T - Time

Change Coach Online are asking you to consider your mental HEALTH. This short series aims to introduce useful steps towards mental resilience. In this post, are asking you to balance your time for the benefit of your mental health.

Where does the time go? I used to hear this from my grandmother who worked, raised 6 children and had little automation such as a dish washer or dryer. So when I found myself asking the same question, given the relative ease of my life, I really had to challenge where my time went.

I started to keep note of how much time I spent on various tasks and then asked myself was that ok with me. The answers resulted in removal of social media and game apps from my devices. I also had to challenge myself on my alcohol consumption. It was absolutely within guidelines, but I noticed on the nights where I had a glass (or two) of wine I didn't get to bed when I needed to as I lost track of time in a way that didn't satisfy me. The next day, having not slept enough, I was irritable and tired and that impacted my enjoyment of the day and my connection with my children. Again I accepted this wasn't ok with me and I changed it.

The importance of sleep for good mental health is well understood and it is worth questioning how much you need. For me 8 hours is good but a little more is super. When my children woke at night I thought I was still getting enough sleep but I struggled, so did some research. I found out that 5 hours uninterrupted sleep is vital for normal functioning, the rest can be interrupted and although not ideal it is easier to cope. So, parents struggling with interrupted sleep, can you make any change that will get you those 5 hours solid sleep?

How much time do you spend checking social media? Your phone may be able to give you a report that tells you just that. We understand that regularly clicking and interacting with social media platforms releases dopamine so again, it's difficult to change this habit as a loop is created to hold your interest. Imagine if you could take your time back and have more say in where it is spent.

We need to make time for all of the things that impact our mental health including sleep, physical activity, human connection, balanced diet and sufficient challenge.

Maybe try tracking your time, honestly, for a week and ask yourself if how you spend your time prioritises your mental health.

For more inspiration, why not read our next post in the series, Help Others, or if you missed it, check out Learn Something New.

Thanks for reading and we hope this makes the tiniest bit of difference to your life. Change works best with baby steps!!