I’m a consultant at Clarasys and also part of the Clarasys Wellbeing team. I’m writing this to continue to support the great progress in raising awareness of mental health. For me, mental health is just as important as any other element of an individual’s health. In my experience, mental health has been far less visible than say physical health and therefore can be given less attention to both maintain individually and also notice in others.
Working professionally is a marathon, and in the industry of consulting, our brains do the running. Much like a lumberjack needing to keep their axe sharp, keeping my brain in a sustainable state is key for longevity. An approach I’ve personally found helpful is noticing how I’m feeling, handling the stresses I experience and ensuring that I get the rest I need. Having quality rest time allows for sustainability in both motivation and stamina, and this isn’t just 7-8 hours of sleep, it’s the activities that bring me joy and recharge me – work rest. Work rest doesn’t just have to be a job, it’s doing anything you wouldn’t consider as leisure.
This last year has been a huge challenge for me to ensure I get the work rest I need, as I’m sure it has been for a lot of people. I’m someone who enjoys both physical activities like sports and spending time with friends and family a lot, and particularly the last 6 months, it’s been very difficult to do these. I’ve had to try really hard to ensure I can give my body and mind the rest it needs, when a lot of the activities so many of us would do, weren’t possible.
I’ve found that for me, I should prioritise taking care of my mental health as much as any other part of your health, and usually, they overlap. Everyone enjoys different things, and playing sports makes me feel better mentally and physically. In the UK with restrictions easing, I’ve tried hard to ensure there’s protected time for activities that help maintain a good level of mental health. Whatever it is for you, I encourage you to think about how you can make time for them in your day.
Though I know there’s so much more to understand, like every other topic, we don’t know everything and having an environment where we can talk about mental health and learn and grow from each other is very important to effectively managing your mental health.
This mental health awareness week is a great opportunity where you can chat to someone about the ways you could maintain a good level of mental health and try to explore new avenues to do that.
If mental health is a new concept to you, there are some fantastic charities with awesome resources such as:
NHS list of mental health helplines
This post was originally written by Josh Cozens.