Need A Mental Health Day Off From Work? Here Are Templates That You Can Use Right Away
Whether it’s from the stress of work, personal life, or a constant barrage of emails, everyone can use a mental health day off from work once in a while.
Given that the concept of mental health days is relatively new, it can feel awkward to ask for that kind of time off.
Here are some tips to make you more comfortable with the process and some email templates that are actually good for your mental health — they’ll make asking for time off much easier.
When Can You Take a Mental Health Day?
Mental health days are essentially sick days. Think of things that way, and you’ll feel much more confident taking one. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. In fact, they’re very much interconnected.
But, that’s more a discussion to have with your doctor. When it comes to approaching the topic at work, here are some things to keep in mind:
Mental health is many things: Just like there is a wide range of illnesses (cold, flu, fever, etc.), there is a wide range of mental illnesses and conditions that you can experience. Staying home for feeling burnt out is just as worthy as staying home for a high fever. It’s all about what you need to take care of your health.
Know your time off policies: Be aware of your company’s policy for sick days. If you have them, feel free to use them for your unplanned mental health days.
Mental health is personal: One important thing to keep in mind when you ask for a mental health day is that you shouldn’t feel like you have to over-justify yourself or disclose too much info about what’s going on. Like with any other private health stuff that comes up, it’s personal to you, so don’t share anything you’re uncomfortable with because you feel you have to.
Your mental health needs are valid: Burnout and being overworked are valid reasons to want to take care of your mental health. Not only is it a good idea for you to take time off to reset, but it’s also good for the company to have you at your best.
Obviously, work can be a huge contributor to stress in life. If you’re thinking about taking a mental health day in advance, try to plan it when you can really let go of thinking about work for the day.
Email Templates You Can Use for Mental Health Days
If you’re already feeling a burden on your mental health, the thought of asking for time off is even more difficult. These email templates cover different scenarios for when you need to ask for time off for your mental health.
You can save these emails as templates and insert them using keyboard shortcuts with Text Blaze. Want to be a better manager or team player? Save these shortcuts for your team in a shared folder and team members can customize these templates to use when they need it.
Unexpected Mental Health Day Email
Just like you may wake up with a fever one day, you may wake up not in the right head space to work. Here’s a general template for “calling in sick.”
Unfortunately, I need to use a sick day today and won’t be able to come to the office. Ideally, I can be back up and running by tomorrow {formdate: LL}, but I will keep you posted if that’s not the case.
I’ve let Kelly know as well, so that she is prepared to take care of anything urgent that may come up.
Thanks for your understanding!
Requesting a Mental Health Day In Advance
Sometimes you can see the writing on the wall, and you know you need to take a personal day to regroup. Nobody needs to know the reason why you’re taking time, it’s your personal space.
I want to let you know that I need to take a personal day on {formdate: LL}, so I’ll be out of the office. Of course, I’ll make sure any pressing loose ends are tied before then so that everything runs smoothly while I’m away.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!
Partial Time Off for Health
Just like any other doctor’s appointment, you may find that you need to take some hours of the day day off to go to a therapy appointment.
Or there may be times when something small, like a leisurely breakfast or having the afternoon free after lunch, can really brighten your spirits. You can send an email like this in advance of when you’re planning to take that half-day or some hours off.
I need to leave the office after lunch on {formdate: LL} for personal time off the rest of the day. Please let me know if there’s anything you need before then. Thank you!
After Working Late At Night
It’s not unusual to burn the midnight oil or work really long days. If you were full-throttle for a day to get urgent, time-sensitive things done or working really late due to different global timezones it’s perfectly valid to ask for a little time to recuperate the following day.
As you know, we successfully finished our product launch by the deadline last night. Since I was at it until late, I’m going to be in the office by noon instead of 9 a.m to make up for some much-needed sleep.
It feels great to have our product live and done!
Recurring Mental Health Appointments
Scheduling regular mental health appointments, like therapy, can be difficult to do with only a small window after work. If you need to schedule a recurring appointment during normal office hours, you should discuss it with HR. Here’s a template you can use to open the conversation.
I’d like to schedule a time to talk with you about finding the best solution for a recurring health appointment I have on {formdate: LL}.
Please let me know when you’re available to meet and discuss things further. Thank you!
Go Ahead, Take That Mental Health Day
Text Blaze may not be a mental health expert of any kind, but we are experts in saving time on emails. Thousands of people across the world use our email templates and save hours of their time by eliminating repetitive tasks.
Take a mental health day when you need it, and also take the burden off of your daily workday a little by using Text Blaze shortcuts for emails. You’ll put an end to meaningless work like typing the same things over and over again and end up creating time for tasks that truly matter. Get started for free today!.
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