Self-care is a very trendy, sexy word these days. Popular words can have a lot of different meanings. I want to tell you what self-care is for me, and why I KNOW it improves my productivity.
And of course, I want to share some concrete tips for exactly how you can incorporate self-care into your life. Hey, I wouldn’t be Marina Romashko if I wasn’t talking about HOW to implement it in your everyday life!
How I define self-care definition
To me, everyone is made up of three parts (there are other parts, but we will cover them another time):
Body – physical health
Mind – mental activities
Soul – emotional being
For me, self-care is about providing proper attention to all three of these areas on daily basis. This type of care provides the sense of feeling cared for and most importantly it:
- Decreases your stress level
- Creates calm
- Brings clarity and focus
- Makes patience your best friend
- Gives you more energy
- Ensures you make better decisions
- Kicks your creativity UP!
All of those qualities translate into your level of productivity. Your level of focus allows you to get things done efficiently without getting distracted (every time you are distracted, you need 15 minutes to get back to the task!). When you are calm and centered, you are less reactive and make better decisions. Plus it saves a ton of energy. At the end of a very productive day you still have energy to bake a cake or work on your Halloween costume.
Important Aspects of Self Care:
Before I shout out ways to increase mind, body and soul self-care, there are a few important aspects to keep in mind:
- Small consistent steps create big impact.
- You need to plan your routine weekly, you need to know when you will do it.
- Missing or having to cancel a self-care activity occasionally does not mean you’re failing.
- You have to be patient – hey, it takes kids time to get into the habit of brushing teeth, so give it time.
- You change all the time – so your self-care activities may change month to month as well
- SLEEP is the most essential part of self-care, getting 7-8 hours of sleep a day is the gel that holds all of your body, mind and soul together.
Basic self-care activities:
Here are a few different ideas of things you can do daily for the three areas. But remember, each person needs to create a routine that will work for them.
Body
Your body needs to move – especially the older it gets the more it needs to move. Whatever floats your boat or your body capabilities – there are plenty of options:
- swimming
- dancing
- yoga
- long walks
- running with your dog or kid (or both)
- hiking
- biking
- hugging & sex counts
Mind
Your mind needs some exercise as well
- Color a mandala
- Learn totally unnecessary skill – knitting, making chocolate or woodworking
- Read a book unrelated to your work or life – ever heard State Museum of Karakalpakstan?
- Spent half a day without a phone
Soul/Emotions
My favorite activity for my soul is meditation. It is like brushing your teeth, but for your soul.
- Meditate 5 minutes a day
- Journal
- Morning pages – (Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. You can read more here )
- Write 10 things you are grateful for daily
Try picking one of these in each category daily that works for you – and again, they can change week by week. Mix it up – go crazy!
It may take some planning and slowing down, but in the long run it will help you have a more balanced, efficient and happy life.
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