There’s a myriad of resources out there to help with maintaining your mental well-being, but it can be overwhelming to understand where to start or what to focus on.

This article will cover several fundamental aspects that contribute towards well-being, providing you with a basic understanding of various factors that influence mental wellbeing. If you find the overview helpful, you can explore further at a pace that is suitable for you. It’s impossible to cover everything, however the topics chosen here are some of the most significant and offer the quickest results when implemented.

The whole idea of this article is to pick one or a few things, and just start them. Then as you see improvements/get more comfortable, you can dive deeper or explore new areas at your own pace. Below, I’ll list specific examples to help you decide where you could start. Of course, you can use alternative approaches that are better suited to you. This article’s goal is to simplify the process to just start.

Here are some suggestions for you:

Journaling

Briefly, journaling is an excellent method of emotional coping, by dispelling negative feelings but also to recognise and appreciate positive feelings too. The power of both these two things has great potential to make changes to how you see things.

Just to get started; there’s a wonderful app you can get called ‘Day One.’ Yes, traditionally we write things to journal them, but as technology advances, our phones are almost always within reach. Using an app like this not only promotes journaling but also turns your phone into a tool for good. Plus, it’s more accessible for beginners!

The main advantage of this app is its flexibility – it can be as structured or as fluid as you want. It has templates if you don’t know what to write about with simple and in-depth check-ins, as well as free notes that you can type whatever you want. The app is free as well, which is always a plus. There’s a good article about this already on Mindthebleep if you would like to do some further reading on journalling.

Exercise

I don’t need to tell you about the plethora of evidence of the benefit of exercise, both physical and mentally. The point here is to start and ideally be efficient with time, as that makes the habit easiest to start and easier to maintain.

There are many simple workouts that can be done at home. But in the interest of mixing physical health and mental well-being, I recommend yoga for both men and women. No equipment requirements and can easily be accessed on youtube, yoga offers immediate physical and mental benefits and people from all walks of life and all body types can engage in it.

Maintaining yourself/Self Care

Akin to the point about exercise but noteworthy on its’ own, I would like to talk about maintaining yourself. We have spoke about exercise and being healthy, but this extends beyond that, taking care of yourself in other ways too. This section is dedicated to providing examples of how you can intentionally set aside time to care for yourself. Here are a few suggestions:

• Dressing Well: Dressing well isn’t just for others—it’s also to impress yourself. Whether you’re getting ready for work, stepping out, or even staying at home, take your attire seriously. It not only improves how others perceive you, but also enhances your self-image and how you see yourself.
• Self-Care: This includes skincare, haircare, and body care. Take good care of your skin, face, and hair. There are countless introductory videos available to help you get started. When your skin and hair look healthy, and you smell great, you’ll notice—and so will others. Begin with basic moisturising and expand your routine from there.
• Mindfulness: Mindfulness doesn’t necessarily mean meditation. It can be as simple as practicing gratitude and taking a moment to acknowledge the positives in your life. This ties into fostering a positive mindset, as previously mentioned in the journaling section.

Podcasts

Podcasts can be a great way to boost your wellbeing, while also helping you grow personally, professionally, and educationally. Here’s how they can make a positive impact in these areas.

There are times I want develop professionally by listening to podcasts like Talking General Practice and medical podcasts. Other times I just want to listen to podcasts that lighten the mood and make me laugh, like The Rest is Football.

Other times I want to further develop my understanding on well-being, such as listening to podcasts to help me understand my own troubles and also hopefully others too. I happen to listen to HealthyGamerGG, offering invaluable insights for men but also women too.

A practical tip would be to listen to podcasts whilst commuting/driving. Everyone has to commute, make the time you must spend more bearable and listen to things on the side to help enrich you. Of course, you can listen to music as there are times to unwind this way also if it works better for you.

Hobbies

I think we all know how important hobbies are but a gentle reminder won’t hurt. Hobbies give you a much needed break from the cycle of work and home, as something you take active interest in and enjoy. The beauty is you can do it as often or as little as you please, you should never feel obligated and it should never feel like a chore.

Your hobbies can be exercise, videogames/watching tv (Yes, I include these as hobbies) or even travelling. It doesn’t have to be what everyone else enjoys or what everyone perceives to be enjoyable (very important to mention given the dawn of social media and comparing your lives to others.) There are certain expectations that you should spend leave travelling or going on holidays, but if you want to relax at home, be around loved ones or even just play videogames/watch TV then that’s also perfectly reasonable!

Environment

We’re all familiar with the benefits of a clean room or home, though it can certainly be challenging, especially in a full family household. If keeping everything spotless isn’t your top priority, do a room every few days – this approach is widely recommended and manageable.

Cleaning does appear to be one of the first things to disappear when life gets really busy, but I suggest still keep a cosy room or area dedicated for your relaxation. This permits some of the benefits of a tidy space without overwhelming yourself.

Sleep

We all know the importance of sleep. However, anecdotally, if you feel you aren’t going to get enough sleep for whatever reason you can use a sleep calculator from google to suggest what time you get up and go to sleep to align complete number of sleep cycles.

Whilst I must emphasise this is not a permanent solution for chronic undersleeping, its a stop-gap solution that has helped many people including myself so I put it forward to you. There is also all the sleep hygiene tips that we all learn in medical school, but you do not need me to recap those.

In conclusion, hope that this inspires you to modify at least one behaviour to make some progress in the way you want. Consider this a distilled initial guide – The kind I wish I had when I first explored these topics!

Written by Dr Rubin Joseph