Comments on: Web Worker Rx: Take a Mental Health Day

By: Couldn’t Tweet Today? Don’t Beat Yourself Up Over It – WebWorkerDaily

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:01:23 +0000

[...] a comeback, the rest of us can too. We’re humans not machines, and sometimes we all need to take a break; whether that’s by choice or [...]

By: What Is a Good Work Ethic? – GigaOM Demo 2

What Is a Good Work Ethic? – GigaOM Demo 2 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:08:43 +0000

[...] intensely for a certain length of time and then be completely off for a certain length of time to recoup? I don’t know the [...]

By: What Is a Good Work Ethic?

What Is a Good Work Ethic? — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:01:59 +0000

[...] intensely for a certain length of time and then be completely off for a certain length of time to recoup? I don’t know the [...]

By: Finding Creative Outlets and Stress Relief

Finding Creative Outlets and Stress Relief — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:01:47 +0000

[...] of the new year arrive, it’s easy to feel jet lagged and sleep deprived, wishing that you had time for a vacation from the [...]

By: For the New Year: A Success Toolkit

For the New Year: A Success Toolkit — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:02:30 +0000

[...] It’s hard to stay connected to any vision if you’re not savoring the things in your life along the way toward reaching it, and that includes the people in your [...]

By: 6 Unexpected Events That Can Take Over a Web Worker’s Life (and How to Deal With Them)

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:02:26 +0000

[...] The Fix: As Aliza noted before, it’s important to have a contingency plan in place. This will allow you to deal with any work related emergencies that you can’t deal with on your own. Don’t forget to take care of your health in the first place — including your mental health. [...]

By: Amber Riviere

Amber Riviere — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:32:46 +0000

@ Corbett - Good tips. It's definitely a good idea to get out and be with others at some point each day to break up the monotony of working online.

@ Emily - Good for you! It sounds like you had a nice break from things.

@ Anca - Thanks for the added resource. I'll have to check it out.

By: Anca

Anca — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:52:15 +0000

Taking time for yourself will definitely increase your productivity. People cannot be 100% productive all the time

By: Emily Brackett

Emily Brackett — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:33:49 +0000

Just reading my feeds after taking a mental health day myself. I enjoyed a day at the beach with my family. I had been very unproductive at work lately, and I do feel invigorated and ready for a more productive day tomorrow.

It was a bit of a whim, as I had a slow day and it was beautiful weather. It's much harder for me to follow through on this when it's busy.

By: Corbett Barr

Corbett Barr — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:28:17 +0000

These are great reminders. It’s true that your productivity will increase if you take more time off. In addition to mental health days, it also helps to take part of the day off to get some exercise, meet up with someone, cook a meal or whatever else gets your focus off of work. When you return to work, you’ll find that inspiration comes much easier after switching activities for a while.

By: Amber Riviere

Amber Riviere — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:59:32 +0000

@ Steven – I agree, we have to remember why we’re working for ourselves in the first place, and if we can’t be flexible, why are we doing this? I love taking days off in the middle of the week. I’m able to beat the crowds that way! :)

@ VirginTech – I definitely agree that you need time away from writing. I think that’s one of the most taxing tasks of all. Being in front a computer all day is exhausting at times and mentally draining, too.

@ dysconnection – I agree. Everyone is so focused on work all the time. It’s not healthy. We all need regularly scheduled time to get away from it all. It helps our productivity anyway. I’m not sure why we don’t see that all the time.

By: Alison@usefultools

Alison@usefultools — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:49:30 +0000

Thanks for reminding me I need a mental health day. I’ve been so busy the past couple of weeks that it’s getting harder and harder to work normally-it’s like I’ve worked myself retarded or something!

By: @dysconnection

@dysconnection — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:16:49 +0000

it’s a great article. I work in mental health – not direct work anymore – more at the policy and strategy end of things.
I think it’s easy to talk about this – but not really follow through or build it in as our day to day practice. I think more needs to be done at an organisational level. Business policy should support everyone taking better care of their mental health. Financially it’s a good investment – sick leave and being unfit and at work is costly. Its also twofold – the more a workplace is supportive of postive mental health the more those who have experienced poor mental health will be able to return to work – fully supported.
Thanks for raising this – mental health is everyone’s business :)

By: VirginTech

VirginTech — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:48:06 +0000

Nice tips! I agree that you should have some sort of break in this work specially when you are the only author for your blog. Because posting stuff on blog just for the sake of keeping it alive may affect quality of posts. So its always better to have some time off the scrren in any form whichever is suitable to you.

By: Steven

Steven — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:42:08 +0000

All great advice. Combine the lot - pack some easyily prepared food and a disposable BBQ in a ruck-sack and cycle with your family to somewhere nice. Have BBQ picnic with relatives. Cycle back, sleep well and remember that because tomorrow is Wednedsay why your got into freelancing in the first place.

This doesn't work so well in the winter though. ;)