Planning Your Mental Health: How a planner can help you prioritize self-care

You and I both know that self-care is essential, but it often takes a back burner to all obligations. The Helm Planner seeks to encourage planning for self-care along with all of life’s to-dos.

In my journey to find the best way for the Helm Planner to support busy women in all facets of their lives, I asked Chris McDonald, a therapist with Path to Hope Counseling in Raleigh, North Carolina, to give feedback about her experience with the Helm Planner.

Chris works with young adults from a holistic perspective, and working in the healthcare industry means she needs her priorities to be balanced to keep up with her own mental health and the mental health of her clients.

When asked for her thoughts on the Helm Planner, she replied, “I find it such a helpful tool to offer a space and reminders to use journaling which can help ease symptoms of stress and anxiety.”

This was just what I wanted to hear. Thoughtful curation of needs and wants from women who work in caring professions has given this planner its life purpose, to simplify and support mental health and wellness for those who diligently take care of others.

Here are some ways that the Helm Planner can help you plan your mental health:

Get ahead of your week.

The National Institute of Mental Health says that setting goals and priorities and being transparent in your preferences is a positive way to manage symptoms of mental health struggles.

Issues like loss of concentration, lack of focus, and feelings of overwhelm can overwhelm our mental health and bring negative feelings about who we are. Over time, burnout becomes more likely.

Utilizing the Helm Planner for those weekly responsibilities can eliminate the stressors of always wondering what the day will bring. Why not use the same system to set goals for daily self-care? The combination of organizing your week of obligations and your own mental, physical, and spiritual needs will help you stay on task and also free up mental and emotional space for relaxation.

Your executive functioning will thank you.

Planning = prioritizing your self-care.

Using a planner, you can become an expert at minding those productive tasks. But that productivity mindset may not be doing you any favors.

Matthew Glowiak, a Counseling Educator at Southern New Hampshire University, writes that the productivity mindset is a trap. When you only look at what you’re putting out into the world and not prioritizing yourself, things can get messy and stressful.

Self-care isn’t selfish. It just feels that way because our priorities usually center around what you are responsible for doing for other people.

Block off that time for a hobby break, time for journaling, a walk, a nap, whatever it is that revives you. Professional Therapists highly recommend building this habit into your daily life.

The key is to make your time for you intentional, just like the time you give to others. Use the Helm Planner to pencil in self-care and start to see it pay off immediately.

Stress less.

A life planner designed to bring you less stress and more happiness.

Learn More

How does a therapist practice self-care?

As a professional therapist, I was curious how Chris personally practices self care. “I start my self-care in the morning and have a regular routine. I often do some yoga, meditation, breathwork and/or journaling or reading of some personal development or inspiring materials,” Chris said.

Chris shared some of her holistic self-care strategies with me so I could turn them into a handy printable for you. Enjoy!

Holistic Self-Care Printable

Regular self care is an important aspect of nourishing our mental health. Which is why the Helm Planner has a self reflection page on breath work and meditation techniques, a beginner yoga guide and lots of journaling pages.

When it comes to prioritizing her self care, Chris plans out her mental health days well in advance. “At the start of each calendar year I schedule out mental health days and all my vacations. I give myself the gift of one mental health day per quarter and use the time to disengage from work. I may go some place calming like a walk in nature or just chill out and use some Zentangle art which is really relaxing for me. I also read regularly historical fiction which is a great escape,” Chris shared.

For many of us, art can be a source of calm and satisfaction. Which is why it felt especially important to include coloring pages inside the Helm Planner.

Life is busy. It never lets up. If we want to keep ourselves afloat in the day-to-day stress, we have to get ahead of our responsibilities, obligations, and pleasure in life. That means using our planning powers.

Planning ahead means that we can take a step back and evaluate our priorities. Thinking back to our interview, Chris said, “I figure out how much time I can commit and just do it. Even when I am tired or ‘don’t feel like it,’ I still do it even if it means just doing one of those self-care activities.”

We all need to make sure that we are carving out time for the things that recharge our energy, like Chris. The Helm Planner’s gentle reminders to care for ourselves while caring for others can be the perfect reminders that we need some of the energy we give away each day, week, month, year.

You will be so glad that you did! Plan on making a positive change in your life with the Helm Planner.

P.S. Chris is currently accepting new patients and you can contact her by e-mail to schedule a free consultation.

Want more great content on Holistic Mental Wellness? Then be sure to read more from Chris on her blog, listen to the latest episode of her podcast or head over to her website to learn more about her practice.

Podcast: https://www.holisticcounselingpodcast.com

Website: https://www.pathtohopecounseling.com/

References:

Ali, S. (2019). Is Self-Care Just a Trend?. Psychology Today. Retrieved 24 November 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-mentality/201901/is-self-care-just-trend.

Aten, J. (2020). The Gift of Self-Care to Yourself and Others. Psychology Today. Retrieved 24 November 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hope-resilience/202011/the-gift-self-care-yourself-and-others.

Caring for Your Mental Health. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). (2021). Retrieved 23 November 2021, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/caring-for-your-mental-health.

Emamzadeh, A. (2020). Self-Care: Governor, Time Traveler, and Gamer. Psychology Today. Retrieved 24 November 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-new-home/202001/self-care-governor-time-traveler-and-gamer.

July Quandary: I’m Feeling Burned Out. Psychotherapynetworker.org. (2019). Retrieved 24 November 2021, fromhttps://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/blog/details/1661/july-quandary-im-feeling-burned-out?utm_sour ce=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pnli.

Why is Self-Care Important?. Snhu.edu. (2021). Retrieved 23 November 2021, from https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/health/what-is-self-care.