Mental Wellness Activities of Daily Living

You might have heard of activities of daily living, but what about mental wellness activities of daily living. These are small simple tasks that should form part of your day every day. (If you haven't heard of activities of daily living, I'll write a separate post on that as part of a health education update.)

Mental wellness is about facing the day with your meaningful purpose in place.

A meaningful purpose or activity will be different for everyone (even couples in the same household).

So what's involved?

Well, you and your good self for starters. How do you look for the day? I'm not saying that everyone should be a supermodel jetsetter with a pristine home, millions in the bank (that earns billions while you're sleeping) with the most perfect partner and well-behaved A* grade achieving children. No, this is not it, well for a very large portion of us, it's not.

I'm referring to the basics, did you look after your personal hygiene, do you like the clothes you are wearing, do they fit and suit you? Do you know how to take good care of clothes and mend them?

Have you got a set of goals/tasks/activities for the day, planned ahead, even one thing?

Having something to aim for each day helps immensely with your mental wellness.

What do you like to do with your time?

How do you keep yourself organized?

What are you eating and drinking?

Have you really thought about how your diet (this does not mean weight loss - diet literally means the food and drink you consume) impacts your health and well-being?

What movement have you got planned for the day? Do you exercise? Do you leave the house regularly and manage to walk around (not just the supermarket)? The evidence for exercise improving mood and well-being and sleep and physical fitness is out there in abundance.

There's tons of free resources and information available on exercises that you can do, and most do not include a gym membership.

Stay away from any content that says, 'this tea melts fat' or 'this pill works wonders for fat loss' or 'this shake help me drop 15lbs in a week' - none of this works, certainly none of it is sustainable for life; they are money making scams - spend your money on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, freshly baked bread, lean meat, fish, good quality wine, chocolate and ice-cream.

Have you monitored your mood and thoughts recently? Is something playing on your mind? Do you need to resolve some issues at home? Are you challenged by work? Does your employment help you towards your long-term goals? These things impact your sleep more than you probably realize; poor sleep = bad mood.

What are your financial goals? Not everyone wants to have the ultimate side-hustle or is concerned with having stocks and shares. Some people are happy with their earnings and are comfortable with what they have.

But have you considered a rainy day?

What are you spending your money on?

Did you really need it?

Did it really make you feel better a year later?

Did fix that problem you had?

Who doesn't love shopping and buying new things, I do, but it's important to consider how much value said shopping adds to your life.

With the above considered it can seem a lot, but having each of these elements in a place that benefits you and your goals will set you on a path to mental wellness. If all or some of these elements are not in a good place for you or where you'd like them to be, it's not great but it also not permanent either. You have the power to change all these areas into well structured purposeful set of daily activities that give you nothing but great mental wellness and health.

Take some time to think about each area - what do you like about it in your current life?

What do you want to change?

What would you like to improve?

Do you have an idea of what your perfect day looks like?

Have a think, and if you're up to it, email and let me know, some of your ideas might be helpful for me too.

Take care,

Mental Wellness & Health