Self-care is not just a passing fancy. If you are to make a difference in your life, your happiness, and your health, time for yourself can make a massive difference. But when we get stuck in bad habits, scheduling time for downtime could mean that we are actually doing ourselves more harm because we may worry about what we’re going to do afterward, or start setting time limits on activities, which will turn our relaxing routine into anything but! This is why if you choose a new self-care routine, you’ve got to learn to make it stick. Let’s show you how to do it.
Focus on the Basics
Self-care is about making sure that you are running at your optimum. This means that you need to get the basics right, such as focusing on your sleep and your diet. If you focus on these two, you will be surprised how many issues could be fixed. Set aside a proper eating schedule, but also make sure that when you are tired, listen to your body.
Do the Things That You Want to Do
You might believe that self-care involves yoga, meditation, and so-called “hippie practices,” but if you don’t like those things, do you need to do them? Something like playing video games can be a meditation in itself. The important thing is that when you are looking to take care of yourself, finding things that will make you feel better after doing them is better for you. You don’t need to eat a plate of salad and do the downward dog!
Hold Yourself Accountable
If we are to make a new self-care routine stick, it is our responsibility, and nobody else’s. In order to make a difference in other people’s lives, you have to prioritize yourself. It’s the age-old expression, when the air mask comes down in an airplane, you need to put yours on first. By holding yourself accountable, you start to make sure that you are as important as everyone else so you can show up in life.
If you are prone to blaming lack of time for getting in your way or genuinely don’t have the opportunities, you could find an accountability partner. Having someone to check in with you, and you with them, to make sure that you have both completed your self-care routine can be the motivation you need.
Maximizing Your Free Time, However Little it Is
Self-care doesn’t need to take long. One of the biggest mistakes we make is thinking that we have to set aside hours of time to look after ourselves. The fact is that as soon as you find the right things to make you feel balanced, and these become a habit, this could be everything you need. Do you like ten minutes of peace and quiet in the morning before everybody else wakes up? If this is what it takes to make you feel recharged before you start the day, so be it!
Mark Your Calendar
A self-care routine is about making sure it becomes a routine. Habits can take, on average, 66 days to become automatic. If you are to prioritize self-care, it has to be a routine. This means actually making the effort to make it a routine in your life.
