With all of the uncertainty going on in the world right now, I want to remind everyone of how important self-care is.

Self-care is defined in many ways, and the level of self-care needed to maintain good mental and physical health tends to vary from person to person. In general, self-care is anything you do to take care of yourself so that you can stay healthy, stay well, do your job, help and care for others and so on. 

Not only does self-care help to promote overall health, but it also helps us to deal with daily stressors, identifying ways to overcome these barriers, and in turn, reducing symptoms of stress & anxiety and lifting your mood back up to where it should be.

Life can be extremely busy and juggling all aspects of life at the same time can make it really easy to forget about the importance of self-care. Have you ever been so busy that you’ve forgotten to get some exercise and fresh air? I’ve been that person, its 3pm and I’m still wearing last night’s pyjamas, oops! Suddenly something clicked and I realised that I couldn’t be my happy, calm, productive self, unless I take care of myself, and make myself feel good.

My point is, it’s near impossible to be yourself, if you don’t look after yourself, and that’s why I’ve set out some tips below to guide all of those who struggle to include self-care into their daily routine.

Tips to prioritise self-care

-        Set an alarm each day and stick to it. Each time the alarm goes off, do something for you, something you enjoy, something that makes you happy. If you set the alarm at the same time every day, self-care will soon become part of your day, no matter how busy you are.

-        Brainstorm – Take some time and note down all of the things that define self-care to you, as an individual. As you move through a busy week, tick off as you go. This will make it easier for you to stick to your self-care goals and enjoy some ‘you time’

-        Keep it simple – Self-care doesn’t have to be complicated; holidays and all-out spa days take time to achieve, and actually can be more stressful than relaxing. Take a relaxing bath, go for a peaceful walk, the easier the activity, the easier it will be to prioritise. 

-        Be mindful to your wants, needs and feelings – Listening to your body is the only way to establish the root of the issue, and finding ways to attend to these feelings. For example, you feel stressed, rather than confront it, you choose to ignore it – if you don’t face the issue head on, you’ll find it harder to identify the correct coping mechanism for you.

Benefits of self-care

-        Boost in resilience 

-        Improved mental health & wellbeing

-        Increased self confidence 

-        Reduced stress and anxiety

-        Improved focus and performance / productivity 

-        Boosted immune system

-        Enhanced relationships 

-        Better sleep (we all need this!!)

If you are reading this, what does self-care mean to you? 

If you struggle with self-care, use this blog as today’s reminder to take some time for yourself, spend the next 30 minutes doing something for you – Let us know how you get on, we would love to hear from you.

Take time to do what makes you happy

Ps – if you want some more guidance and to ponder on the big questions in life, why not check out the Phillosopher-in-Residence series. Out every fortnight on a Thursday, and written by our Principal Planner, Anna Pascoe.  You can take a peek at the latest edition here https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/on-surviving/