Welcome back to day 2 of my self care strategies series. Now that you know what self-care is and the benefits it can deliver, you’re probably keen to get started. However, as self-care focuses on so many different things, it can be difficult actually knowing where to started when it comes to taking care of yourself. Missed day one? Check out that post here first! Interested in learning more? Stay posted for day 3 or check out my other self-care posts here!
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Below, you’ll discover some of the best ways to start self-care and a few things you’ll want to avoid. Let’s get started with some self care strategies!
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Focus on the most important tasks first
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The first self-care strategy you’ll want to start off with is ensuring you’re focusing on the most important self-care tasks first. That is, the area of your life which needs the most improvement. For me this was definitely the practical and emotional aspects of self care. I wanted to get organized and improve my mental health.
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For example, if it’s your health you’re trying to improve, think about the tasks that will help you tackle the issue. It could be that you’re constantly tired because you don’t get enough sleep. So, focusing on tasks which help to improve your sleep would be the first thing you’ll focus on.
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You’ll often find that when you focus on the most important tasks first, it sets other improvements in motion. When you start getting sleep for example, it will boost your physical and mental health as well as boost your energy levels. Many self-care enthusiasts will tell you to make a million changes to your life all at once to see improvements but that’s just unrealistic. Try with one or two changes first otherwise it can be overwhelming and add more stress into your life, and that is the opposite of what we are trying to do here, with our self care!
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Schedule self-care into your calendar
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If you find it difficult to find time to focus on self-care, start scheduling it in the calendar. Even just setting aside 15 minutes each day for self-care will deliver a lot of benefits. I had to start with just one day a week. I wrote a post on it here! Read about my self-care Sunday to learn how I scheduled my self-care into one day to improve the week ahead!
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When you schedule self-care into your schedule, you’re marking it as a priority. This is a key way to ensure your new self-care routine actually sticks. Treat your scheduled self-care time just as you would any appointment. Don’t cancel it and try and fit it into your regular routine, rather than trying to keep it separate. Looking for a self-care planner? download the one I use by signing up below for free! I’ll send it right to your email.
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Keep it simple
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A great tip when starting out with self-care is to keep it simple. There might be lots of things you want to change but trying to focus on too many at the same time can actually cause you to give up on your routine.
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While that initial motivation to get everything done is awesome, it’s not possible to maintain it. So, if you want to stick to your new routine, make sure you’re focusing on simple habits first. It’s like I said above, start with one or two changes to your life first and then, once you feel comfortable and confident in those change, add on as third and fourth! Eventually these changes will just feel like a normal part of your routine and it will become easier to make future changes to improve your lifestyle and practice self care.
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Consider taking a self-care trip
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As well as adding simple self-care tasks into your daily routine, it can be a great idea to find time to take an actual self-care trip. That is, a little break away to focus solely on self-care.
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This could be a spa day, a day trip somewhere or even a camping trip. Just getting away from it all 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.
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Get to know yourself
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If you want to get the best results from your self-care practice, you’re going to need to really get to know yourself. 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 you should ask yourself. It can be difficult to try and pin point these aspects of your life. Try journaling or creating a vision board to identify what it is your really want out of life. Need a journal and don’t know where to get started? Download the one I use here for free!
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The more you know yourself, the easier you’ll find it to practice self-care that really resonates with who you are and what you want.
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Things to avoid
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There are a few things you’ll want to avoid when getting started with your self-care strategies. These include:
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· Over-compensating
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· Over-indulging
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· Eating for comfort
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· Too many “you” days
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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.
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Looking for more self-care tips and strategies? Check out my other posts in this self care series here!
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As you can see, it’s easy to get started with self-care. The above are just some of the tips you can use to start making self-care a part of your normal routine. Remember to make your self-care personal to you! Do you have some ideas that I might be missing? Let me know!
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