There’s no denying that COVID-19 needs to be taken seriously. However, there’s also no denying that allowing the effects of the pandemic to consume all of your thoughts and energy has a huge effect on your mental health. You might be asking: What’s the deal with mental health anyway? How do I ensure that I’m protecting my mental health – particularly within the context of COVID-19?

Here at Mind Channel we understand the importance of mental health. It has an effect on every aspect of our lives – relationships, work and physical health. And that’s why we help businesses to support their staff wellbeing as well as improving career skills.

Here ‘s a few tips from our latest course to help protect your mental health during these challenging times:

  • Maintaining perspective is key. When we’re feeling heavy or bogged down by a task at work or by negative thoughts related to COVID-19, we’ve often lost sight of things that we are grateful for or things that make us happy. Taking a break from your desk, going for a walk, taking a deep breath, sitting in the sun, and speaking to a friend or family member are all simple ways of helping to maintain perspective. This helps to make you feel lighter and more capable to complete a task or to feel positive.
  • Keep it real. Staying connected through social media and news channels can be helpful in keeping you informed, but it can also drain you and leave you feeling anxious or unfulfilled. It’s important to remember that we all tend to share the best parts of our lives on social media, so it can be easy to compare our ‘normal’ but real experiences with the ‘positive’ but curated experiences we see on social media. Try to remember that you’re moving at your own pace and that the curated moments we share on social media are fleeting compared to the real moments that we are present for. Try allocating a certain period of time per day to engage with these channels, and use the rest for other important, real activities – such as having a good laugh with a friend or colleague.
  • Keeping physically healthy is one of the best ways to keep mentally healthy. When your body is getting all of its necessary nutrients and exercise it allows your mind to function efficiently. This keeps your head clear, allowing you to make good decisions that in turn make you feel good. On the other side of the same coin, if you’re not keeping mentally healthy it becomes more challenging to make good decisions about what you’re eating and to feel motivated to exercise. However, it often only takes one positive action to break a negative cycle, so it’s not as if you need to become Usain Bolt overnight – a 30-minute walk around your neighbourhood will do just fine.
  • Take it one step at a time, one day at a time. The truth is that no one really knows how long the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are going to last. What we do know is that we’re all in this together. Taking care of each other is the greatest tool we have in combating the uncertainty of the future.

We have many more tips to help you and your employees protect your mental health during these challenging times. Learn about all of them and more in our course “Protecting your mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic”. To learn more about our course library visit our course list. Or register for a free trial to see how our content can help develop employees at all levels in your organization.

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