Self Care When You Don't Care

I'm sure plenty of you have seen thousands of self-care tips and tricks, why they work, and all that yatta yatta. Despite what many of those articles talk about, you don't have to change your entire lifestyle to take care of yourself.

If you really want to, then go for it, but it's not necessary.

Self-Care is simply the steps one takes on their own behalf to increase or maintain their well being, both physically and mentally. Self-Care is designed so that anyone has the ability to give themselves a better outlook with their health, attitude, and more.

So, surprise! There is no one step-by-step guide on how to treat yourself to a better physical or mental state. BUT, you can take tips from multiple lists and contribute them to a personalized master list.

I'm here to help you personalize your list so you can get the most out of your life!

There are thousands of ways to learn how to love yourself, from taking on new hobbies to accepting yourself as you are. Some people have different approaches to this than others, so take the time to do some research to find out what works best for you.

To get started, I recommend taking a peek at my article about self-love: https://hubpages.com/health/Loving-Yourself-When-The-Going-Gets-Tough

I am not about to tell you to start a lifestyle of working out and to reach the pinnacle of health. Many people don't have the time or motivation to do that kind of thing, and that's okay.

But, I am going to say to evaluate yourself and what you do for your body. What is your current diet? What do you normally do in a day? Do you have room to make it better?

If you're the kind of person who eats at Fast Food a whole lot because of time restrictions (such as a short lunch break or long hours), chances are that you don't feel your best. So, look at your schedule. When do you have free time? You can utilize that time to pack a week's worth of better food in Tupperware. Fast Food can become a treat, rather than an every-day meal.

If you're the kind of person who sits at a desk all day, for work or school, you may start to notice that you feel stiff once you get back to your feet. Maybe you could start using intervals of work and stretching; this way, you will still be getting work done, but you give yourself time to loosen up and become more comfortable.

There are thousands of situations with thousands of solutions, you just need to evaluate what you're going through and what you can do to fix it!!

At the end of a long day, you just want to collapse in bed and forget everything happened, right? But sometimes that doesn't work. Though sleep is very, very important to your wellbeing, it's not always enough.

Sometimes, you need a little more relaxation to actually feel rested and ready for another day.

Feeling stressed? Try showering off or taking a bath. Add your favorite ingredients (no, not garlic powder) such as rose water, skin-safe essential oils, Epsom salt, flowers, herbs, whatever you want.

Pick up a book and a mug of tea or cocoa and just turn off your brain for a few. Unless matters are 100% urgent and need to be taken care of ASAP, stop thinking about them for a few hours. I know that I am guilty of overthinking and overplanning, so turning my brain off is difficult but worth it.

Just like anything else, tens of thousands of issues with hundreds of thousands of ways to fix it. You just have to keep looking!

A lot of people, including myself, think of everything that needs to be done and start stressing out over it. Due to that stress, there's panic and that panic causes nothing to get done! It's a vicious cycle, really.

So stop that. Organize your events, appointments, and other things so you know what needs to take precedence over everything else. See if anything needs to be rescheduled to cause less stress, and what will take more time than others. For optimal results, I recommend writing everything down. Buy a planner, or use an empty journal.

Your schedule does not need to be color coded, sticky-noted, high lighted, bullet-pointed or anything like that. Write it in a way that will be best for you. The point is to relieve stress, not cause more by making it!

When all is said and done, you're only human! As long as you make an honest effort, that's what matters.