The term “self-care” has become increasingly popular of late, and for good reason. Deprioritising your own physical and mental health is not a sustainable way of living life; without adequate self-care, you’ll risk burning out, as well as a long list of other negative health effects. In this article, we spoke to the experts at GREENHAUS about how to make time for self-care, along with some top tips on ways to enact that self-care regime.
Reprioritize
The truth is that your physical and mental health is more important than anything else in your life. That’s not a selfish thing to admit – no matter how generous or benevolent you are, you can’t do anything else in your life if you’re not actually able to do it. Reprioritizing your personal health is the first and most important step towards making time for self-care. Not only will it enable you to take action, but it also means that you’re accepting that your health is important, which alone will have a massive effect on your mental health!
Little and often
Self-care doesn’t necessarily mean setting aside hours each day (although prolonged time off does help). What will likely have a bigger effect is placing small things throughout your day to look forward to. This could be drinking your morning coffee or tea in a park on the way to work, regularly calling a friend in your lunch break, or leaving a little more time to walk or cycle your commute.
Keep it up
It’s easy to start a self-care regime when you’re in a relatively quiet patch, but people all too often start slacking when things start to get busier and they get stressed. Unfortunately, this is absolutely when you need to focus on self-care. The little things that make your day enjoyable should be a priority; it may feel like too much effort to call that friend during your lunch break, but the conversation will likely leave you energized.
Focus on quality sleep
Sleep is, of course, incredibly important for your overall wellbeing. Sleeping earlier and waking earlier will likely lead to you getting better quality sleep and some you-time before you go to work. Having an hour or so before you get ready for work to read, do some stretching, or just lie looking at the sunrise can make it seem like your life is less dominated by your job. You’ll likely arrive at work with more energy, calmer, and have a little more energy to do things you enjoy after you’ve finished.
Talk to someone
Your idea of normality is entirely contingent on your personal experience of the world. Speaking with a friend, coworker or therapist might help you to recontextualize your life, allowing you to reprioritize things that make you happier, things which you previously thought you didn’t have time for. Getting an external perspective on your life will always be a productive affair, and talking things through generally makes life more manageable, your problems easier to tackle.
