How to make Time for Self-Care
How to Create Time for Self-Care
Are you juggling many different things right now? Is your to-do list never-ending, and do you feel like you need more hours in the day? Regardless of being a working professional, parent, or leader, it is hard to prioritize small habits, especially self-care, when your work and home life are all-consuming.
To carve out consistent self-care time, you must accept that it is not about what you WANT to do, but what you ACTUALLY do. You must connect your intention to your daily actions. As Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar says, “Common sense is not always common action”.
So, how do you integrate self-care into your daily schedule? Below are five actionable steps you can take, starting today, that will positively impact your productivity, creativity, relationships, physical, emotional, and mental health.
1. Know your values. According to Brené Brown, "Living into our values means that we do more than profess our values; we practice them." What are your top 5 values? What are the things that mean the most to you? Once you identify your values, post them in your home and workspace to remind you to live by your values.
2. Calendar Alignment. It is essential to align your calendar with your values. If you want to know what matters to you, look at your bank account to see how you spend your money and your calendar to see where you spend your time. For example, you may say friends and family are important to you, but does that translate to your calendar? Is your health important to you? Will you see ways you prioritize your health in your bank account (for example, a gym membership) and on your calendar?
3. Put Everything in Your Calendar. Keep a detailed calendar of everything you do throughout the day on top of your meetings, schedule time for meditation, your lunch, a quick walk, or a date with your spouse. Then, share your intentions with the people important to you so they can also be aligned with you and keep you accountable.
4. Add micro-acts to your day. A micro-act is a short burst of activity to help you align your mind. Some examples are a 20-minute walk, a 20-minute bike ride, or even 25 minutes to read a book.
5. Invest in yourself. If you're having trouble scheduling time for self-care and you want to create a daily yoga or meditation practice, consider investing in yourself and hiring people who can help you identify and create your desired daily habits.
When you take some time, whether 10 minutes or 1 hour away from work, to prioritize yourself, you will come back and work faster and smarter. You will be more productive, positive, creative, and innovative.
Self-care tactics make you happier. When you take the time for yourself, you will see beneficial results. Happier people are more successful in their careers, and the research supports it. You are not sacrificing professional success if you set boundaries with work to care for yourself. You will reach your goals faster, and the journey will be more enjoyable.
Throughout this journey of self-discovery, remember to be kind to yourself. You will mess up, miss a week, or fall off the bandwagon. But remember to have self-compassion and to always talk to yourself with kindness and grace.
Remember, happy leaders make successful leaders! If you would like to learn more techniques to help your team, contact Tia today!
Arrive At Happy's mission is to inspire transformation through the science of happiness. Tia Graham, founder, partners with organizations and individuals to increase their daily happiness and success in all areas of their lives. Relying on science-backed empirical data, she has gained the insight needed to prove and teach that happiness indeed leads to success.
Tia has a Certificate in Happiness Studies and a Certificate in Teaching Happiness from Harvard's Tal Ben-Shahar and The Happiness Studies Academy. She is a Certified Chief Happiness Officer from Woohoo Inc., Europe's premier Happiness at Work organization.