Self-care is vital.
But it’s hard to tell yourself that it’s vital. You’ll always have another assignment to finish, another job to apply for, another errand run to make – you probably live by the adage “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
If you don’t practice self-care, you’ll burn out. End of story. Human beings aren’t robots. Burnout leads to mental and physical side effects like high blood pressure, anxiety, depression and insomnia. Take care of yourself. Here are some easy ways to do so.
Here are some easy ways to do so.
For the body:
- Meditate for fifteen minutes a day in order to clear your head.
- Find an exercise that you enjoy, such as yoga, and treat yourself to it.
- Get a full night’s sleep every night. It will increase your productivity the next day.
- Don’t be afraid to eat dessert. Sure, you’ve heard sugar is bad for you, but sugar is also delicious, and you deserve to live a little.
- Drink in moderation. Don’t be afraid to hit happy hour with friends and decompress.
For the mind:
- Check out all of the new comedies on Netflix and devour at least one episode a day.
- Take a nap several times a week (or a day).
- Learn stress-handling techniques.
- When was the last time you read a good book? Head to a bookstore or read one on your phone.
- Learn something that you’ve always wanted to learn. It’s finally time for you to learn sign language and improve your contour game.
For your spirit:
- Create art. You don’t have to splurge on a class – teach yourself from free resources on the internet.
- Log off of social media when you’ve had enough. Don’t feel pressured to keep up with everything.
- You don’t have to read the news. For your own sanity, skip it some days.
- Find a safe space. This doesn’t have to be a community center; it can be your comfy bed or a friend’s apartment. Anywhere you feel at peace.
- Make time for religion. If religion is important to you, don’t shove it to the end of your to-do list because life is too hectic. Attending a religious service will help you find community and also decrease your stress levels.
Need more inspiration? Here are 134 more ideas.