You know that vibrant health, a winning attitude, and the weight you dream of would be easier to achieve if you took better care of yourself. You've lived the reality of getting too busy and watching your good intentions, your workout plans, and your resolve to lower your stress slip off your radar.
Self-care and me-time just sound like things that should be easy don't they?
But anyone who has lived the life of a high-achieving busy woman managing a career, relationships, a business, or all of the above knows the truth. Quality self-care (which is not a pint of premium ice cream eaten in front of the TV) doesn't just happen. Creating time and space for yourself-that me-time and focus that you crave-is both a skill and an art.
Here are some dos and don'ts for creating me-time routines and self-care habits that last:
Seize the moment, the day, the opportunity. Don't believe that the first step to taking better care of yourself is getting everything else organized before you focus on you.
This may sound obvious, but I can't tell you how many smart, motivated women have sabotaged their efforts to be happier and healthier with the belief that first they must: clean out their closet, clear off their desk, design a better workout area, or organize their family photos. Really. We don't earn the right to take good care of ourselves and the perfect opportunity or alignment of the solar system is not likely to occur. Seize the moment. It's now. And you don't have to start with something you know you can't achieve. Start your self-care campaign by doing something do-able and lovely for yourself in the next fifteen minutes. Cancel something awful, make a cup of tea, stand up and stretch out your back. See, it doesn't always have to be hard.
Own the clock. Stop telling yourself you "don't have time" and start owning the time that you have.
Time is the great equalizer-we all have the same number of hours in the day and we choose where we invest our minutes and hours. When you don't spend your time on you, you are choosing to spend it elsewhere. Clean up your language and stop blaming others for using your time. You'll find this makes it easier to start being deliberate about how you spend it. "I'm choosing not to take a walk but instead to spend my time on _____." "I've decided to spend this half hour clearing my head and thinking about how I can be more effective tomorrow." "I've decided to spend two hours zoning out in front of the TV."
Where are you investing your time? Is it working?
Are you investing your time so it pays off and creates more energy, momentum, or zest, or are you trying to squeeze every second of productivity out of it, creating a situation where you are always battling the clock? If you are always just barely keeping your head above water, you aren't ever going to create the reservoir of energy and the momentum you need to really shine and excel.
Move your time to the top of the to-do list.
Don't save self-care and me-time until the end of the day when you're too worn out to really put it to any use. Self-care is an investment that pays back dividends. Starting the day by giving to yourself will create a positive domino effect that will make lots of other things work better. Women who take excellent care of themselves notice the reverberations in their relationships with others. It shows up in our mood and even our posture. When we feel good and well taken care of we are more willing to step forward and take on challenges. Our creativity flows, our focus is better and we tend to be more connected to who we are. Quality self-care primes us to be more of our best.
Make it as easy as possible.
In a busy life, everything we say yes to probably is the result of something else that we didn't do. For many of us, it's a challenge to keep a positive cycle going. When you find ways of caring for yourself that you love and that bring positive benefits, don't set yourself up to stop doing them. Use your inner organizer to create a system or routine so that you aren't constantly having to decide to take good care of yourself. Examples of this are signing up for a yoga class so you know when and how you'll fit it in every week, creating a standing date to catch up with your dear friend so you aren't always booking a month out, or deciding that Saturday morning is when you plan your menus for the week. When you book a massage, book your next one before you leave. Start discovering the strategies and tools that work for you and help you keep the self-care and me-time flowing.