How to Actually Make Time for Self Care

When you think about the word self care, what do you imagine? Are you envisioning pictures of you relaxing at a spa with cucumbers on your face? Though self care can entail some rest and relaxation, there’s more to it.

Self care is about taking care of yourself… your health. If you want to live a longer, healthy, happy life than self care is crucial. The major challenge that most people face is how to actually make time for self care.

We’ve got tips for you! Keep reading to find out how you can actually make time for self care among all the other things you’ve got going on in your life…

How to Actually Make Time for Self Care

Defining Self Care

Before we dive into how to actually make time for self care, it’s first important to define self care. Self care according to the dictionary is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health.

A lot understand the importance of self care, but how many of us really stop and think about why it’s so important?

Self care is important if…

• You want to be able to chase after your kids without stopping to catch your breath.

• You want to have the strength to move that piece of furniture all by yourself.

• You want to be able to go about your day feeling refreshed and energized as opposed to tired and stressed.

• You want to be able to live a long, healthy, happy life.

We often recommend writing down your WHY when coming up with your goals. It helps create a focus and sets a reminder for why you are doing what you are doing.

Many of us have visions of self care as rest and relaxation. That can play a part in it, but sometimes self care is not so simple or easy. Sometimes it takes a bit more willpower or strategic planning to ensure that you practice your self care.

If you want to take action to preserve or improve your own health, then you need to take action. You need to exercise, to drink water, to practice mindfulness, meal prep nutritious meals, read to improve your mind, and more.

It can be a challenge to actually make the time for self care, but realizing that the challenge is so worth it can be a step in the right direction.

How to Actually Make Time for Self Care

Now that we’ve defined what self care is and the importance of it, let’s dive into how to actually make time for self care.

Read that title again. The key words are “make time.”

Our lives are always so busy that it’s easy to push our self care off to the side. You’re busy taking care of your job, your family, everyone else, but you. Don’t forget that you will be better able to take care of everything else around you if you are healthy and well yourself.

Here are some tips on how to actually make that time for self care:

• Do a time audit. In the beginning of many of our nutrition challenges with our registered dietitian Nicole, she’ll recommend keeping a food log. It’s a great way to bring awareness to your eating patterns and shed a light on any times you may be over-eating or eating because of stress or boredom. A time audit can be an eye-opener for how you spend your time. There are wonderful, free apps you can grab that you allow you to hit a button any time you change your activity. Try to do the audit 24/7 for one week. At the end of the week, take a look at any patterns that arise or where you may be wasting time. Instead of wondering where the time went, you’ll now have a clear view.

• Organize your schedule. Once you do your time audit, it’s time to organize your schedule. First, ditch the million and one to do lists you’ve got going on. Instead, organize all of your to do lists in one central location so you have it all in one place. Then, choose a planner with a month view and a weekly view and hold onto it like it’s your bible.

• Schedule in time to schedule! If you want to make time for self care then scheduling it in is key. If you don’t actually plan time to schedule your self care then it’ll never get done. Make sure you schedule time to schedule in your calendar. Initially give yourself more time to plan out your schedule. Once you get into a flow it’ll get easier and won’t take as long.

• Now it’s time to schedule that self care in. You want to improve your night time routine and shut your phone down earlier at night? Schedule it in! You want to exercise three times a week? Schedule it in! You want to eat healthier? Schedule in time to plan, meal prep and shop for healthy foods. You would never miss a doctor’s appointment or your child’s teacher conference, so don’t miss out on yourself. Schedule that self care in and keep to it.

• Set a trigger or reminder. Alright, you’ve organized, you’ve done your time audit, you’ve organized your schedule, you’ve scheduled in time to schedule and you’ve actually scheduled your self care time in, now what? You’ll need to set up triggers or reminders for yourself so you take the time to get it done. Phone alarms work great and are easy to set up. If you use google calendar, you can set up reminders to go off so you don’t forget. You can even use post-it notes as simple reminders.

• Share your self care goals with others. Those who share their goals with others are more likely to achieve those goals than those who don’t. If you want to make a commitment to your self care, enlist an accountability partner or two to help hold you accountable. Let others know what you are planning on doing so they can encourage you and maybe even join you.

You health is so important, and it’s up to you to take action. If you’re ready to take action, but are interested in some guidance in getting it done, then sign up for a VIP call with us today.