Many of us have busy lifestyles with many different things we need to take care of. Work, school, relationships, and physical and mental health take up a lot of our time, and it can be hard to juggle all of these responsibilities.

So how do you start focusing more on your mental health? You can improve your mental health by ridding yourself of these bad habits below.

Sedentary Lifestyle 

It can be fun to be a couch potato for a little bit, but once lounging around shifts from being a wind-down procedure to your everyday lifestyle, you can have a major impact on your mental health. Research shows that having a sedentary lifestyle can increase your chances of depressive symptoms, and lack of exercise can increase your chance to develop dementia.

Try incorporating some type of physical activity into your daily routine. It will help you alleviate depressive symptoms and improve your overall physical fitness.

Too Much Phone Time

Your phone can do a lot to make your life easier, but too much phone time can hurt your mental health. Various studies have shown that too much time on social media can lead to increased feelings of anxiety and depression. Adults who regularly use social media report feelings of jealousy, inadequacy, and loneliness. Even though social media connects people, some people can begin to obsess over how they appear on social media and miss out on opportunities to form meaningful in-person relationships.

We’re not saying throw away your phone and live off the grid, but less screen time can really help your mental health. You can incorporate new, healthy hobbies into your day to help reduce your screen time. Read a book, go on a hike with friends, or challenge yourself to not reach for your phone when you feel like it.

Suppressing Anger or Other Strong Emotions

It’s important to keep your cool during rough situations, but consistently suppressing emotions, especially anger, can hurt your mental health. It can be harder to say no when your neglect your emotions as well as make it harder to set boundaries or form relationships. When your bottle up anger over time, you become a ticking time bomb that can be set off by the smallest inconvenience.

Some healthy ways of expressing anger are venting to someone close to you, writing what makes you angry down on paper, or channeling your anger into sports, music, art, or other forms of creative writing. Of course, you can always talk out your anger with the person who might be making you mad.

Putting Your Partner’s Needs Before Your Own

It’s important to take your partner’s feelings into consideration in a healthy relationship, but if you begin to disregard your own feelings you could find yourself on the slippery slope of a codependent relationship. At one point you could be in a balanced relationship, then all of a sudden you could be doing everything they want to do, forgetting about your own wants and needs.

If you feel like you aren’t being heard in your relationship, vocalize your boundaries with statements that include your needs. These could be about things that upset you or things that could be done to make you feel better. Use statements starting with “I feel like” so you don’t seem like you are blaming your partner for something. It can be hard to be vulnerable, but as time goes on you and your partner can develop healthier ways of communication.