1. Eat good food
Eat a balanced, nutritious diet and avoid alcohol/drugs
More research is coming out by the year linking diet to one's mental well-being. Poor diet and unhealthy food can obviously affect your physical health, which can negatively affect your mental health, but even unhealthy food itself can directly make you feel worse. Eating a healthy and balanced diet rich in fat, fiber and nutrients will help you manage your stress and anxiety levels, improve your sleep, positively affect your ability to concentrate and generally make you feel better. Another key to improving your mental well-being is to cut back on excessive alcohol and/or drug use. Both of these substances can affect the way your brain feels and works, impairing your ability to think, feel, create and even make decisions.
3. Get enough sleep
Make a concerted effort to go to bed regularly, early
Sleep is linked to health-related outcomes, both physical and mental. While some psychological or emotional issues can cause sleep problems, not getting enough sleep can also exacerbate pre-existing conditions such as depression, stress and anxiety. Getting enough hours of sleep every night, on a regular basis, and going to bed early or at a reasonable time are smart strategies for living a healthy, happy life.
3. Keep active
Committing to some form of regular consistent exercise
Much like diet and sleep, exercise or other physical activity affects both your body and mind. Being active, whether it's playing sports, taking long walks, practicing yoga, going to the gym or running, will help reduce stress and anxiety levels, as well as improve your self-esteem. Getting active and exercising isn't easy for everyone. If you struggle, try motivating yourself by going for a long walk with a running friend or listening to your favorite music/podcast. Just keep stirring.
4. Limit social media and technology use
Try to reduce your daily technology use and media consumption
You may not think of yourself as addicted to social media or your smartphones and other devices, but limiting or reducing media use and technology use is often more difficult than you might expect. The effects of excessive and prolonged social media and other media use can be harmful. Even excessive consumption of news can have a negative effect on your mental well-being. There's no need to cut it out of your life completely and go cold turkey. But try to limit when or how you use it. Here are some specific tips to help you with this tip:
Keep your phone out of your bedroom so it's not the last thing you check before bed or the first thing you look at in the morning.
Do not use the phone half an hour before going to bed or half an hour before waking up.
During meals, put your phone on another table where you can't reach it.
Try challenging yourself to go an entire day without checking social media.
5. Practice mental health exercises
Small Exercises Can Make a Big Difference
This tip is a little more focused on directly improving your mental health. Being actively involved in improving mental health can seem overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be! Small steps can really make a huge difference over time. Choose one or two mental health activities that appeal to you and schedule them regularly and consistently. Some examples include:
From meditative
mindfulness to slow breathing exercises, meditation can be really impactful.
Writing down your feelings and thoughts on journaling
paper can help ease your mind, clarify your thoughts, and make you feel better.
Stretching
Getting up and stretching physically can help improve how you feel and think.
Laughter
Engaging in activities that actively make you smile can improve your mood.
Dance/Listen to Music
Dancing and listening to uplifting music is a great way to help you mentally.
