Self Care doesn't have to mean Stopping

I am absolutely here for the abolishment of hustle culture, and those who talk to me regularly know that I take plenty of down time. But I read something recently that stuck with me, and made me realise that sometimes - being productive is it’s own form of self care.

Yes, if you’re really lacking the energy to do anything, then listen to your body and do… nothing.

But if you’re feeling impacted by the urge to get sh*t done - then get it done my friend!

I have many, many evenings where I sit in bed working away until 10/11pm at night, and to some people - they may think that I’m neglecting my self care because I’m working when I ‘should’ be relaxing. But those who know me well will know, if I try and silence that voice screaming valuable ideas at me - then I won’t sleep. And then I’ll feel groggy tomorrow, and then I’ll get even less done, and I won’t remember the ideas and that will frustrate me… and you can see the spiral forming - can’t you?

Whilst doing simply nothing can be a wonderful feeling, and you can start again feel refreshed and renewed - there’s also nothing quite like sitting down at the end of a productive day and seeing that to-do list fully ticked off.

I often struggle mentally when Sophie spends the weekend at her Dad’s. It’s a long time to go without her, everyone tells me I shouldn’t be working and it can be lonely. However I recently started listening to my body, and had the most productive weekend in a long time - which lead to a flowy and easy week - which meant I was ready for an action packed adventure with her the following weekend. See my point?

Rather than doing what I thought self care ‘should’ look like - I decided what it looked like for me. I washed my car, hit the gym, did loads of gardening, did all of the housework. And each night I went to bed feeling awesome.

As I said at the beginning, I really am all-for taking time out when you need to, but also don’t feel as though you’ll be shamed for busting your ass whenever the feeling strikes.

Self care is just that, selfish, so you do you and look after yourself however you feel like you need it!