Why I put mental health weeks on my calendar
You can’t stay on the speeding bullet train forever. Shocking, right?
Sometimes you need to come into the station to catch your breath.
As an enneagram 3, I have to pry myself away from my work. I LOVE what I do, but I also know that I can burn myself out if I don’t build some boundaries.
At the very beginning of the year, I put 8 mental health weeks on my calendar.
Yes, in addition to any vacations
Yes, in addition to any personal days
Yes, in addition to everything
Now, you might be wondering what a mental health week actually is, right?
It’s ok if you don’t. I made it up.
For me, mental health weeks mean fewer meetings, more white space on my calendar, and a lot of catching up. I’m still working, but I’m putting a pause on where I usually operate: turbo speed.
Like you, I’m also a small shop. I sometimes take on more than I should. I fall behind. I go down a rabbit hole (thanks to social media scheduling platforms). I have a dumpster fire (ahem, all my electronics dying in the same week) that takes all my attention away from the already jam-packed week.
You're not alone. This happens to everyone!
What are the rules? I'm glad you asked.
The rules are made up, so you can change them to align with your greatest needs. But in general, here’s what the rules look like:
Block random weeks off at the beginning of the year. I had to move a few because of various reasons, but I kept 8 weeks on the books.
Block the entire week. None of this “part of the week” BS. You need a whole week. And mark your calendar as busy. No exceptions. Just do it.
Schedule appointments you typically neglect (this week: alignment for my truck, body shop to fix my seatbelt, doctor appointments, and…oops, I’ll schedule a dentist appointment for the next MHW).
Keep the meetings you have to keep or maybe want to (like the small biz mastermind that I love) and push off the ones that can wait. I use Calendly, so since my calendar is blocked – this happens automatically. Pretty nifty.
Have a loose plan on what you’d like to get accomplished, but don’t be overly rigid. Start with the tasks that keep you up at night.
Catch up, create plans, and get all the things out of your brain. Let yourself things creatively.
Most importantly, don’t overthink this. Block your calendar and forget about it. This week caught up with me, but I was so grateful because I had been running 90mph for quite a few weeks in a row. I’ve also had 3 mental health weeks so far this year, you probably didn’t notice, but I sure did!
Your inbox is full of other people’s priorities. Board member needs and requests are important to them. Your staff, volunteers, donors, the list goes on… everyone has their own priorities and because of your position (and probably because you’re a nice person), you always go above and beyond.
You never put yourself first, thus creating this cycle of burnout that never lets up.
And if we're being honest, you don't need a vacation, because that will just add even more work to your overflowing list of things to do.
You need a chance to catch up with limited distractions.
A mental health week just means you can chill for a minute and get a few of your priorities knocked out. You’d be amazed how much more calm/creative/collected/patience you have when you check off a few tasks that are weighing heavily on you.
It’s magical.
What questions do you have about mental health weeks? Can you add a few to your calendar?
I’d love to hear what you think about this!
P. S. One thing I didn't mention is I also planned ahead and got extra groceries to do some meal prep. Planting is coming up, which means we'll be eating meals out of the back of my truck in the field in no time. Plus, prepping some extra meals allows me to eat better and feel better during those extra busy weeks.
