Today’s Solutions: July 19, 2025

When we’re feeling sick, we rest our bodies and when we pull a muscle, we stop working out for a couple of days. We understand the need for physical rest, but all too often, we forget to take mental breaks when we’re overworked. Here’s how to know when to take a mental health day to recharge when you’re feeling fried. 

The first sign it’s time to step back is feeling more irritable than usual. If normal occurrences are setting you off or you’re routinely ready to snap, it’s time to take a break before you take it out on those you work or live with. 

The second sign you need a mental health day is your work is unusually sloppy. If you’re making silly mistakes, missing errors you usually catch or are just feeling disinterested in tasks that normally engage you, you could be experiencing burnout at work. If stress is affecting your work, more work isn’t the solution. Taking a day off to reset will be better in the long run for you and your company. 

The final signal is showing signs of physical stress. Losing sleep, breaking out, or losing weight can all be signs we’re near the breaking point. These are your body’s ways of telling you to take it easy for a day or two. We have discussed many strategies for coping with stress on The Optimist Daily, but these will be minimally effective if what your body and mind really need is just a day off. 

Working from home continues to blur the line between personal and professional spaces. You’re likely working more than before and letting work tasks seep into your rest time. Taking a mental health day is not a sign of weakness or poor performance, it’s taking the time you need to reset and come back stronger than before.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Orca is the world’s biggest plant built to transform CO2 into rock

To meet the ever-looming and increasingly destructive challenge of climate change, we must curb our carbon emissions drastically. Now, 'Orca' is helping us reverse ...

Read More

You could soon produce green hydrogen yourself to power your home

About 80 percent of global energy consumption still relies on fossil fuels. In recent years, green hydrogen has come up as an attractive renewable ...

Read More

Pittsburgh will become a dark sky city in 2022

Anyone who lives in a big city knows that stars are a rare sight due to light pollution, but that may soon change in ...

Read More

The many benefits of cultivating intergenerational friendships

Humans tend to gravitate towards or become friends with people our age due to our experiences in school and work. As we age together ...

Read More