During my recent discussions as part of my role mentoring university students, I have frequently found myself introducing the concept of an Emotional Piggy Bank. With the current Covid-19 pandemic, Christmas, changes to University teaching, travel restrictions, deadlines and more, there is no wonder that most of the students I have come into contact with are feeling depleted and with less and less to give. The Emotional Piggy Bank analogy looks at how we can deposit within our minds and bodies, instead of constantly withdrawing. It is a useful tool to look at how we can manage self care and stress management, and pay attention to refilling when we expecting a lot from ourselves.

Deposits into your “Piggy Bank” are personal, for some it may mean giving yourself permission to take a morning off , going for a hike, spending an evening with loved ones, or a long bath by oneself. For others it may be reading a book, speaking to friends, exercising or watching a movie. Whatever it is that helps “fill you up”, now is the time to pay attention to the deposits we make within ourselves- none of us have an endless account to withdraw from even if the overdraft is larger for some than others! What are some of the thing you can think of?

Author: Cat Robinson, Specialist Mental Health Mentor at The Learning Support Centre.