Mental Reset: Your Brain Needs Adequate Rest. Do This to Restore It 

Your child is crying loudly, your romantic partner lacks your attention, your boss keeps piling on fresh duties, your mundane obligations seem overwhelming, your parents keep insisting that you come and visit them, your friends complain about their lives constantly, your dog is barking every single night…

Do any of these situations sound familiar? 

If yes, then you know what is life with stress. While we need some stress for survival reasons, chronic irritants can exhaust us completely and negatively impact our mental health. 

Being swamped with versatile job or home obligations, loaded with pessimistic surroundings, and exhausted from other stressful experiences will often impair our system. If your brain could speak, it might say something like: “Come on, can I for once have a normal rest? You’re killing me.”

Then, you start noticing sleep issues, mood swings, and other health conditions. The mental burnout enters a stage of emitting a lack of desire, fatigue, and exhaustion. It feels like you hit rock bottom and should take considerable action to reboot your brain.

Surely, reciting mental reset quotes is beneficial but we’re proposing more practical and effective ways to give your brain a deserved rest. Spoiler: it has nothing to do with sitting on a chair and watching your favorite TV show. Buckle up for something much more meaningful and active.

Thankfully you’ve found this article and now you’re about to discover potent ways to reboot your brain.

Mental Reset: Your Brain Needs Adequate Rest. Do This to Restore It.

How do you hit a mental reset?

We are all mentally exhausted at some point in our life. Even in people born in countries with higher life quality. Take for instance, Sweden. A study of people in Sweden suffering from exhaustion disorder found that 67 percent experienced nausea, gas, or indigestion, and that 65 percent had headaches (7).

This means that everyone requires a prolific mental reset. We have analyzed versatile strategies to hit the mental reboot and are ready to share 8 empowering ways to handle it:

1. Communication with your primary care doctor;
2. Digital detox;
3. Surrounding yourself with positive and happier people;
4. Eating better meals; 
5. Engaging in physical activity;
6. Setting a sleeping schedule;
7. Finding time for hobbies;
8. Practicing gratitude. 

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Communication with your primary care doctor

Mental reset psychology is no easy feat. Studying it requires time and good resources. Therefore, mental health professionals are your saving grace when feeling mentally over-challenged. 

Unfortunately, many people are not fully aware of the symptoms relying on the time which should “cure and treat everything”. Yet, mental exhaustion is individualistic but may impair your well-being, and dealing with it on your own is not the best solution for you. 

Reach out to a professional for help with persistent feelings of distress. It won’t make you a weaker or imperfect person. We human beings are conditioned to have such feelings, this makes us normal. If something goes off in your life, don’t hide it inside of you, hoping it’ll pass away on its own. 

Digital Detox

This is going to be the longer one. Please answer honestly to a few questions:

1. Do you place your phone on the table when you’re eating something in a public place or at home? 
2. Do you often check your phone when someone is talking to you? 
3. Do you always scroll social media before turning to bed and then face sleep issues? 
4. Do you check your mail constantly without even realizing how much time you waste? 

If you answered “yes”  to at least two questions, you have a little problem. Constant online interactions create an illusional feeling of connection when in reality you’re alone in the room. Taking a break from your numerous social media apps could be good for your mental and physical health. 

Wasting too much time on your screen is associated with the following health conditions: 

• Your problems with self-image/appearance
• Low self-esteem
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Weight gain
• Unhealthy eating
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Work ethic problems
• No time management (4).

These mean you need to detox from online adventures and dive into reality if you want to enhance your life. These transformations will vitally affect your sleep, your mood, and overall self-acceptance and love. 

Detoxing sounds tough but we’re offering you simple strategies to begin with: 

• Observe your emotions when you check the phone;
• Schedule time to avoid smartphone addiction;
• Use a special app to track your screen time;
• Turn off notifications or WiFi connection whatsoever;
• Charge your phone in another room (8).

Also, remember this, people are creating perfect images of themselves in the media. Rarely will anyone want to uncover their true colors, including their imperfect images. Almost all famous bloggers alter their appearance digitally, making them look unrealistically beautiful. 

Do your brain a favor and implement Dopamine Detox into your life.

Surrounding yourself with positive and happier people

No wonder there is a saying “Tell me who is your friend, and I’ll tell you who you are.”

There is a difference between the friend who self-develops, likes their job, and is engaged in an active lifestyle, and the friend who either constantly complains or purely clutters their life with junk food, endlessly watching television in their free time, or calling others bad names. 

This applies to your loved ones and family members as well. It’s essential to be surrounded by people who promote your life instead of bringing you negative emotions. 

Positive friends or loved ones make you positive. What is positivity? It’s also laughter. Having people who make you laugh out loud has amazing beneftis. 

Studies suggest that laughter can reduce the stress hormone – cortisol (5). This increases the production of positive hormones like dopamine and endorphins. 

Cherishing cozy moments with the ones who trust and care about you is advantageous for your mental and emotional health. 

Eating better meals

Eating healthy and tasty meals will support your mental health (6). By getting enough nutrients, you promote the optimized functioning and processing of your brain. Aim for whole grains, veggies, fruits, lean protein, and fiber-filled products. 

Ensure 80% of your eating regime consists of healthy products, while 20% you may use for “guilty pleasures”. 

Check what you eat regularly and make adjustments if needed. You may use the services of professional dietitians, who’ll create a personalized healthy diet for you. 

Engaging in physical activity

There is a general misconception among people who hear the words “active lifestyle”. Some might think they are required to hit the gym. 

Engaging in physical activity is not necessarily associated with lifting bars, or running on treadmills. This is about moving your body. The main key here is to detach from your work and those activities that demand a lot of attention (12).

Do anything that jazzes up your body to action: 

• walk in the nature
• walk with your pet in the park
• attend dancing classes
• try fitness, Pilates, or Yoga
• go to swimming classes
• run in the nearby neighborhood…and other mental reset exercises.

Our bodies are conditioned to move. Sitting on a chair for 5 to 8 hours daily and additionally spending free time watching movies, while relaxing on your couch is detrimental. 

Read more: Is a Walk for Mental Health Really Helpful? Here’s What a Short Walk Can Do to Your Body

Setting a sleeping schedule

In those chronic stress days, getting your brain to sleep is a courageous and amazing feat.

Sleep deficiency leads to mental health problems, injuries, loss of productivity, and even a greater likelihood of death (10). Going to sleep and waking up at the same time might be difficult at the beginning. Still, applying these 3 tips will help you out: 

1. Create a schedule for yourself and try to follow it.
2. Don’t lie in bed when you’re awake in the morning.
3. Change your attitude about sleep (9).

To have your mind reboot, you need to make sure that you have a restful night’s sleep every single night, ideally between 7 and 8 hours. 

Finding time for hobbies

The issue here is that we’re sitting in our chairs while we’re working and while we’re enjoying our free time. With this in mind, look for new hobbies that would have nothing to do with screen watching. 

Search for groups that meet your interests and join engaging clubs. As I mentioned, it could be something invigorating like dancing or Pilates. 

In case you’re not an avid social event seeker, you could enjoy all these things on your own at your home. Turning on a jam song and moving your body is an ideal option, even if it lasts only 5 minutes. 

Embark on the new adventure trip of your own to another city. That would be so much better than scrolling social media and feeling bummed. Go to Stand Up shows, theater and get to know some new people. 

Practicing gratitude

Unfortunately, people rarely take this tip seriously, despite the positive outcomes. According to studies, practicing gratitude positively influences the aspects of your physical and mental health (1).

Adding this practice to your daily routine can give real results. Come up with a gratitude list, either at the end of the day or the week. It shouldn’t be long. Write down two to four things you’re most grateful for and read them out loud. 

Another way, take a jar and small pieces of paper. Then put down one nice thing that happened to you today and throw it in the jar. Do this every day. After a year passes, open the jar to read them with pleasant memories.  

What is mental burnout?

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, burnout is “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, as well as decreased motivation, reduced performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.” (3).

However, burnout may even mean overly attaching to your job, which ultimately affects your relationships with others and yourself. If there is no balance between your work, hobbies, and personal life, you might be stuck in the burnout stage. 

How to spot burnout? 

The symptoms of burnout are personalized. One may:

• feel fatigued
• have trouble with your sleep
• suffer from headaches
• become apathetic or dissatisfied with your job
• change your eating patterns (11).

There are 5 Stages Of Burnout. Recovering from them demands self-care, changing your perspectives, and introducing atomic habits into your life. 

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How do you do a mental reset day?

You should start by jotting down the plan on the sheet of paper. No typing on your phone. Take a notebook, grab a pen, and start creating your reset day. 

Let’s divide it into two categories: a reboot day during the weekdays and your weekends. 

It will be hard to give you essential tips on a weekday basis, as there is a lack of knowledge of who you are, how you’re feeling, and what job you do. That said, there is a possibility to pull off a general plan. 

You need to contemplate what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong at the moment. Observe how much time you spend sitting at your laptop working; additionally, track your time on the phone when surfing something online for pleasure. 

The good news is that you won’t have to eliminate this pleasure from your life. By building better habits, these pleasures will not affect you as negatively as they potentially could. 

This is an approximate mental reset day schedule. Just make sure you follow the ground rules and incorporate good habits. 

Remember one thing: transformations, even small ones, take time and patience. You only need to take the first step, give it a shot, and ultimately, reap all the benefits. 

Read more: The Benefits of Art Therapy for Mental Health

FAQs

• How long does it take to reset your mind?

There is no definite timing to rewire your brain as it’s a personal experience of each person. One may reboot their brain within a month while another person needs several months. Additionally, it depends on how consistent you are, and how successfully you’re implementing new positive habits and alleviating the old ones.

• How do I relax and reset my brain?

To reset and relax your brain you should create a strategic plan for yourself. Before creating a plan, observe your bad habits and think of ways to reduce their effects on you. To your plan add physical activity, healthier meals, an organized sleep schedule, hobbies, meditation, and gratitude. 

• How do you restart yourself?

Restarting yourself is possible by implementing atomic habits into your life: start walking for at least 1 hour daily, engage in other physical activities, eat healthier meals, practice journaling and mindfulness, gather with your loved ones, find new hobbies or enjoy the old once more, clean up your house, search for new locations. 

• Why am I so messed up mentally?

You may be messed up so mentally for versatile reasons: a messy life filled with stress and negative people; perhaps your poor diet, your lack of adequate sleep, your lack of physical activities, you’re overwhelmed with job duties, a horrible boss, substance abuse, smoking addiction, etc. It’s okay to feel that way for some time but at some point you need to change it, not get stuck in the pit of mental self-destruction. 

The Bottom Line

Mental Reset: Your Brain Needs Adequate Rest. Do This to Restore It. You have learned about the 8 key strategies to rewire your brain. 

They include: talking to the therapist, detoxing digitally, surrounding yourself with positive and happier people, eating better meals, engaging in physical activity, setting a sleeping schedule, spending time for hobbies, and practicing gratitude. 

Mental burnout is mental exhaustion, as well as decreased motivation, reduced performance, and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.

You can do a mental reset day on your own by creating a plan that involves the aforementioned 8 strategies.