More recently, I’ve been hustling — hard. And I loved it. I still do. But I loved it so much that “doing nothing” or taking a “mental health day” started to feel unproductive, almost like I was wasting my time. Then one day, in the middle of a horrible moment of psychosis, I was talking to my therapist, and something she said hit me: in that moment, the most productive thing I could do was actually stop. I needed to take care of myself before anything else. Psychosis hits hard, especially when it’s loud and overwhelming, and even though I resisted the idea of slowing down, that mental health day ended up being exactly what I needed.
Not every day is going to look the same, and productivity isn’t just one thing. On the day I was having severe hallucinations while talking with my therapist, forcing myself to work the way I normally do would have been the least productive, most harmful choice.
In The Four Agreements, one of the agreements is to “always do your best,” and that your best will change from moment to moment — and that’s okay. Sometimes your absolute best is taking a mental health day. Sometimes rest is the most productive decision you can make.
You should absolutely value productivity — but remember that it changes depending on what your mind and body need. “Productive” doesn’t always mean hustling or crossing things off a list. Sometimes it means slowing down, grounding yourself, and taking care of your mental health. That counts. It matters. And it’s necessary.
So trust me: take the mental health day when you need it. It doesn’t make you less driven or less capable. It means you’re putting yourself first — and that is its own kind of productivity, and a really important one.
