Why scheduling self-care is important

Why Scheduling In Self Care Is Important

We live such busy lives today and it’s no wonder it’s so easy to forget our self-care needs. But if you take the time to take care of yourself, it doesn’t just improve your day but has an impact every aspect of your life. While self-care is not a substitute for professional help where needed, frequent self-care can protect and improve your mental well-being in surprisingly powerful ways. Trying to make time for self-care, even if it’s just with a simple breathing exercise, can have a huge positive impact on your mental health.

Whilst practicing something like yoga is a fantastic daily or weekly self-care tool, sometimes we don’t always have time for it. The trick here is not to beat yourself up if you find you’re too busy, instead find something you can do instead, for example, if you don’t have time for yoga, take the time to practice your breathing exercises. It’s important to make your own schedule, something that you can stick to but has the flexibility to bend when life gets in the way. Self-care doesn’t have to mean a hot candle lit bubble bath though. Self-care could be anything that you find relaxing such as a massage or a group class, or maybe even just hanging out with good people. Some really simple tricks to include in your day are just 5 minute breaks – prepare a coffee or tea, read a book, write your gratitude journal or even just breathing or meditation.

That said however a real self-care break helps to rest both your mind and your body, so whatever you do decide to do, it’s best to make sure that environment is as digital-free as possible.

Ways to include self-care into your daily routine:

1. Schedule a 10-minute self-care break every two hours of work.
2. Set clear boundaries for yourself and others and create a schedule so you don’t work until bedtime.
3. If someone offers morning or evening appointments and can negotiate, ask for a time that works best for you and keep the appointment like a business meeting.
4. If you can’t book those important self-care appointments right now, create a calendar item on your phone to schedule the rest of the time.
5. Take a look at your schedule to see where there might be a short period of time.
6. If you like to plan your day in detail, by the minute or in large chunks of time, be sure to put deadlines and due dates on your calendar, and then work backwards so you have control over what needs to be done when.
7. Sometimes it just means taking the time to make sure you focus on yourself. You can take steps to make sure you are focused on taking care of yourself every day. If you take a short break and follow these steps, you can start taking care of yourself, even if the responsibilities at home and work never seem to end.

If you’ve gotten to the point where you forgot what it means to take care of yourself, the points above should help you recover. If you really want to focus on taking care of yourself, make the decision to make it one of your top three priorities in your life.

In any case, we all sleep, eat, work and move every day and taking care of ourselves is just a matter of how you can do these things consciously and positively. While there are many examples of self-care that seem to walk a fine line between health-promoting behavior and self-indulgence, self-care doesn’t have to be all about filling your calendar with luxurious events or activities that cost money (even if of course it can).

Sure, your occasional social outing, beauty salon visit, and fitness class can all be considered self-care, but at its core, self-care is a regular activity that helps recharge and lift your spirits. Mental self-care includes activities that help you clear your mind and focus, such as journaling, developing hobbies, and finding time to relax. You can increase your emotional care by forming positive friendships, writing down lists of things you’re grateful for, and expressing your emotions. Having healthy ways of dealing with our emotions is essential to taking care of ourselves, whether it’s talking to a close friend, partner or therapist, practicing meditation, or taking a walk, run or bike ride; turning on activities that help us deal with our emotions can and will will charge us.

Whether you’re just starting to take care of yourself, or you’re trying to get back into your routine, these tips will help you stick to your daily self-care routine and bring joy, relaxation, and peace to your life. Prioritizing the important people in your life can promote self-care in relationships, while practicing mindfulness and volunteering can support spiritual self-care. To achieve a balanced life, try different types of self-care, depending on how you’re feeling and your needs on a given day. To best take care of your health, try to make taking care of yourself second nature and part of your routine.

It can be difficult, but try to follow a daily routine to take care of your physical health, including personal hygiene, and set aside time for physical activity every day. Talk to any expert and they will tell you the importance of taking the time to focus on your mind and body. Draw up your ideal daily routine, including the time you spend at work and meetings, as well as the time you spend doing housework and build in time for you in that schedule.

My own self-care battle

Self-care has been a particular battle of my own. I know full well the risks of not taking time at least weekly to decompress to the extent that I suffered from burn-out, exhaustion and even paralysis at one point in my life. But despite all that, and the fact the fact I usually throw myself into work as a stress response. I find I still slip up and often times put my self-care on the back burner.

Needless to say, when I do, health issues start to creep up on me, including, trouble sleeping, aching joints, digestive issues and a general feeling of anxiety too. But by taking that time to focus on my mental and physical wellbeing it works like a magic wand.

So please do yourself a favour, take some time today to just take care of you, no matter how crazy busy your life is right now. Trust me, your mind and body will thank you for it.

Sources:

1. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/diversity/odlos-blog/Scheduling-as-a-Means-of-Self-Care ⁰
2. https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/2020/05/the-importance-of-maintaining-a-routine-while-at-home/ ¹
3. https://simplifyexperts.com/5-self-care-appointments-you-need-to-schedule-today/ ²
4. https://www.healthonemedicine.com/blog/creating-time-for-self-care ³
5. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/367884 ⁴
6. https://www.calendar.com/blog/scheduling-self-care-when-working-from-home/ ⁵
7. https://tristatehospital.org/the-importance-of-self-care/ ⁶
8. https://howtomakealife.com/self-care/schedule-yourself/ ⁷
9. https://hbr.org/2021/04/make-time-for-me-time ⁸
10. https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/health-safety-wellness/counseling/wellness/self-care-and-stress-reduction/time-management ⁹
11. https://lifegoalsmag.com/how-to-create-a-daily-self-care-routine-that-youll-actually-stick-to/ ¹⁰
12. https://www.rockyvistahc.com/importance-of-self-care ¹¹
13. https://spencecounselingcenter.com/the-importance-of-self-care/ ¹²
14. https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/how-make-time-self-care-when-you-have-none ¹³
15. https://www.everydayhealth.com/self-care/ ¹⁴
16. https://betterhumans.pub/fit-self-care-into-your-schedule-3-easy-self-care-habits-to-try-a058ebe63cf6 ¹⁵
17. https://www.uabmedicine.org/-/scheduling-in-self-care-how-much-time-do-you-have-today- ¹⁶