How can you maintain your self-care routine during busy times?

Before you can identify activities or even set realistic goals, you should reflect on how important you are to yourself. It sounds somewhat odd at first; however, I’ve found in my work as a therapist many people struggle with feeling “enough” to take time, space and energy from “others.” Once we operate from abundance instead of scarcity—there is space for both self care and care for others. It doesn’t have to be me vs them or one or the other.

From my experience as a full-time father, provider, and employee (on 2 concurrent jobs sometimes), maintaining self-care's essential in the form of adequate sleep whenever I can (even if it meant taking naps in my car or couch), eating healthy (fruits/veggies, homecooked meals, staying hydrated), monitoring my blood pressure (taking prescriptions and readings, scheduling medical check-ups), and exercise (taking walks during breaks or playing basketball on weekends or planning outdoor activities on my days-off). Maintaining self-care sometimes is easier said than done, especially when working on time-sensitive projects, but work-life balance is so necessary - you can only stay busy if you take care of you and don't take yourself for granted.

Put appointments in your calendar for your self care. Keep them. Ask for help on keeping up with your own care. Check that your self talk is encouraging and kind. Notice and reflect on accomplishments. Keep a gratitude practice. It may just be naming 3 things you are grateful for at the end (or beginning - or both:) of each day.

Identifying my priorities is a simple process: It's tempting to agree to numerous commitments, quickly crowding your calendar and leaving you with little breathing room. However, this isn't ideal. It's important to allocate time for specific needs. Allow yourself sufficient time for rest and sleep. Take a leisurely stroll during your lunch break. Ensure there's room to tidy up your apartment on weekends. By doing so, you'll appreciate the foresight of preserving pockets of time for yourself in the future.

There is always room for Jello. Some of the best advice I was given when I was in an active warzone and there was no such thing as personal time or space.

One of the most valuable pieces of advice ever given to me while in an upper management position was to block out an hour at the end of my day and *lock my office door*. It allowed me to clear my inbox and set up for the next day so each morning was structured and smooth. Even though it was work-time, it was some of the best self-care I ever did.

Pushing my lunch break to the end of the day so I can hit the gym and ACTUALLY get away from the work place is an example of "make time."

I love the concept of blocking out your work calendar to go for an afternoon walk. It prevents people from scheduling over it and it is a great reminder. Just remember to not accept meetings or respond to emails/messages at that time or nobody will take it seriously.

When it comes to practicing self-care, the term is often used loosely. But what does it truly entail? For me, it means prioritising myself and my needs. It's about ensuring that I'm taking care of myself and nourishing my well-being. In practical terms, this might involve making sure I get enough rest, indulging in activities I love, such as reading a good book, and preparing a satisfying meal for myself.

I find habit Stacking really helpful here. Try and schedule something in around something you already do or at the same time each day or week. So we create a new habit sandwiched between 2 existing habits.

Choose one or two self-care activities, especially if you are already short on time. The last thing you want is to feel rushed as you are working on relaxing and centering yourself. The quality of the time you spend on yourself is the gift. If you have more time for more things enjoy!

Not all breaks are created equal? Mindless scrolling, or not knowing what you will do for your break can sometimes mean we waste that break. Rather, it might be useful to pick from a list of "quick and useful ideas" that you always refer to during your break!

One of my preferred self-care practices is the art of saying "no." At first, it might come across as selfish, but I assure you it can be incredibly beneficial. Declining certain commitments is, in essence, a way of prioritizing oneself. For instance, when a friend invites you to go out after a tiring week, and you'd rather unwind at home, it's perfectly fine to say "no." It's about not overextending to please others and instead, affirming your own needs and boundaries.

Moderation, moderation. A glass of wine and a Netflix show is a healthy, but empty the bottle and binge the whole season and you'll end up worse tomorrow morning than you were at the end of the workday today. Set bookends so you can be free to enjoy yourself within the bounds of moderation.

Start by writing out everything you want to do for self care. Then look at which ones are most important to you and then look at your week and when is best to schedule it. Focus on 1 new thing at a time so it is easy to keep consistent before moving onto the next. Notice the difference it makes to your energy and mood when you do at different times of the day.

It's easy to let the religion of busyness rule you, but I find it important to set boundaries with my work: not everything NEEDS to be finished today. Sometimes I'm more productive tomorrow if I close the laptop at 5 p.m. and spend the evening relaxing instead of cramming in work that can simply be done tomorrow.

Being flexible and adaptable is essential, and it's important to recognize that you don't have to be a superhero who can handle everything single-handedly. It's perfectly okay not to attempt it all on your own. You have the option to seek assistance; all you need to do is request it. For some individuals, this can be a challenging concept to accept due to their pride. If you're one of them, consider how you feel when someone asks you for help. Do you become upset, or are you pleased that you can lend a hand? Being open to receiving help is a sign of flexibility and adaptability, allowing you to navigate life's challenges more effectively.

Aim for Flexible Consistency - That's my mantra to stick to my routines through busy and easy days. It's unrealistic to expect that we can follow through rigid routines in our day and age where our schedules are never set in stone and are ever-expanding. If we hold on to our routines too tightly, we go down a guilt and shame spiral that's counterproductive to having such routines in the first place. So aim for flexible consistency. Define a realistic routine that's aligned to your top priorities. Commit to doing it whenever possible. Contextualise it to acommodate routine shifts like travel days or days where personal commitments take precedence. Keep progressing incrementally from the day before.

Taking a small break for yourself makes you more productive, and eventually results in saving more time for yourself. Those little breaks can be proven really worthy as you see the constructive results, and your work is sorted. Using your time for self care is prominent for your overall well being, weather it is career or your mental and physical health.

Planning can enable flexibility as you can just reschedule to a different time. Key is not to let self care slip as often first thing that goes when busy. Eg instead of a 1 hour class can you do 20 min hiit? Or instead of mindfulness through a guided program for 20 minutes can we do a mindful minute or 3 min journaling task. Take the guilt away its OK if something else needs priority

Setting a challenge with a friend, finding a group of like minded people or gaining support from a coach or helping practitioner is a great way of staying accountable.

Whenever I start a new routine, it's always fun to do it with others. When you are motivated, you can help your friends out. When you aren't motivated, they can help you out. Doing things together brings a level of accountability and excitement to something deemed as a routine.

Awareness is the key here. Become conscious about how everything you do affects you. Some acts would drain you and others fill your cup. It's only after being aware, that we can move to understanding where, how and what we can do to cater to what we may need in the moment. Sometimes, self-care isn't all about taking a walk in the park, a massage, a quiet time meditating, it can simply be an act of acknowledging what's happening within, creating a safe space for self-expression, being a container for our own emotions, choosing actions that support us through the distress.

Many put work ahead of their self-care but fail to realize that it is more costly for you to have long-term health issues or have to go to an ER visit vs putting in small consistent efforts.

It is important to put some effort to make a self care routine since your well being is utmost importance, usually it is realized only when some damage is made to your health. Once a senior told his team members during the break that usually we give all our time to our career and the company to be more competitive, however we just miss the truth that we work so we can have a better life, and while in the job we just miss living the life we have got.

Preventative care is more effective than curative. It's better not to wait for things to go from bad to worse before we get started on our self-care routines. The earlier we begin our journey towards awareness, self-knowledge, and prioritising our wellness, the greater the rewards we can reap from our efforts. Practice in easier times so there's something to fallback on when things get tougher.