Free Self-Service You Should Be Doing Right Now
Let’s talk about how to take care of yourself. Not “self-care,” which companies use as an excuse to get you to buy their shit, but how to meet the basic needs of your body and mind.
Feed yourself good food to avoid cravings for unhealthy foods.
We all have food that we probably know we should eat less. I won’t judge, but if something specific came into your head when you read this, you already know what it is. Maybe a cookie. Maybe ice cream. Maybe take away food from a place that is definitely not healthy, but they are always there when you are hungry.
Before you start berating yourself about this, take a minute to plan realistically how you want your diet to look. I don’t care if it’s high-calorie or low-calorie, carnivorous or vegan; but buy yourself some good food and feed yourself early and often. Vegetables. Protein.
If you have healthy food in front of you, eat plenty of it . Then you will not be so tempted by this seductive thing when it happens. And if you do decide to indulge yourself, there is nothing to worry about, because otherwise you have such a healthy diet.
Set a realistic exercise schedule
Exercise is ridiculously good for us. It lowers the risk of heart disease and diabetes, sets us up for a happy old age, and sometimes helps relieve depression or anxiety. In the end, your life is better with exercise than without it.
So mark something on your calendar. If you leave exercise as the last priority for the day or week, it will be off your schedule. Figure out the minimum you can manage and then mark that time on your calendar.
Don’t have a gym? Try bodyweight workouts that you can do at home, or check out our guide to workouts in gyms like the ones you can find in a hotel or apartment building.
Take one thing away
It sucks to sit in our own mess, but we all don’t have the energy to cleanse like Marie Kondo .
So: take one away. It should probably be a horizontal surface that you use (or would like) a lot, such as your kitchen table, or your desk, or whatever pile you probably used as a chest of drawers. Take 20 minutes and you will be surprised how clean it is. (Take before and after pictures!) Then declare it clean, and from now on when you look at it, it won’t be “a mess on the table”, it will be “my clean table, but with three things.” on it I have to postpone.
Plan big things
What appointments will you need to go to this year? What other important events are on your mental calendar? Pick a calendar (the default app on your phone will do) and enter the important stuff, which basically includes anything you’re likely to forget. A deadline you don’t have to worry about for another eight months? Set a reminder for seven months from now.
Get some sleep
You decide what time to go to bed and what time to wake up, but make sure the two numbers match.
When you go to bed late, whether it’s work or a party, there is a line where you go from “going to sleep a little less tonight” to “tomorrow really sucks.” With practice you will find this line; you probably already know where it is. Stop telling everyone that you are one of those rare people who can exist in four hours of sleep; you know it isn’t. Go to bed.
Tag someone or let someone test you
“Sometimes taking care of ourselves is often a temporary obstacle to the care that someone else has to give us,” notes Sheila Love in Vice . For example, we look at bubble bath and meditation apps to find peace of mind, but what if we lived in a society where we could count on good mental health insurance?
Find out how your community, family, or friends can help you, and how you can help others. Should you go to the grocery bank? Can you give it to the food bank?
If you need something that you cannot provide for yourself, figure out how to get it. The first step might be to ask a friend or family member to help you decide what to do next. If you are having a tough time and you know people will ask how they can help, make a list of things you can use the help to do.
On the other hand, if you have the time, energy, and money, consider taking better care of everyone else. This could be checking your friends or politically motivated phone calls. After all, building a better world is a kind of supreme self-care.