Have you ever been overwhelmed by the idea of starting a self-care routine?
Well, if you’re new to self-care, it can be difficult to know where to start. Do you work on things related to your physical health, mental health, personal development, or something else?
It can be hard to figure out, but hopefully, this post will guide you because as you probably know, self-care is an important part of managing your stress before your stress manages you. Read on to find out how to start your self-care practice.
Most Important Tasks First
You should start by making sure that you’re focusing on the self-care tasks that are most important first. That is, the area of your life which needs the most care or improvement.
For example, if it’s your health you’re trying to improve, think about the tasks that will help you tackle the issue. Maybe you’re tired all the time because you don’t get enough sleep. In that case, you would focus on those things that would help improve your sleep quality like starting a relaxing nighttime routine.
Maybe you find that you’re feeling sluggish because you’re dehydrated, so in that case, maybe your priority focus for your self-care should be increasing your water intake. You can use a tracker to help you keep tabs on how much water you’re drinking each day.
One of the cool things about prioritizing your self-care is that as you focus on the most important self-care tasks first, it sets other improvements in motion. When you start getting sleep for example, it’ll boost your physical and mental health as well as your energy levels.
Schedule self-care into your calendar
If it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen – is a philosophy that I live by, esp. when it comes to self-care. Because self-care can be so easy to put off it’s doubly important to treat it a you would any important appointment.
Start scheduling your “me time” into your calendar. Even setting aside 15 minutes every day for self-care will deliver a lot of benefits.
When you schedule self-care into your day, you’re marking yourself a priority. Scheduling self-care is a great way to make sure that your new routine sticks. Treat your scheduled self-care time just as you would any appointment. Don’t cancel it and try and allow it to fit into your regular routine, rather than trying to keep it separate.
KISS - Keep It Simple - Sally
I’m also a big fan of not making life overly complicated. It’s already hard enough, so your self-care shouldn’t be. When it comes to your self-care keep it simple.
If you’re about the beginning of your self-care journey, you may be excited and motivated and want to do a million things but trying to focus on too many at the same time can actually cause you to become overwhelmed and give up on your routine before it even becomes a routine.
While that initial surge of excitement to get everything done is awesome, it’s not possible to sustain it. So, start slow, create a list of simple self-care activities to incorporate into your life and then create a plan for how you’re going to stick to your new routine, and make sure you’re focusing on simple habits first.
Consider taking a self-care trip
In addition to adding simple tasks into your daily routine, sometimes self-care means getting away from it all. In other words, taking a break from everyday life to focus solely on your self-care.
This could be a spa day, a day trip somewhere or even a camping or glamping trip. If that’s not possible, go to a museum or your local state park for the day. Just getting away from your everyday life can help you to relax and rejuvenate. Short breaks away are an important part of self-care and they really don’t need to be costly.
Know Yourself
Knowing yourself inside and out, is the way to get the best results from your self-care practice. What do you want from life and who do you want to be? What kind of things do you like and what don’t you want from life? These are just some of the questions that you should reflect on as part of your new self-care practice.
The more you know yourself, the easier you’ll find it to engage in self-care activities that really resonates with who you are and what you want for your life.
Avoid These Things
Of course, while you’re starting your self-care routine, there are a few things to watch out for:
Over-compensating
Over-indulging
Too many “you” days
It’s easy to go from one extreme to another when you’re starting with self-care. If you haven’t done anything for yourself for a while, it’s tempting to start over-compensating and over-indulging. However, this isn’t healthy, and it’ll only lead to frustration and unhealthy results.
So there you have it! Several simple steps to starting your self-care routine. It’s all about making time.
Let’s talk, what have you done to start your new self-care routine? Let me know in the comments section.
Cassandra Martin-Himmons is a trainer, wellness coach and consultant who believes in empowering her clients and providing the tools that they need to make positive changes in their lives to manage their stress and increase their self-care. In her spare time, she enjoys papercrafting, volunteering and travel. Connect with her on Instagram or LinkedIn