Unproductive Days are Not the End of the World

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

Today, Alexa was taking the day off or just being a jerk. You know those moments. You’ve had those full-blown arguments with the GPS lady or with Alexa over what weird thing she tries to play sometimes — instead of the one song you really want to hear. Small things like this add up when you are simply trying to get up, get going, and have a productive day. Right?

Something about my day was just not going as planned.

I didn’t get out of my nightgown today until after 4 pm. I can’t blame that on Alexa. (She wasn’t much help, though.) I shuffled around the house in half-present groans. Working on the computer looked more like me staring at umpteen tabs open and toggling between them as if I’d entered a room and forgotten why I was there.

 I can’t tell you what I did today. Don’t we all have days like that? Complete unproductive waste? You may be tempted to panic. You’ve attempted to start a half-dozen tasks and find it difficult to focus on them and even harder to complete them. There’s no real relief by looking for something or someone to blame, so why do we do that?

Because we want an excuse. We need to be able to tell others why we are not functioning up to par today. To alleviate guilt. To stave off responsibilities.

But this is totally unnecessary. What isn’t done in the unproductive moments is simply made-up for later. Of course, there are things you cannot put off and they must be done. If you really think about it though, isn’t a lot of what we plan to do throughout our day self-imposed?

Sometimes you choose the break — sometimes the break chooses you.

I didn’t take a mental health day, but one was served up for me. Sometimes your body and mind intrude and take a “day off” without your permission. Rather than make yourself feel terrible about it, relax in the moment and accept that you need that time to refresh, reset, and revive yourself.

Very Well Mind author Elizabeth Scott, MS shares her analysis of taking a Mental Health Day in her article “When You Should Take a Mental Health Day.” She reminds us that an effective mental health day can help you:

• De-stress
• Reset your perspective
• Take a step back to evaluate
• Get a handle on your emotions
• Relax
• Rest

Take a "Mental Health Day" and Make It Count!

Everyone has to deal with varying levels of stress. This can be particularly difficult to manage if you also have…www.verywellmind.com

In reading her article it occurred to me that I hadn’t even realized I was stressed! I’d been shoving that away, powering through, getting things done that I had decided for myself I had to do. Are you doing this? Just powering through until you “run out of gas?” Perhaps you need a mental health day just to take care of you.

I’d like to say I did something magical with my mental health day. I feel like I wasted it. So much “blah” and “chilling” was occurring that the day slipped by me like a slow moving river. I didn’t take the time to enjoy it or revel in it.

I think I will plan the next mental health day.

Thanks for reading and make sure to follow the author for more stories to lift your day!

For more reading:

Anxiety — The Word You Don’t ‘Hear’ Anymore
Getting Out as a Single Woman

When Your Partner Refuses to Give it Up

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