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About 2 months ago I asked for November 7th off, as I was intending for it to be the first day of my launch. When I decided to push back the course to a later date I decided, screw it… I could always use a personal day.

While I might have pushed back my course launch I still had plenty to keep me busy, like finally watching Zootopia… that movie was pretty deep if you haven’t seen it, preparing for two webinars, working on my launch strategy, going grocery shopping, making probably the worst pot roast I’ve ever cooked, calling various companies in anticipation of my move next month and drinking a beer before 5:00 pm while I frantically created graphics in Canva to promote above-mentioned webinar.

While that is a lot of randomness, it was really what I needed.

In my adult career, I think this is the first time I’ve ever scheduled a day off of work just for my mental health and personal well-being. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’ve taken mental health days but it was normally a choice I made 2 snooze buttons in the morning of or 3 Jameson shots in the night before.

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I am the type of person who hates to miss work…Actually let me restate that, I feel guilty missing work, even when I am legitimately sick I feel guilty. Maybe it’s because I spent most of my time in elementary school striving for the year-end “perfect attendance award” whatever it is, I feel a knot in my stomach when I call in.

But sometimes we all need to spend a weekday in bed watching cartoons, catching up on sleep and just checking in with ourselves.

So let me tell you about my day:

6:30 am Tried my hand at witchcraft by trying to control my neighbors barking dog with my mind. Turns out I’m not “charmed.”

10:00 am Woke up watched Secrets and Lies while wrapping up some social media stuff and scheduled unautomated bill payments and started moving over my accounts to my soon to be new address.

11:00 am Made bacon, egg and cheese tacos while replaying a few modules of Launch Your Signature Course, doing laundry and washing dishes.

2:00 pm Grocery shopping, like an actual adult with a list, stuck to the list, grocery shopping!

3:00 pm Unloaded groceries, cut veggies and put my pot roast in the slow cooker.

3:30 pm Frantically worked on a powerpoint for a webinar emailed back and forth with my webinar partner ironing out the details.

5:00 pm I decided, “You know what this work session needs? Amy Pohler and Tina Fey,” so I put on Sisters while I caught up on emails and created graphics for the webinar marketing.

7:30 pm Made a plate and ate while watching part of that day’s Young and The Restless episode.

7:50 pm Hopped in the shower… so fresh and so clean clean.

8:15 pm Packed my gym bag and folded the above-mentioned clothes while watching Jane the Virgin.

9:00 pm Scheduled a week’s worth of social media, including webinar marketing. Approved and responded to blog comments.

10:00 pm Knocked some things off my Todoist and scheduled some things. Updated launch calendar based on notes I made when reviewing LYSC this morning

10:30 pm I took Benadryl as my allergies revolted against me around 9:45, brushed my teeth and sat down to get drowsy during the new episode of American Dad.

Here are 5 reasons you should schedule a mental health day.

So You Don’t Have To Hide

As I mentioned above, while this is the first time I’ve taken a personal day, but it is the first time I’ve taken a planned and approved personal day. (I feel totally okay admitting this since I’ve never called in at my current job LOL.)

If you’ve ever taken a cough, cough sick day you may have experienced that moment of fear (or adrenaline rush, depending on what you’re into) on the way to your impromptu manicure or picking up your favorite barbecue that you might run into your boss or a tattle-telling coworker.

When you plan your personal day ahead of time you can strut your stuff, check into Facebook at the mall, take a picture of yourself eating pizza in your pajamas at 2 pm. and post it to Instagram. It’s okay because it’s your day.

So You Don’t Crash

We are constantly going. Regardless what is going on in your life there is always 10 more things to do. You might be a mom with little one’s running around, playdates and birthday parties, you might be a side hustler trying to navigate having a day job and working all night as well (me), you might have a 9-6 followed by gym, then an array of social activities, including weekends filled with weddings, bridal and baby showers (me again). Whatever it is there is a good chance your weekends are as packed as your work week (Assuming you’re lucky enough to work a traditional set schedule). My weekend was full of social obligations and tasks, I’m not complaining but having an extra day, allowed me to get groceries, create a lot more content and just recharge. Sometimes two days aren’t enough to get everything done and let you recharge the way weekends are meant to.

Because We All Need Breaks

I have a rule, that I am pretty strict on. I don’t do work Thursday nights. I don’t even open my computer between the hours of 7-10 if I’m at home. Yes, I am almost always constantly connected to something in relation to the blog but this is the time I leave for myself to watch some of my favorite shows, catch up with my Shondaland buddy and play with my adopted nephew. While I normally take Thursday night’s off from my blog. I still go to my day job. A personal day, lets you decide how to spend that time. It isn’t that necessary balance of, “I’m off from this, but not from that,” if you don’t want to be.

When was the last time you took a day off? What was the reason? Let me guess… You had an out of town wedding to attend? A doctor’s appointment? You promised to help your sister move? Chances are you were either doing something for someone else or you were doing something that wasn’t exactly relaxing.

Because Sleeping In On a Weekday Just Feels Better Than a Weekend

Let’s be real, I know a lot of you are on that, up by 6 a.m. trail, and good for you! Seriously, I mean it, that’s not me. If I wake up early it has to be for 1 of 3 reasons, a mindless activity- like working out,  mindful activity like meditation, or excitement like that first day of school feeling I get when I’m going on a trip. That being said, most of my weekends start earlier than my body would prefer. I either try to make Saturday morning Zumba or have to hit the road for an out of town event or am trying to catch a live webinar in a different time zone. On the off chance, I can just sleep in, one of my delightful neighbors isn’t having it (did I mention how excited I am to move next month?).  Something about being able to sleep in a little and just starts the day naturally at the time your body wants to is just nice. Maybe it sounds bad but I knew that no one was going to call and guilt me into going to lunch or ask me to meet them at the mall to help them pick out an outfit for a first date. I don’t mind doing that stuff but a day when most of the people in my life are at work and I can just focus on me time is needed.

To Reset

A few months ago I took what I called a blogging break, but it was more of a refocus. In the post I shared about it I mentioned that no matter how much you love something or someone, sometimes you will get frustrated with it.

I actually love my day job, it really overlaps with the things I do in my own business. I work with this amazing, loud and funny group of dorks (I say that myself included) but with a brain full of copywriting ideas, new SEO rules, Google changes, and clients with ever-changing needs, sometimes you need to step back and just get out of your head. Stop thinking about it. Go have a day where you feed birds at a pond, take your guitar to a park, binge watch Mad Men on Netflix or just write whatever comes to you. It’s kind of like that old writer’s block tip that tells you to stop working on the thing that’s got you stumped for a while and focus on something else.

When I walked into work this morning I was in a great mood (which is impressive considering it was election day and my neighbor’s dog woke me up at 2:30 in the morning howling at a thunderstorm).

I was able to start my week off without that Monday morning feeling and just with this amazing feeling that is hard to explain. I started my day with it yesterday and went to bed with it last night. It’s like that first bite of pizza or that first glass of wine during Grey’s Anatomy, it’s just what the doctor ordered.

So I have a challenge for you.

If you work a job outside of the home go look at your hours and see if you have any vacation hours left, then schedule a day off before the end of the year. Not to prepare for Thanksgiving or go Christmas shopping but to take care of you. If you work from home, find one day where you can clear your calendar, move things around and then just get out of the house and do something you haven’t done in a while.

Join me and Angela Ford from AngelaJFord.com for a free webinar next Tuesday at 7:30 CST/  8:30 EST.

Cut the Crap! Learn How To Identify The Excuses That Are Stopping You From Achieving Success.

We will be discussing:

Tips for planning your work sessions.

Steps you should take to get more done faster.

The mindset shift you need for success.

Whether you need to become a morning person to be successful.

How to celebrate your success.

You can save your seat here.

So tell me in the comments:

When was the last time you took a personal day?

What does your ideal personal day look like?

How do you self-care?