Since officially saying goodbye to the corporate world and taking the blog full time a few months ago, the more I think about it, the more I need to add self care to my daily routine. When I was working my corporate job I would try to fit in working out, eating right and so many more things along with working + this side hustle and I would get burned out so quickly! In fact, I was burning so much on both ends I never took time for myself!
Let’s face, it how often do you really prioritize caring for yourself? If you’re like me or most women that I know, it’s very seldom. I really ant to address WHY self care is essential and WHY you need a plan of action. It can be super easy to get wrapped up in the stresses of everyday life with long work hours, taking care of your family, taking care of friends and little time to ourselves.
When I know that it’s time to pamper myself, I begin thinking of planning a spa day but now a days, I’ve learned there really is much more to self-care than just a message and facial! Plus, self care needs to be up there on your priority list right along with spending time with work and family. Can I get an Amen for that?! But let’s start off with…
What IS Self Care?
Great question! Truly at it’s core, it’s any choice or action we take to make us fulfill our spiritual, physical or emotional needs. There are all sorts of small ways we can take care of ourselves so we don’t have a full breakdown ( I’m guilty of having those once in awhile! ) For the last few months however, I’ve been really working on ways to self improve and it just hit me one day that I needed to make a self care plan, especially being in a huge funk of being at home all the time.
Do I NEED a Self Care Plan?
I would say yes my friend! It’s to help improve your overall well being, assist with your stress management and keep you healthy for the future! It can be simple to let you fall at the bottom of your life when life gets crazy. The problem is, we end up taking on more urgent matters, getting burnt out and lacking motivation when we really need it. The point is, we need to spend time to get to know what your body and soul need in order for you to be at your best When you’re able to identify what you need, you’ll be able to really cater to your self-care plan that’s going to be perfect for you.
How Do You Create A Self Care Plan?
I think the first thing you need to do is make a list of the things you value and need as part of your day-to-day work/schedule. For instance, do you need to walk your dog in the morning, grab a cup of coffee or spend your nights in the gym? Layer on that, think of things you don’t really need either but that make you happy and can fill you up! What about, taking on a new hobby or cleaning your closet? There is nothing better to me than purging items to make me feel good! One of my favorite daily checklist items is to pick something that’s been on my mind for a while and officially check it off!
Make sure you’re thinking of your plan as more of a habit rather than just a quick fix. Think of items like making doctors appointments, getting the proper nutrients, enough sleep or finally setting up a walking or run with your girlfriend who keeps asking! What about budgeting? Make sure you’re taking care of your taxes and other financial responsibilities. If you need some space, make sure to schedule some alone time to self reflect or use it for a brain dump to put everything together. SOCIAL investing is huge as in scheduling time with people that matter to you, know your worth and prioritize important events!
Think of how you are taking care of yourself in these areas currently and then brainstorm ways you want to improve or want to try out. On a daily basis, you ant to make sure you’re prioritizing your physical needs just as much as you’re taking care of your psychological and professional ones. This will help you be more balanced in your daily routine and help your productivity and overall well-being.
With these little tips, I want to know now, how are you going to add to your self care plan?
Have you already made one and not thought of it yet?
How can you put yourself first?
Self care is so important!! You are so right and I love the fact that you wrote this post. I never really heard of self care until I suffered an actual breakdown about four years ago. After I discovered mindfulness and self care, my life changed completely. Now I make sure that my evenings are dedicated to self care, whether I'm art journaling, relaxing with my hubby and our monster cat child or relaxing in the bath, it's all about me :p
You are so right on with this. With a recent foot surgery and unable to walk for twelve weeks, this is the motivation i need to put those upper and mid body workouts in and set aside a whole day of pampering. Thanks Cait!
I totally feel you on the struggle of "finding time" for self care! During the school year I'm usually going full-on with school, practicing my instrument, composing music, extracurriculars, and of course blogging, which makes it difficult to remember to stop once in a while to take some time for myself. Having a plan would make it so much easier! Thanks for the post!
I think its such a great idea! We get too carried away with the everyday and the most thought out objectives take a backseat. A self care plan is a great way to toe the line!
Self care has risen on my priorities list as I've gotten older. With toddlers and volunteer work there often doesn't seem any time in the day for me. SO I need to be better at carving out time!
You know this is one area or should i say problem that the society of today rarely talks about and reading this post has just fine tuned my schedule if i may add. You know it is very important to always check up on oneself so that you don't all of a sudden breakdown completely.
Whenever I've let some self care go I always regret it. I have to be careful not to procrastinate because I have a free day. I do love my me time.
A great reminder and lots of great tips to take time to improve yourself! Thanks for sharing.
Self care is seriously so, so important! If you're not your best self, you can't put your best self forward. I love being able to set time aside each week for myself to recuperate from the week.
Self care is essential and actually it's very sad that we need to be reminded about it. In our modern world we totally forgot about ourselves and our mental happiness. Great article.
Right now I don't have the time for self care planning. I do try to find some time for me though
Thank you! This is an important reminder that most women are too good at pushing to the background…I know I am. I appreciate the nudge!
Self care is the area most women struggle with the most – but even more so for women that work from home. I make a point to keep a good schedule to balance work and family, but also to schedule "me time" in the midst of it all. Once each month, I schedule (literally on my calendar) a pedicure and during that time I also read my favorite book. I walk my dogs every morning and use that time to listen to spiritual and empowering podcasts.
Self-care is so important to keeping it together. I think after reading your blog post I need to prioritize my self-care list. For example, working out…I know I should and I feel better after I do it…but I swear that I make a million excuses to avoid it!
So it wasn't until I became a full time blogger that I had to address self-care! Lol I guess that's kind of opposite but with a set schedule of the 9-5, I knew exactly when I needed to fit in exercise, when to have that glass of wine, or when to schedule some self-care. Now that I make my own schedule, it's a little all over the place and it's taken MONTHS to figure out what works for me. But most importantly, I feel I need more self-care now that I'm self-employed. I love things like purging the closet, too! But exercise and mental care is what gets me through the week now and I've scheduled it like I would have at my 9-5. It's been a wonderful change. 🙂
I just started to include self-care more. It’s so important for our health and wellness!
Realizing that you need to practice self-care is great. But making an action plan on how to do it is the challenging part. This is a very helpful read.
So so true… self care is really important for well being of health. It's always our body which is going to stay with us till the end we need to care for it..
Self care is so important but with everyday stresses and strains can get forgotten about. I have been busy with work lately and now I keep trying to make better plans to take more care of myself.
Amidst the hectic lifestyle we usually forget ourselves. Its indeed very important that we have a self care plan in place that can be easily executed.
Thank you for this reminder. I would have to agree that self care is very important though the sad reality is that we tend to forget about ourselves. I will definitely start making a plan.
I have been self employed with writing and my clothing company for over 10 years and you are 100% right. Once you launch out on your own you need to regulate your time and balance your life yourself, since our natural Type-A personalities is to just want to push forward and work, work, work. Hope people follow your advice.
Self care is so so important! Whether that is just taking time out to go and get your nails done or taking yourself out for dinner! We lead such busy, intense lives and sometimes its nice to just take a few seconds to breathe and appreciate all that we do for ourselves 🙂
I am now embarking on self care. Hopefully, I can start with my simple exercise regimen this week when I am feeling better.
It’s so important to take care of ourselves, and I know it’s way easier said than done. These are great reminders!!
I totally understand that we need to make time for ourselves but, when it comes right down to it, I have such a hard time doing it!!
Being in tune enough with yourself to know when to take breaks is just so important!
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