5 easy ways to maintain your mental health with a hectic lifestyle

This is a contribution post by Dr Surbhi Prapanna

---

We live in an incredibly busy world. Our routine life is often occupied with the pressure of multiple responsibilities. Especially since the time of the pandemic, a large part of the population has been struggling to maintain a smooth work-family life balance. 

As per a recent survey, covid-19 has impacted work-life balance negatively and had a negative impact on the health, professional and personal life of employees. There has been a tremendous increase in anxiety, depression and other mental health illnesses since the time of the pandemic.    

Though stress is a routine part of our chaotic life. However, it can have a negative effect on our mental health and well-being, if we do not manage it properly. Unmanaged stress can affect our mental and physical health negatively and can cause various physical and mental health issues in the longer run. 

In this post, I am sharing 5 easy and effective ways to help improve your mental health. These steps are practical and easy to implement, and you can fit in easily even with a hectic schedule and busy lifestyle.

Here are 5 easy ways to improve your mental wellness even with a busy lifestyle. 

Keep a check on your mental and emotional health 

In the past decade, the power of digital media has increased tremendously. Now, with immerging social media platforms, we have a deep insight and more access to each other’s life. This thing has helped a lot in raising “health awareness” in the population. The younger generation is keen to follow the latest diet and fitness trends. Being a health-conscious generation, people keep a good check on their physical and nutritional status. Frequent checking of body weight and following various diet trends (keto, paleo etc.) is a routine part of our modern lifestyle. 

Of course, there is no harm in following these trends and keeping yourself updated with the latest things, but have you ever thought that most of us did not follow the same level of consciousness for our mental and emotional health? Sadly, people did not pay enough attention to their mental and emotional health which led to serious mental and emotional health issues in future. 

If we want to keep ourselves mentally and emotionally healthy, then it is important to keep a check on our mental and emotional health status. Ideally, you should try to take out at least 10 minutes each day to just do a quick check-in on your mental health status. When you get some free time, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Perform a quick check-in and ask yourself how you are feeling today. If it sounds complicated, then you can get help from any mediation app which helps in this process and helps you in knowing your mental and emotional health status. Being aware of your mental and emotional health status is the first step that helps in improving your mental health. 

Acknowledge your emotions and name it

This is the second important step for improving your mental and emotional wellness. Mental health experts suggest it is easy to feel confused when you have plenty of emotions altogether and suffer from a state of emotional overload. However, it is important to acknowledge your mental and emotional health status by giving a proper name to your existing feelings. 

For example: when you acknowledge and name your feelings and emotions like “I am feeling overwhelmed” or “I am feeling anxious”, then it will create a better picture of exact mental and emotional health. This step gives you a fair idea of what your exact mental and emotional health issues are. 

Additionally, you can maintain a journal or write down your emotions. Writing not only helps in keeping track of your mental health, but it also works great in solving many problems as well. 

Regular physical exercise and eating a healthy diet

It might sound like a more obvious piece of advice, but your lifestyle routine plays a vital role in improving your mental health. Research suggests that there is a strong correlation between your physical and mental health. It is important to eat a healthy diet (which includes whole grains, vegetables and fruits) and perform any kind of regular physical activity for at least 30-45 minutes a day (for at least 5 days a week). 

A healthy diet keeps your immune system healthy and improves your mood and overall well-being. In the same manner, regular physical activity boosts the level of the “feel good hormone” (serotonin) and helps in dealing with symptoms of various mental health issues like depression and anxiety. 

Being close to nature 

Next, the important thing to improve your mental wellness is being close to nature. Nature has amazing healing properties. It reduces our day-to-day stress and uplifts our mood too.  Scientific research suggests that being close to nature is a great way to improve your mental and emotional health and can generate many positive emotions like joy and creativity. 

You can easily make this a part of your routine, even with a hectic lifestyle. Just take a 10-minute break in between work and go for a quick nature walk. Observing natural scenery and virtual natural sounds and images can also be used as a great tool to calm down your mind. This thing helps in releasing negative emotions and refreshing you within a few minutes. 

Learn to say no

Finally, it is important to set healthy boundaries and work as per your individual limit and caliber. In this overcompetitive era, we face various kinds of pressures (professional, social etc.) in our day-to-day life. As responsible grown-ups, we want to fulfil each possible commitment and want to make everyone happy around us. However, on a practical aspect, this is not possible all the time. 

Saying “yes” to everyone and every situation not only creates unhealthy pressure on your life but also puts a negative impact on your mental and physical health. It is important to learn the art of saying “NO”. Setting healthy boundaries in different areas of life helps in reducing unwanted pressure and improves your mental health and well-being. 

So, are these some easy ways to improve your mental health with a hectic lifestyle routine? What are your thoughts? If you want to share anything on a topic you care deeply for, send us your submission. Here are the guidelines

---

Dr. Surbhi Prapanna is a homeopathic therapist by profession and a writer and blogger by passion. She is the founder of India’s leading lifestyle blog surbhiprapanna.com.

She has more than 5 years of professional writing experience and her work has been published on various prestigious online platforms like Momspresso.com, kidstoppress.com, cureJoy.com and shivanaspirit.com.
Health, parenting and creative activities for kids (art, crafts, DIYs etc.) are her niche. She has won so many awards for her academic and professional excellence but winning the “Best parent award” is the most precious and satisfying experience of her life. Connect with her here.

---