If you are anything like me, you count down the months until your car is due for its’ next MOT with dread. My car is of that vintage age where any more serious repairs than a few new tyres will mean the price of repairing it will be more than what it’s worth. Therefore, each September comes the day. I drop off my car in the morning and sit by my phone all day anxiously waiting for that phone call.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Here at Christian Jobs we are trying to reclaim the MOT. We have implemented a new type of leave, an MOT day. Just like you take a car in to get checked and ready to return to the road, we take a day every 3 months to check up on ourselves and our mental wellbeing. You may have seen this called a mental health day, a duvet day or wellbeing hours but it’s all the same; giving employees the chance to alleviate some of the stress and anxiety they may be feeling from life (not solely limited to car troubles), in addition to the standard annual leave days.
The purpose of these days is to give us, as employees, mental and physical rest. With mental health issues seemingly having a greater and greater impact on the professional world, it is important to us that we support each other and allow the space and time to really just do whatever makes us feel better, rest, and look after ourselves. I mean, who doesn’t like a day in their duvet?
Reasons why we might take an MOT day
There are so many reasons why we might need an MOT day and these don’t just have to be purely mental. As we all know, sometimes if our physical health is low or we are exhausted and just need a big sleep, it can affect our mental health. And this goes both ways. If our mental health is suffering, our physical wellbeing may take a toll. At Christian Jobs we are encouraged to take an MOT day each quarter even if we don’t feel we need one.
What to do on an MOT day
There is no one way to do this and it could be different for all of us depending on how we recoup and what we’re going through at that time. Here are just some ideas of what we could do:
- Read the bible, spend time in prayer or musical worship
- Watch The Chosen (big fan!)
- Stay on the sofa and watch tv
- Go for a walk
- Do some cleaning
- Arts and crafts
- Play some Playstation
- Have a big big sleep
Is it okay to take an MOT day?
It is important to take a day to look after ourselves and we should not feel guilty for this. However, like with most things, there are pros and cons. Some studies show that taking time off, although it can seem beneficial, due to the buildup of work on our return can cause heightened stress. This would then have the opposite effect of what we want the MOT day to do. In addition to this, as an organisation, it could put more weight on other staff members (especially as a smaller organisation) to cover more work than they have time for.
However, at Christian Jobs we believe it is essential to look after each other and our mental wellbeing, allowing employees to rest, be with God, do something that makes them feel less stressed and anxious, and ultimately feel even a little better.
MOT days are not essential or helpful for everyone and every organisation. In 2017, a study showed that people in Britain took 138 million sick days, 15.8 million of these being due to mental health. So not only do MOT days help you, but they can also help your employer by making sure you are mentally fit to be at work and fully present.
What I did on my MOT Day
I always feel much more relaxed and refreshed having given myself a day to do what it is I need/want. So, here’s what I did on my last MOT Day:
- Slept until I was ready to wake up (and get up) and have my breakfast whilst sitting on my sofa watching Grey’s Anatomy.
- Went for a walk with my best friend around the park and treated myself to a cup of tea from the cafe.
- Went straight back to the sofa (the walk was long and a bit cold) and listened to some worship music whilst sitting with my dog and playing on my switch (Animal Crossing of course).
- The rest of the day, I pretty much let myself completely relax because life gets tiring sometimes and in order for me to feel mentally rested, I needed to physically rest as well.
Whilst no number of days off work is going to stop the inevitable pain of taking your car to the garage, we have found that offering MOT days has not resulted in a lack of productivity, and has resulted in a happier, healthier workforce. We’d encourage other employers to consider whether implementing something similar would be beneficial for their organisation.