Why Is It Important to Take Care of Yourself
You are overwhelmed with work. You have a bunch of projects at home, and your calendar is full of overdue tasks. To make room for all of this, you skip lunch, stop going to the gym, and completely forget about your social life. When we’re stressed, taking care of ourselves is usually the first thing to leave. And this only aggravates the situation.
As fluffy and condescending as the phrase “self-care” sounds, these are just a few basic habits that are critical to your functioning. Most of us grew up believing that the more you sacrifice, the greater the reward. For example, in high school I once signed up for a debating tournament and forced myself to stay up all night preparing. I thought that putting myself to exhaustion should pay off. Of course, the next day I was so exhausted that I could hardly make coherent sentences, and fell.
The point is, the adage “hard work pays off” can easily go too far to the point that it becomes counterproductive. Your abilities are worn out. Your skills are not that sharp. You lose concentration. You may think you are working a lot, and you may be doing that in some way, but you are not working efficiently.
Self-care isn’t just important, it’s important
It’s easy to neglect taking care of ourselves, because when we are busy and overwhelmed, even a little respite seems like a luxury. So actually making time to have lunch, work out, and hang out with your friends? It just feels like relaxation.
However, this kind of thinking backfires. Self-care actually helps you progress faster for several reasons:
- Taking care of yourself prevents overload burnout: we’ve all been there: you push yourself to the point where you can’t take it anymore, so you just give up. Taking care of yourself will help you avoid this.
- Self-care reduces the negative effects of stress : A little stress can serve a purpose, but after a while it will just break your mind and body. Taking care of yourself means that stress does not take over so you can work your hardest.
- Taking care of myself helps refocus : When I got stuck on a difficult math problem at school, my teacher suggested that I leave and come back – essentially, take a break. Taking breaks is the epitome of self-care, and research shows that they help you perform better .
Sometimes I treat taking care of myself as a reward. I’m so hungry I can barely think, but I force myself to finish work before lunchtime. What I really do is make my job harder by allowing myself to work in pairs.
In other words, taking care of yourself is not a reward. This is part of the process. Sometimes we get so used to “rewarding ourselves” with lunch or even a trip to the bathroom that we forget exactly what it means to take care of ourselves.
Take time to eat well and exercise, even if you are busy
When you are overexerted, it is easy to neglect exercise because exercise takes time, energy, and often changing clothes or taking a shower. It’s scary, messy, and uncomfortable.
However, this is important, which is why you want to make time for it in your daily life . Consider teaming up with a training buddy or group to take charge. If you’re busy, try an app like Sworkit . He suggests specific exercises and routines depending on how much time you have, even if it’s only five minutes. Or find a gym close to work, or better yet, on your way to work. This way you get a workout and cut congestion. Of course, no matter how busy or unmotivated you are, sometimes you just have to get up and do it .
Everyone wants to eat well and find the right food for them, but it’s difficult to prepare or plan meals when you’re busy. With three deadlines on my tail, I’m far more likely to get my hands on the leftover pizza than I’m making myself a salad.
However, in a world full of processed foods , it is also difficult to eat healthy foods . Start small, as our very own Bet Svareki suggests. Do you want to eat less sugar? Controlling your carbohydrate intake? Focus on one area at a time, rather than trying to revise your entire diet at once.
Also, sometimes eating trash is like taking care of yourself. I often “treat” myself to a handful of Oreos. There is nothing wrong with indulging yourself from time to time, but on the contrary, I consider healthy food to be my enemy, so I do not eat as much of it as I should. This actually involves completely changing your mind about good nutrition , but you can start by experimenting with healthy foods that you might really like, rather than trying to force yourself to eat what you hate just because it’s great.
Practice good emotional hygiene
The physical aspect is obviously important, but when many people talk about self-care, they are talking about emotional health: dealing with stress, anxiety, sadness, depression . This is probably because we tend to ignore it more. As psychologist Guy Winch asks, “We brush and floss, but what do we do every day to maintain our mental health?”
Whenever you are feeling any strong emotions – such as stress or anger – it is helpful to take a short break to process them. What exactly do you feel and why? You may find it helpful to make a list of words for feelings in order to better define your emotions.
For a long time, when I felt anxiety or stress, I worked on it, all the while frustrated. For example, if my boss asked me to fix something that I worked hard on, I got upset and nervous, rushed with it, all the time berating myself for failure. I was in pain and I was furious – not the best working conditions.
Instead, I now try to take a minute to acknowledge my feelings, even if it’s just admitting to myself that I feel rejected. I just stop what I’m doing, walk away for a second and document my feelings. This recognition serves a practical purpose. First, it makes me slow down and think more rationally. It’s like taking a break. It also keeps my emotions from getting the better of it. My boss tells me to fix something and I feel rejected, but now I know it. So when I start telling myself that I’m a failure, it’s much easier for me to remind myself, “You’re not a failure, you just feel rejected by this project right now.”
Keeping a journal is also a good idea . This is catharsis. A study in the journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , researchers have found that keeping a diary in for 15-20 minutes helped study participants cope with traumatic, stressful or emotional events.
I know this sounds very offensive, but it’s kind of an emotional hygiene issue. It takes time to sort out your feelings so that you can control them and get back to work. To control them is to recognize and understand them.
If your emotional pain is especially difficult to deal with , you might consider looking for a good therapist or psychologist . If you really can’t afford it , try 211 , the FCC line that connects you to your local community services.
Protect your schedule
Several years ago, I was constantly working 50-60 hours a week and, as you would expect, I was stressed, irritable and distracted. This is common, according to research by Stanford University’s John Pencawel (PDF) . He found that after about 50 hours of work, labor productivity and output plummeted.
Protecting your schedule often means giving up on things that can be difficult. Professor Wharton Adam Grant suggests:
Postponement : “I’m in a quandary right now, but feel free to follow the news.”
Direction: “I have no right to do what you ask, but here’s something else.”
Introduction: “This is not in my wheelhouse, but I know someone who can be of use to you.”
Of course, sometimes you just have a boss or manager asking too much. In this case, you may need to take time out to discuss your workload and your responsibilities. Easier said than done, and unfortunately, not all bosses will understand the need to take care of themselves. However, this is a better option than just continuing to say yes.
Although, maybe it’s you who squeeze too much into your daily routine. One way to combat this is to add empty events to your schedule . That way, if a task takes longer than expected, or something else occurs, you allow for extra time for it.
Finally, set aside some time in your schedule for yourself. Set aside some free time in your schedule to devote to activities that you enjoy: reading, getting to know the main points of the game, watching the clouds. Block this time on your calendar as well. Then do your best to protect that time .
Spend your time (and money) on important things.
Sometimes it’s nice to be busy. When I worked 50-60 hours a week, I only felt successful because I worked all the time. However, I did not necessarily achieve anything. It was an illusion of progress. In fact, I put off a lot of the goals I wanted to achieve in exchange for the satisfaction I got by crossing things off my to-do list. Sometimes real progress means unproductiveness . Sometimes it can be difficult to put off completing tasks and commitments, but sometimes this is exactly what you need to do in a spirit of self-care.
As business coach Mark McGuinness suggests, focus each day on “one big thing” that will make you feel successful . This way, you understand what really matters to you, and it will be easier for you to prioritize your time.
And your money is a lot like your time. We all waste them from time to time, and that’s to be expected, but ultimately you want to spend them on what matters to you . When we are stressed, we waste mindlessly. This usually only makes things worse, because for many of us, money is a huge source of stress.
Learning to manage this is another way to learn to take care of yourself, and you can start by creating a budget with a specific goal in mind . Even if the goal is to get out of debt, it helps you understand why getting out of debt is important to your bottom line . Maybe you want to travel. Maybe you want to feel safe. Either way, set a goal about yourself, and you will not only feel better, but you will also be more inclined to stick to it and therefore less stressed.
Taking care of your basic physical and emotional needs should really be the basis for work, but ironically, taking care of yourself is usually the first thing to do. If it gets to the point that you may even have forgotten what it means to take care of yourself, these moments should help you recover.