I am a blogger, daughter, employee, puppy mother, friend and burgeoning #girlboss. Many of you have additional titles: mother, wife, girlfriend, fiance, boss, etc… With all of our daily responsibilities it is easy to lose sight of the importance of self care.
Earlier this month Ace talked about the importance of having a hobby as it relates to self care, but I want to back-up a little and just talk about the importance of self care. Self care is about taking proper care of yourself and treating yourself as kindly as you treat others. Without self care, we are overloaded with stress and suffer from burn-out and emotional fatigue.
Raise your hand if you’ve skipped lunch or dinner because you were overwhelmed with your to-do list.
Perhaps you stopped going to the dance class that you loved because you’re trying to make more time for a work commitment or a commitment you’ve made to help someone else. Maybe you used your daily run as your time to think and now if you sprinted to your mailbox your lungs would be on fire. When we’re stressed, self care is usually the first thing to go and that only makes our stress and anxiety worse.
I was talking to a friend the other day and she mentioned how stressed out she was. Her to-do list rivaled the never-ending CVS coupons. I mentioned to her how it might be helpful to put a little emphasis on self care before she dived into her to-do list. Her automatic response was that it would be a waste of time. I think many of us can feel that way, but I urge you to take some time to make sure you’re taking proper care of yourself so that you can take care of others or business. 🙂
11 Simple Self Care Ideas
- Make a date with yourself. Spend an hour by yourself doing something that reinvigorates or relaxes you. This is not a time to check off something on your to-do list. Try reading, one of your hobbies, or go see that movie that you’ve been wanting to see for the longest. It doesn’t matter what you decide, but do one thing just because it makes you happy.
- Have a long bath or shower, sit around in your bathrobe, read magazines, or binge a couple episodes of your favorite TV show. The point is give your mind a break. This could also be your date with yourself — make a weekly thing.
- Do a mini-declutter.
- Stretch. 5-10 minutes to get out the kinks helps your body and mind.
- Spend time with friends who lift you up.
- Eat something you enjoy. I know. I know. Bikini season is around the corner. That’s not lost on me, but I’m telling you sometimes you need that slice of pizza and extra glass of wine.
- Praise yourself when you do something awesome.
- Meditate. Unplug.
- Do something that will allow you to use your creative energy.
- Journal. A study from the journal of Advances in Psychiatric Treatment found that journaling for 15–20 minutes helped study participants cope with traumatic, stressful, or emotional events. So beyond to-do lists write
- Learn something new or research something you’re interested in. You may find a new class or activity that you love.
Don’t think of self care as selfishness. In order to make sure the best version of ourselves available in the multiples roles we are juggling, we have to take some time out to reset our minds and relax our bodies so that we are able to operate at full capacity.
Do you forget to take proper care of yourself? What are some things you do to exercise self care? Leave a comment below.
It’s so important to take care of yourself. You can’t let yourself get burned out or worn down. It’s not good for anyone!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Kari recently posted…Wanderlust Wednesday: St. Helena and Frog’s Leap Winery in Napa
Exactly! It’s just so easy stretch ourselves too thin and not even realize it. Thanks for reading!
-Donni
Great tips! I struggle with self-care big time! I feel anxiety sometimes because I know I have so much to do and I shouldn’t be relaxing. But I also know that neglecting self-care always causes me to burn out and end up worse off in the long-term. Now I try to take at least 1 full day where I do nothing.
Thank for sharing. I know it’s hard to take time out to relax, but ultimately it will help you complete everything you have to do. I’m so glad you take a day for yourself.
-Donni
This reminded me of the date I promised to take myself on today – a long walk with my pup!
That’s one of my favorite things to do to relax – a nice long walk with my pup. I hope you had a nice time! 🙂
-Donni
I need to spend more time with friends. I get caught up with blogging but then I have had no human contact.
maria @ closeothome recently posted…The Best Summer Camp Packing List
Blogging is hard work so I completely understand. Maybe start setting up a monthly get together for a few of your closest friends so it feels really special and it’s something everyone can look forward to. 🙂
-Donni
This is a great list! We all should praise ourselves a bit more
Thanks!! Recognition from others is great, but it’s important that we praise ourselves for all the things that we accomplish.
-Donni
I agree that self care is so important. I don’t take a lot of time for myself throughout the day, so I really try and use my time at the gym or reading in bed as my self care time. It’s hard with jobs, kids, and partners to make time for yourself. This is great, thank you for sharing!
The gym and some reading in bed is definitely great ways to get in some self care time. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. So glad you’re taking some time for yourself. Thanks for reading!
-Donni
Self-care is so important I need to put more into me!
Absolutely! Even it it’s just an hour or two a week, try to carve a little time out for yourself.
-Donni
I’ve never thought the importance of self-care until read your blog post. It’s so nice to know how important to take a time to care ourselves. You know, I want to unplug.
Aw, that’s good. Go unplug and enjoy some you time and then conquer your day. 🙂 Thanks for reading!!
-Donni
I’ve never skipped a meal, lol. I like to read and sleap to relax
These are great ideas! I’m working on staying on track in this area – with twins due this summer, I really want to make sure I take care of myself still, too!
Kristen from The Road to Domestication recently posted…New Product Review – Minerva Dairy Butter
Well you’re going to be getting twice the love so maybe that means schedule 2x the planned self care time. Ha!
-Donni
Thank you for this! I have been putting of reading and blogging, simply because there’s too many ‘important’ things going on. Both unwind me and I am ready to start giving them time in my day.
That’s great. It’s awesome you can find that peace in blogging. Enjoy!!
-Donni
I love this so much! I think self-care often gets dismissed as bubble baths with candles–a nice indulgence, sure, but not necessary.
But self-care is actually keeping yourself healthy! That might look like different things for different people, depending on which area of health (physical/mental/emotional) is getting out of whack.
For me, self-care is often choosing NOT to do something, like choosing not to engage with certain people online.
Brita Long recently posted…Thankful Thursday: Bright Flowers
Your comments are everything to me! I need to follow your lead and choose not to engage with certain people. Thanks for stopping by, Brita!
-Donni
We love doing nothing more at the Dollhouse then feeling pampered. Love your routines and suggestions.
This is a great list. I need to be better about taking time for myself. My TMJ gets crazy bad when I run myself down without time to unwind.
If we chose to ignore self care, then we will not be of much use to anyone
This is SO important. People (myself included) tend to get so wrapped up and tied down that we forget to live. Sometimes I literally have to write in my planner the free time I plan to give myself or an outing so that I know I’ll have fun. Managing a blog and a full-time job is definitely exhausting and now more than ever I need to take care of myself. So, I think I might just get a manicure tomorrow after all. 😉 Great job, ladies.
CJ | thirty30courtney.com
Thanks so much for reading. I do the same in my planner. It never hurts to have a reminder to breathe, relax or take a moment for yourself. I hope you enjoyed your manicure!
-Donni
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