The Small Things Everyone Can Do To Improve Their Mental Health

Something that has changed significantly over the past few years is that mental health is now taken as seriously as physical health.

That’s great news because they are in fact merely two sides of the same coin. As long as you are looking after one, you are probably also looking after the other. But not everyone is clued up on just what you can do to look after your mental health, and it is one of those things that can take a lot of trial and error. Nonetheless, some acts are going to help in a big way, and in this article, we are going to look specifically at the small things that can really make a big difference.

Being Grateful

You might have heard a lot in the past about being grateful and how this can help to improve your mental health. It really is incredible what this can do, and it’s something that you should aim to do as best as you can from now on. Being grateful is not always easy to do, especially if you are already in a poor mental health cycle or state. But by beginning this practice, it gets easier and easier, until eventually, you find that it just comes naturally.

One of the best ways to do this is to keep a gratitude journal. By writing in that every day at least one thing you are grateful for, you are going to notice some huge improvements in your mental health in no time. People generally report that a gratitude journal helps with easing depression, feeling better about one’s status in life, and ensuring that stress doesn’t get the better of you. As such, it is a wonderful thing you can do for yourself – and it also improves the way that you relate to other people.

Waking Up Earlier

Getting plenty of sleep is always going to be good for your mental health – and we will look at that in more detail later on. But as well as getting plenty of hours of sleep, there is also something to be said for waking up early in the day. If you are currently sleeping in a lot, that can be a sign of depression. Even if you are not depressed, just making the effort to jump out of bed early is always going to be a huge help. You’ll find that you feel more energized and ready for the day, and it really adds up to make a huge difference to your mental wellbeing.

If you are struggling with this, consider trying the gradual approach. Set your alarm for one hour earlier than usual, or even half an hour, and work from there. The next day, try even earlier. One benefit of all this is that you will end up getting more done too, which is going to make you feel better about yourself too. There are so many reasons to wake up earlier, and it will bring so many benefits to your life.

Staying Clean

Something about being in a mental funk often goes hand in hand with general uncleanliness. We’ve all been there, and we all know what it’s like. If you want to make sure that you are in a good position mentally, one thing you might want to bear in mind is just how important it is to stay clean physically. The simple act of showering every day, looking after your teeth, and having some kind of basic skincare routine, can make all the difference in the world. If you do these things, you are going to be taking greater care of yourself.

Beyond that, you should consider whether there is anything in your environment that might need changing here too. If you are living in an untidy or unclean home, that is going to affect your mental health in more of a profound way than you might have assumed possible. Tidying up your home, or even giving the whole place a thorough deep clean, is absolutely going to make you feel so much better about yourself, and there is evidence to suggest that a minimalist’s home is more likely to be conducive to stronger mental health in general.

Having Fun

What’s life without a little fun? Although it can be easy to get caught up in the darker and more unpleasant side of things, if you want to be as happy and mentally healthy as possible, you should consider whether you are really having as much fun as possible. Although it can be hard to have fun when you are feeling down already, you should do whatever you can to try and turn this on its head. The simplest way is to carve out some time each day just for you and what you most like to do.

Even that can be a struggle if you have not spent much time thinking about pursuing what you enjoy recently. But even the simplest things can be worth looking into here, such as watching the Cowboys vs Seahawks game or playing your favorite video games with friends or just on your own. Whatever it is that makes you happy, that is what you should be doing with your spare time, and doing so will make you feel so much better about yourself compared to never allowing yourself those things. This is one of the most important things to bear in mind.

Be Kind

It’s so easy, in the process of trying to be happy and mentally well, to forget that it’s not all about number one. In fact, research has shown again and again that those who spend the most time focusing on other people tend to be the happiest overall. Conversely, the more self-concerned you are, the less happy you are likely to be in general. What does this mean? Ultimately, it is about two things: being compassionate to the people around you, and showing them a good deal of kindness wherever possible.

A lot of us could benefit from trying to do this a little more, and if you think that might be true of you then there has never been a better time to start than now. Being kind is actually easy and straightforward once you start doing it, and it is also going to make you feel so much better about yourself too. Plus, you will be so happy seeing how happy you can make other people, and it’s a feeling that just doesn’t really go away. You can think of this one as the kind of thing that adds to your total happiness for good.

Simplify Everything

Many mental health issues arise as a result of us trying to make everything much more complex than it needs to be. If you think you might be guilty of this phenomenon, then you are likely going to enjoy a wide array of mental health improvements from simply trying to keep everything much more simple. Of course, that is going to be easier said than done, but as long as you practice it you will find that you learn more and more how to do it.

Once you start simplifying your life – from your home to your work and your friends – you will find that life is so much more enjoyable and much less stressful. From that, only good things can come, and your mental health is likely going to vastly improve in ways you can’t even imagine right now. It’s definitely worth pursuing for that reason alone.