Emotional wellbeing

 Published: 16/04/2020

Emotional Wellbeing is a lesser talked about aspect of University life and working in pressurised environments such as the NHS. Without good emotional wellbeing we cannot provide the patient care we aspire to as "a giving cup 1/4 full, cannot give much". 

So how do we maintain our emotional wellbeing? These are my top tips.

Tips

• Make time for relaxation activities (such as running, reading etc) each day.
• Get enough sleep (sorry no fun this one)
• Eat healthly
• Look for the positives in each day

Looking for the positives

I keep a positivity journal which I write in daily with all the positives I can positively find from one day. These positives include: time spent with family and friends, delicious food I made or had the pleasure of eating, steps forward with my academic learning, etc.

This initiative helped me to train my brain to focus upon the positives in day to day life to enable me to focus upon the positives with my academic studies and during placement. 

Importance of downtime

Downtime encompasses relaxing family meals, watching the TV, relaxation hobbies etc. This time enables our brains to process what happened during the day and allows us to reflect upon what went well and what could be improved.