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Self Care

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What do you do for yourself? With everything we have to do, what do you do just for you?   We all need to take care of ourselves, but do we?  And if so, what does that mean?  Sometimes self care is knowing when we are most productive and blocking that time for ourselves.  Sometimes, it is just doing something we enjoy and that something could be nothing at all.

I learned in college how productive I am in the morning…and I mean EARLY morning. Like many, in addition to going to school full time, I also worked two part time jobs and by the time I got home at night, I was just too tired to concentrate on homework.  So I would get up at 4:00am and study. Back in those days, there were no distractions that early in the morning.  No social media, nothing on TV unless you liked infomercials, and certainly nobody awake to talk to – it was perfect for me. I had a solid block of four hours to study before my morning classes.

After college, the early morning time slot became my workout time.  Again, no distractions and no excuses – other than my own warm and cozy bed.  All through my early years as a professional, that was my self care.  Once I got married and had kids, it became even more important to me as it also became “my time”.  Kids were typically sleeping as was the hubby and I had at least one hour of uninterrupted time to take care of me.  This was both physical and emotional self care for me.

Today, this is still “my time”.  Understanding very early on that I needed that time has helped make it a priority.  And while how I spend that time has evolved and included everything from studying, yoga, meditation, running, journaling, and various other “me time” activities, I recognize how vital that is to me.  What I do in that time isn’t as significant as the fact that I do it for me – every day – or most every day.

What do you do for yourself, if not every day, most days?  If you think you don’t have time, start small – even 5-10 minutes is a great start.  It will be time well spent.