How are you?

Is your "I am fine?" the generic and automatic one to the question, or are you really fine?

Comparing life to a hamster wheel is not too far off.

Regardless of how happy or sad you are - whether you'd rather lay in bed all day and do nothing - your alarm will still go off at 5:30 am.

You must still roll out of bed, whether begrudgingly or with a burst of energy.

No matter what emotion you are feeling, the wheel keeps turning.

The monotony of the "wake-work-sleep" cycle can become tasking on our mental health. Especially as work is something that you must do 11 hours a day, 5 days a week.

It can get exhausting.

That extreme tiredness is not you being lazy; that intense sadness that occasionally washes over you is not you going mad. It's okay to not be okay.

The World Health Organization says Mental Health is a "state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can make a contribution to his or her community”.

This week let us close our eyes and take a deep breath. Let's take it easy and put our mental health first as we dissect taking care of our mental health as a worker.

The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime.

This is nothing compared to the 692,040 hours an average person has in one lifetime, but it still accounts for how we spend much of our waking hours. For this reason, it's helpful to learn how to manage stress caused by work.

"Why? Why do I need to take care of my mental health? I am an African, and these are disorders peculiar to white people."

Mental Health disorders are not peculiar to any race, gender, or creed.

Now that we have that out of the way, why do we actually have to pay attention to our mental health?

When we are mentally well, we can better appreciate our lives and environments and the people in them.

Being mentally healthy allows us to innovate, learn, explore, and take risks.

It makes us able to better process and deal with adversity in our personal and professional lives.

Lastly, we can "...realize our own abilities, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make meaningful contributions to our community."

"Okay, Understood, but how do I know my job is affecting my mental health?"

Not all mental health disorders at work are caused by a toxic work environment.

Many factors could be negatively impacting your mental health at work. It could be the long hours demanded, your inability to handle intense pressure, your feelings of not being valued, or it could even be something as trivial as not liking the food served at lunch (Trivial is relative).

Nevertheless, suppose your work begins to severely impact your mental and physical health. In that case, it is critical to investigate why and make efforts to correct the problem.

Some signs to help tell you are mentally unhealthy because of work are:

• You find it difficult to carry out your regular work duties. You start to see a decline in your work performance and motivation.

• You have difficulty focusing on work and start having problems with your memory.

• Your mood becomes uncharacteristically as unpredictable as the weather nowadays. You feel helpless, hopeless, and constantly on edge.

• You become firmly indifferent; you stop enjoying hobbies you once loved and lose interest in parts of your job you once found enjoyable.

• In some cases, you might start experiencing unexplained aches and pains, like headaches, upset stomach, or muscle pain.

• You might also find it difficult to sleep at night.

• Sunday evenings are a headache because you dread the start of the new work week.

However, everyone is different, and how we react to mental health stresses might manifest differently. Know yourself and make the effort from time to time to know when something is wrong.

"How can I work and still maintain my sanity?"

You should know that having a couple of bad days does not make you insane.

However, just as it is vital to take care of your body, it is essential to take care of your mind.

• The first thing you do every morning after you turn off that annoying blare of your alarm is to relax, keep your eyes closed for a few minutes, and do a breathing exercise.

This might sound risky because the border from relaxing to sleep does not require a passport to cross, especially when you feel "your sleep no reach you (your rest was not enough)".

A trick to help you not go back to bed is to turn on your lights or draw your curtains open, or you could even sit up to do this exercise.

• Be selfish. Put yourself first. This is the second thing to do to help mantain your sanity.

After you have gotten out of bed, the next thing you do should be something you enjoy doing.

It could be making a delicious and aesthetically pleasing breakfast, meditation, reading a page of that fictional romance book you are so engrossed in, or doing a quick set of pushups.

If you like your room to always be in order, lay your bed, and re-arrange something.

The worst thing you could do is pick up your phone - you risk seeing that the cedi has further tanked against the dollar, and your entire day is ruined.

• Put on your best playlist on your way to work, listen to that funny podcast or anything but the news. Since we just mentioned podcasts in a mental health article, let me put you on a very resourceful mental health podcast curated by a Ghanaian mental health expert. Listen here.

Other personal podcast favorites include Sincerely Accra podcast and Chatterbox by Ekow and Aba - they can be found on all audio listening platforms.

The world's issues are never-ending. They will be there at midday for you to catch up.

• At work, don't choke yourself by biting more than you can swallow.

The desire to impress your superiors and go above and beyond, so you are not "bypassed" for the next promotion is there, but please don't die trying.

As cliche as it might sound, your employers will quickly find a replacement for you should anything happen to you, and that is the order of things.

The corporate world is a jungle and won't stop for anyone.

Setting goals and priorities could help with this one. Know what you have to do now and what can wait.

Do your work well, but don't "do pass yourself (do more than you can handle)".

• Take breaks throughout the day, and when the workday ends, let it end - Unless you are being paid to do overtime, it shouldn't be a frequent occurrence.

Absolutely switch off work mode once you get home and if you have your work mail linked to your phone, mute it after work hours.

• Exercise and eat well- Exercise does not have to involve you doing 25 reps for 5 sets of 30kg bench presses.

It could be a walk through the neighbourhood, a quick session of jumping jacks at the end of the day, or anything to get your heart beating faster.

• Stay positive and practice gratitude - At the end of the day, it should be about the things you were able to achieve and how you plan on completing the ones you weren't able to achieve.

Cut yourself some slack, reward yourself, and buy that sneaker sitting in your shopping cart for months. Please, and please again, this is not financial advice.

Short Story: Once I went to the hospital, and the nurse taking my vitals recommended that to combat stress, at the end of the day, I should get a bucket of cold water (as in refrigerator kind of cold), put my feet in it, close my eyes and just breathe. I have not tested it out yet, but maybe one of you could and let me know how that works for you.

• Seek professional help when you need it.

Mental health care looks different for everyone.

It is critical to determine what you require and enjoy.

Finding what works best for you can take some experimenting with different things but find it.

Taking care of your mental health may help you manage your mental stresses by helping you learn what triggers your mild symptoms and what coping mechanisms work best for you.

The chase is perpetual, and sometimes you are not okay. It is okay to not be okay but do not remain in that state.

Relax, take it easy and if we were in the "Keep calm and era..." I would have put on a t-shirt, " Keep calm and put your mental health first", because that is what we should be doing.