Making Time for Self-Care
In this age of mental health awareness, most of us at this point have read up on and even try to implement some recommended self-care strategies. However, often the next question that comes into play is how to incorporate self-care into a busy schedule without it beginning to feel like just another item to check off your to-do list. It can become a competition between the time you attempt to set aside for yourself and the growing list of tasks that any given day can present. Struggling with justifying taking the time to spend for self-care can be a real thing, and counterproductive at that. Here are some helpful points to help reshape your thinking around the topic.
Productivity vs Self
Placing the level of productivity of your day and time for self-care in a race against one other will always have the same outcome. Why? You already know why. Because you can always justify productivity. You can ALWAYS justify looking over one more thing for work or completing another load of laundry. But staying in the bath an extra 20 minutes, reading a non-informational book? No, you will always have reasons for why these activities are not important or even irresponsible. You can always be doing something “more productive” that can be done in its place. Why this reasoning isn’t sound? The reality is there is always something that needs attention or completion whereas you don’t always NEED self-care. Selfcare should serve as a recharge to fuel productivity so put them in competition doesn’t make a lot of sense
Deciding Self-Care Essential
You may have noticed “more productive” is placed in quotes. The reason is, getting things done and more checked off the to-do list only truly is more productive to an extent. But here’s the crazy part, if you don’t take care of yourself eventually you can’t take care of others. We know this yeah? Then why do we still live with this ideal at the forefront? Society, self-confidence issues, work, whatever element of your life that reinforces this idea, don’t feed into it. Taking care of others, and contributing to our workspace is mentally and emotionally extremely important to most of us. But guess what neither of those things can continue to be fulfilled to their fullest potential if you’re not taken care of first. Profound? Definitely not, I know we’ve all heard and read this, in one form or another, countless times but the reminder never hurts.
Your Subconscious Take
The same way self-care provides psychological benefits the reverse applies when you begin to stop making time for it. Without even knowing it, when you go long periods of time without taking time for yourself your psychological state as far as self-perspective may experience a shift. Crazy right? When you allow time for self-care and engage in activities that promote a calm state, focus, or feeling of recharge you are indirectly communicating a message of worth and priority to yourself. So needless to say when you skip out on time for self-care your subconscious can begin to miss this message.
Maybe your self-care routine isn’t anything intricate but it’s something that allows you to feel both peace and stillness, even if it’s for a short period of time. At times, the practice doesn’t matter as much as the consistency of the practice. Just remember! You are important your energy is important, and you are unstoppable when you are aligned.
