20 Simple Self Care Strategies
Self-Care. What is it? Self-Care these days has become a household word, especially over the last few turbulent years. Most of us understand the meaning of self-care whether you have heard about it, experienced it, or read about it. It is not a new thing, but it deserves as much promotion as possible as we all strive to be our best, feel our best and present our best self in our everyday interactions.
Aspects of Self-Care
Knowing the importance of nurturing the whole self and being able to bring your whole self to work, we are passionate about sharing the importance of practicing self-care with our team, our candidates and clients and our extended networks, across the product, pricing, digital, marketing and data analytics communities.
So much can throw us off balance - a sleeplessness night, reading unsettling news (or watching current affairs and news!), managing competing deadlines, the breakdown of a work or personal relationship, unfavourable changes in your career or poor health management. The slightest thing can change so much.
But, if you have a self-care regime that you know works for you, you are one step ahead.
The following are different aspects of self-care:
Workplace or professional
Physical
Psychological
Relationships
Emotional
Spiritual
Workplace or Professional Self-Care
Self-care at work can include taking time for yourself during your lunch break or at the end of the day to relax and rejuvenate yourself before heading home.
Physical Self-Care
Physical self-care is all about taking care of your body so that it doesn't break down on you when you need it most.
Psychological Self-Care
Psychological self-care involves taking care of your mental health by practicing relaxation techniques such as meditation or deep breathing exercises whenever possible (even if only for just five minutes each day).
Relationship self-care
To have good relationships with others you need to take care of yourself emotionally by making time for self-reflection and expressing your feelings when necessary.
Emotional self care
One of the most important aspects of self-care is emotional. When you're feeling down, under pressure or stressed, it can be hard to focus on anything else.
Spritual self care
Spiritual growth requires taking care of yourself spiritually. This may mean finding ways to connect with something bigger than yourself through meditation, prayer or reading inspirational books etc.
Importance of developing self-care plans
When you're developing a self-care plan, you're making sure that you're taking care of yourself in ways that are sustainable and healthy for the long term. This means that it doesn't just include things like eating right and getting enough sleep. It also includes things like doing things that make you feel good, whether they be meditation or going to the movies with your friends or reading a book or painting your nails or whatever else makes your heart sing.
20 Simple Self-Care Strategies to help you Handle Stress, Anxiety & Depression
Positive mental health and well-being allows us to live our lives in the most positive and meaningful way and cope with life’s changes and challenges as they arise. This helps us to manage our physical and mental health and stay ahead of the curve ball during stressful times.
Below is a list of 20 Simple Self-Care Strategies that we would love to share with you and your teams – what may work for you may not work for someone else - it is a personal thing:
1. Enjoy regular exercise – book it like you do a meeting! It is a meeting for your body and mind!
2. Get outside in the morning - exposure to sunlight is thought to increase the brain's release of a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin is associated with boosting mood and helping a person feel calm and focused. At night, darker lighting triggers the brain to make another hormone called melatonin. This hormone is responsible for helping you sleep.
3. Keep a balanced diet
4. Limit caffeinated drinks by lunchtime
5. Speak to yourself as you would your best friend – be kind
6. Maintain your friendships – connect on a regular basis and do things you enjoy together
7. Ask for help and accept it when it is offered
8. Plan something to look forward to – a day out, a night away with friends - even a short holiday.
9. Spend quality time for yourself, even 15 minutes per day:
go for a walk
meditate – still the racing mind
read a book
call a friend – have a laugh and shift your mood
10. Hydrate! This also greatly affects your sleep
11. Have a day nap – 30 minutes will recharge the batteries
12. Listen to signs your body sends you – switch off
13. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day - work with your circadian rhythms
14. Put your phone on airplane mode at night – use it only as an alarm clock – keeping it on is like sleeping next to a computer – it will affect your sleep in a huge way!
15. Create a sense of calm right before bed – meditate! Even a 10-minute breathing exercise can slow the mind down immensely and in turn calm the mind and body
16. Create a nightly routine – limit screen time by a certain time, shower/bath to relax, a cup of peppermint or chamomile tea or warm milk before bed signals your mind it is time to slow down and ensure your room is cool and dark for the best chance to fall asleep easily
17. SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP – this is SO critical – and makes all the difference
18. Practice acceptance – be ok that some days are great, and some days are average. Very few people feel their best self every day.
19. Be compassionate – to yourself!
20. Take care of yourself and do one thing a day that makes you happy in order to avoid burnout
Some Self-Care app recommendations include:
Headspace
Insight Timer
Calm
Shleep
MoodPath
Simple Habit
Happier
Parity Consulting work with clients who embrace diverse and inclusive environments and empower their teams to bring their authentic whole self to work. We encourage people with different beliefs, abilities, backgrounds and life experiences to contact us.
Feel free to reach out to our team should you be on the lookout for your next role, or if you are looking to grow your team across Product Management, Pricing & Actuarial, Digital, Marketing or Data Analytics & Data Engineering on info@parityconsulting.com.au or 61 2 8068 2016