Then I have a day off or two when it feels like the world has stopped. When I keep meaning to do the laundry then leaving it for the next day.
When I receive bills and let them pile up but tell myself its not urgent until a reminder comes through the post.
When I say I will return a phone call and then forget all about it or pick up my phone and end up doing other things on it other than making that call.
When I am just doing things on autopilot, because I have to.
It is not always easy, but that is the time I have learnt to take a moment and make time for myself as I have come to realise that my mental well-being is as important as my physical well-being.
Actually, if I don’t feel well mentally, there is not much physical activity that I can do so I have come up with a few coping strategies to help me through those days and I will share them with you.
Firstly, tidy up your space
Clean your bedroom or room that you enjoy resting in. There is a possibility that when you are feeling low, you will clutter your house and not have the energy to clean up and when you are in that environment you will feel more depressed.
Get some well needed sleep
Chances are, you are tired from your busy schedule. Make it a habit to get to bed at a decent time and aim to sleep for at least 7-8 hours. Switch off alarms if its at the weekend and have a lie in.
Avoid binge watching TV programmes
I am not saying don’t watch TV but my own experiences have been that whenever I get into something that I find interesting, I can’t resist the temptation to watch ‘just one more episode’, causing me to sleep for less hours than I need.
Also, when I have binge watched a programme, I suffer from serious withdrawal symptoms when a series ends. I feel completely lost and unmotivated. That itself causes me to get very low and feel helpless after.
Meditate
When you have chosen your peaceful location, sit in silence and breathe. Pray or listen to guided meditation to help with stress, feel more present and have better sleep.
Take a break from social media
Its very tempting to spend a lot of time on social media, one video on Facebook leads to another and before you know it you have been glued to the phone for hours.
Read a book
Find a good book and read a few chapters at a time. Try not to stay up all night reading because the story line is good and you are curious to to find out what happens at the end.
Consider getting help
If you are consistently suffering from low mood and you have tried self help techniques but you are not getting any better maybe its time you paid your GP a visit and discuss your symptoms so that you may get professional help.
Depression and anxiety can easily be mistaken for laziness and complacency in some communities. Please do not suffer in silence.
Staying silent is not being strong. Speaking out is!
Hey! Thanks for sharing this blog. Very important topic!