3 Self Care Tips to Help You Feel Top Notch Even When You Don’t Have Time

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  3 Self Care Tips to Help You Feel Top Notch Even When You Don’t Have Time!

 

 

Busy, busy, busy. Being busy all the time can really wreck your life. It can leave you feeling frazzled, stressed, lost, and worst of all sick. It’s time to END the madness, and with the help of a few self care tips you can feel your best, enjoy your life and make sure you kick illness in the butt.

Here in Minnesota, people like to hibernate during the winter. It’s totally understandable when you live in the land of negative fifty degree winters (trust me that’s NOT the norm, but it happens). What also happens is that you get more and more enclosed spaces so you feel like you can’t escape.  Stress is higher thanks to the holiday. The cold wintry months zap you of energy because you are constantly going between hot and cold environments. There’s always noise, lights, traffic, and stress to deal with that really can make you feel less than fantastic.

Read here Why Me Time is Important!

Read here to Learn How to Make Yourself a Priority (Even When You Don’t Have Time)

About five years ago, I had had enough. I was getting sick from all the stress, and I was completely miserable because I was so hurried all the time. We were over scheduled, stressed, broke (from all the activities), and really unhappy. Why was I such a mess? Let me share a bit.

When we first moved to Indiana, four years ago, in order to meet new people I thought I would sign up as a Girl Scout volunteer. It was so exciting to put my passion for scouting to work, and heck, I might have made a friend or two in the mean time. What I didn’t expect was just how much it would affect me.

Because of my enthusiasm, my self care went out the window and pretty much all I thought about was scouting. I had signed up as the Service Unit Manager of the Girl Scout Conference. That’s the crazy lady that’s in charge of all the troops over three or four cities. It was a full time job, with no pay, and more than a few stressful perks! (Hello, early grey hairs)

At the end of my two years as a Girl Scout service manager, I was stressed out, pretty miserable, definitely under appreciated, and a shell of myself. It took two years, for me to completely lose myself and throw all of my personal needs to the wind.

Though that was a tough time in my life, I learned a lot because not only had I put my personal needs last, I had also let others take advantage of me because I wanted to do a such a good job. (That’s a whole OTHER blog post). What I learned is that it is NOT selfish to make sure you take self care tips and putting your needs first seriously.

It’s totally cliche, but that whole thing about putting your oxygen mask on first during a flight, is a perfect analogy of why self care is important. If you are running yourself ragged, not taking care of yourself, and stressing out you aren’t going to feel great. You’re going to end up unhappy, sick, and frazzled.

Lucky for you’ve I’ve gone through all of this lovely “fun” stuff, and have come out the other side with some self care tips to help you avoid becoming the zombie monster that I was. (Psshht maybe you already are the zombie monster, but never fear I can help you come back to life) If you’re ready to find some quick and easy self care tips to make you feel your best proceed onward princess warrior.

3 Self Care Tips to Help You Feel Top Notch Even Though You Don’t Have Time

1. Pacing: This is a little goodie that I learned thanks to my fibromyalgia (you can read about that too). Pacing yourself isn’t just for people with chronic illness. Pacing means realizing that you are not Hermione with the Time Turner. You literally cannot be two places at once. Make sure you prioritize your time, and be flexible when you can’t make it all happen. This is what my priority list looks like everyday.
   • Must Do List: First thing I do is make a must do list, and that ONLY includes things that HAVE to get done no matter what. That doesn’t mean “have to get done or I will feel guilty if they don’t.” It LITERALLY means have to. Here are some examples.
     • I have to make my doctor’s appointment that is scheduled today.
     • I have to meet my work deadline that it is today.
     • I have to pick up my kids from school.
     • I have to feed my children (or teach them to feed themselves)
     • I have to do laundry because I will literally be going commando to the company meeting tomorrow if I don’t.
   • Maybe List: This is the list of things that I would like to get done if I have time, but has a more flexible time frame (it can be moved and the world won’t end).
     • Laundry day (unless you are going to go naked, then I advise it’s time to do at least one load of laundry)
     • Grocery Shopping (unless you LITERALLY have nothing to eat)
     • Work activities without a deadline
     • Dust the blinds that have dust bunnies that have been staring creepily at you as you fall asleep each night.
   • Want to Do  List: This is really the most important list, and the one that so often gets neglected. It’s the list of things that make you happy or will help keep you sane. It’s the list that most often makes onto the list of “good intentions” In order to stay sane you MUST make sure to do something from this list at least once a week, but obviously more is better.
     • Read for 10 Minutes in Quiet
     • Take a Bath
     • Listen to my Favorite Record
     • Have Coffee With a Friend.
2. Make Your Health Count: Because we are  so busy, we not only but our personal needs last but our health needs as well. That is a BIG no no if you want to make it during any time of the year! The more stressed you are the lower your immune system is and the more likely you are to get sick which will definitely stop you in your tracks. That’s why I put together this “feel better kit” for myself so at the first sign of a cold I can try to shorten it and get back to being the awesome that is me. In my kit are the following things
   • Organic Lip Balm: Keeps my lips feeling amazing.
   • Herbal Tea: Definitely helps me relax and comforts the icky cold feeling.
   •  Zicam® Cold Remedy Products: I take it at the VERY first sign of a cold because it really helps me shorten my colds. We all know how colds can last FOREVER, especially when we have a million things to do! Luckily, Zicam® Cold Remedy products are an effective tool in my toolbox to help me get back to me again. Bye bye colds! (Psst you can check out my favorite flavor here: Zicam® Cold Remedy ULTRA Berry Lemonade Crystals 18 ct.
   • Music CD: This reminds me when I head for my Zicam® Cold Remedy products to shorten my cold that I need to sit down and relax for a little bit so my body can heal
   • Books to Read: It may sound weird, but I try to keep a new fiction book in my “feel better kit” at all times. Just like the music CD this reminds me that I need to slow down and take care of myself before my cold drags on FOREVER.
3. Make Time for Friends: A good part of self care is reaching out to others and having a social circle. That doesn’t mean that your existence depends on others, but it’s really important to have a support system. Having a support system can help you find the time you need to take care of yourself. Here a few ideas how friends can help you make self care a priority.
   • Set Up Babysitting Exchanges
   • Set Up Playdates (your kids are entertained and so are you)
   • Someone to Listen to You When You Need Support (even if all your friends are online)
   • Gives you a different perspective when you are too stressed out to see reality. (Gets you out of your own bubble)

Making the decision to make self care a priority has LITERALLY changed my life. Over and over again I share with you just how I went from a stressed out woman that had no idea who she was to the chick you guys know, and hopefully love, today. It wasn’t just about self esteem, it was about making my life the life I wanted it to be and being healthy enough to enjoy that. Little things like these self care tips and my self care kit are what really helped me turn my life around, and I hope it can do the same for you!