6 Ways to Practice Self Care

6 Ways to Practice Self Care When Life Gets Busy

I’ve spoken to so many clients and friends over the last few weeks who have said they are missing lockdown life. For many of us lockdown meant more time spent in nature, more time with family and less time rushing around from one place to another. It obviously had it’s challenges and of course there are many who had it a lot worse than others. But for the majority and from what keeps coming up in conversations, we’re missing that slower paced, simpler life. I think we’re now more conscious than ever about self care and don’t want to go back to having filled to the brim calendars but it’s already starting to happen! So what can we do to make sure we continue to look after ourselves even when life gets busy again. Here are my 6 top tips for fitting in self care when time is limited.

You don’t have to say yes to everything!

Women in particular tend to struggle to say no to invitations, favours, extra workload and generally requests for their time. This is basically saying to yourself that you are bottom of the pile and means that you never have any time just for yourself and you can end up even feeling a little resentful. To stop this happening, practice saying no to things that aren’t completely necessary or that you don’t really want to do (you don’t have to go to every works drinks or baby shower). Also, you’re allowed to change your mind, this doesn’t make you flakey, it’s about having boundaries and protecting your energy. If you’ve had a stressful week and you really just want to have a long soak in the bath and an early night but you are supposed to be going to a birthday party, it’s totally fine to not go. If they are good friends they will understand. Another way to make sure you’re getting some valuable me-time is to literally make time for it like you would for any meeting, appointment or anything else important. Block that time out in your diary and protect it, don’t override it to accommodate someone else, you need to prioritise yourself as number one.

Get up 15 minutes earlier

This is my number one tip that always serves me well no matter what is going on. I always make sure to have at least 15 minutes to myself first thing in the morning, without any distractions of my phone, work or any external influences. I use this time to either meditate, journal, do a bit of yoga or a few strength exercises, read or sometime a mixture. At the moment, my routine is, 5-10 minutes meditation, 10 minutes of yoga and then if I have any time after that before my first PT client of the day, I’ll journal whatever is on my mind, it’s the BEST way to start my day.

Get more colour on your plate!

I’m always encouraging my clients to ‘count colours, not calories’! Basically what i’m saying is, rather than restricting lots of things out of your diet, focus on eating more vegetables and not just the same ones every time, but the more variety the better. More colour = more variety = more diverse nutrients = happy body and mind :-)

Spend some time outdoors

I know you might not have loads of time to spend for outdoor leisure activities, but it’s amazing how powerful even a 15 minute walk around the block can be for our physical and mental health. If you can spend longer than this, great! But try to commit to at least 15 minutes of time out in the fresh air, preferably in the morning as this actually improves our sleep (but that’s for another blog post!)

Limit technology in the evenings

I like to chill out and switch off from the day with a good Netflix series as much as anyone else, and it sometimes takes quite a bit of discipline to reach over and hit cancel before it rolls on to the next episode (Netfix know exactly what they’re doing!), but I’ve been getting better at this because I know just how much technology in the evenings negatively impacts our sleep, even if we think we’ve slept well. Unless you’re waking up bright eyed and full of energy ready for the day, chances are your sleep quality could be improved. One of the best ways to do this is to come off all screens (TV, laptop, phone, ipad etc) at least an hour before bed. This might be quite hard at first as all new habits are, but if you can stick to it you’ll be amazed at how much longer your evening feels with more time for hobbies, getting organised for the next day, connecting with partner, reading, whatever you choose to do - you’re re-claiming an hour back and you’ll be getting a more restful sleep, giving your body a better chance to fully restore.

Connect with someone you care about every day

We are social creatures and connection with each other is vital for our wellbeing, something that many of us have been reminded about recently. But one of the wonderful things about technology today is that we don’t necessarily need to be in person with someone to benefit from connection. We can give them a call, send a text, FaceTime, there are so many ways to reach out and often it only takes a minute or two out of our day to check-in with someone we love.

I really hope these tips help you to find more balance and prioritise your self care even on those super busy days. I’d love to hear what you think and how you’re doing. Just drop me a message at lou@newwaveswellness.com

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Take care

Lou