Second Cup: Schedule a mental health morning

A listener shares how taking a short break makes life feel more doable

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to take a mental health morning. We
can all feel overwhelmed with our responsibilities from time to time,
and while taking a vacation is great, that can involve

(00:25):
a lot of time and effort and expense. Plus, if
you have small children, a vacation probably won't involve a
break from those responsibilities. It can be fun and lots
of other ways, but it won't exactly be a break.
So what can you do? I like this suggestion from
Before Breakfast listener Melinda, who wrote in about what's been

(00:45):
working for her. She calls her solution a mental health morning.
About once per month, I take two hours of paid
time off in the morning to go to the gym.
She says. After working out, I take a long shower
are I have a toddler in an infant so this
is especially luxurious, And then I go to my favorite
coffee shop and read for thirty minutes. Then I go

(01:08):
to work. She says that this two hours of playing
hookey from life works better for me than taking a
mental health day, because I find when I take the
whole day off, I fill it with cleaning or running errands,
or doing whatever I would have found other time to
do anyway, because it had to be done. The other perk,
she says, is that by only using two hours per month,

(01:30):
I only end up using three days of vacation per year,
and that leaves enough PTO to take real vacations too.
She says that I find my productivity and creativity always
shoot up on the week I do this. A big
bonus is no mom guilt because I'm using time I
would have been at work anyway. I think this idea
of a mental health morning is great for people with

(01:51):
full lives. Sometimes taking a small break can have a
big impact. And while people with flexible jobs might be
able to just start late some mornings without it being
an issue, or take a long lunch after a big
project without anyone actually noticing, plenty of people's jobs do
involve reporting to a specific place at a specific time.
If you're doing that kind of job, then officially designating

(02:13):
a break is PTO can make sure that you honor
that commitment to yourself. If you have some paid time
off banked up, but no longer vacations on the horizon.
This might be a good way to use some of
that time off that you're entitled to. I also like
that Melinda took her mental health breaks in the morning.
I mean, you could certainly take a mental health afternoon

(02:34):
and use PTO to leave early. But sometimes the day
will start to seem so busy that you feel you
just can't slip out, and then the time is gone.
If you can't control what time you leave work, maybe
you can control what time you show up. So that's
the argument for a mental health morning. And I'm not

(02:54):
surprised at all that Melinda finds herself more productive after
these breaks. No one's tank runs unempty. Taking time to
relax and to do something fun is how we can
all fill ourselves up. So today, consider if a small
break from normal life might make you feel recharged. And

(03:14):
if you've ever used a small amount of PTO to
take a break and do something fun, let me know.
As always, you can email me at Before Breakfast podcast
at I heart media dot com. In the meantime, this
is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the
most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

(03:40):
from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the
number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
heart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

(04:02):
with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
I heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.