We don’t always realize the benefit of practicing self-care until it is too late, then we wonder why we are so stressed out over the small irritations in life. It is vital to realize that we only have one life and one body, which brings me to today’s topic of self-care…

I will be the first to admit that I don’t look after myself, quite as well as I should or could. I do try, here and there, but I sometimes forget that I am the most important person in my life.

In an effort to increase practicing self-care, I started to implement these 5 life-changing strategies (and it made the world of difference):

// SCHEDULE IT ON YOUR CALENDAR //

Most of the time we think practicing self-care will take hours out of our week and then we make all sorts of excuses about why it’s so difficult to practice, STOP THINKING THAT WAY…If you don’t have an hour a day or even 30 minutes, start with 10-minute slots and schedule it on your calendar, NOW. Create a recurring calendar entry, with an alarm, to set the stage for practicing more mindful self-care time.

TIP: Schedule your self-care at a time which would suit your current schedule/situation the best. If you are a morning person consider taking some time out before work or if you are a night owl consider taking a little time in the evening. The more consistent you are, the better chance you have of self-care becoming a daily habit.

// REFLECT ON YOUR WHY //

This is an important question for almost anything in life including practicing daily self-care. If you know why it’s beneficial for you to practice self-care regularly, you will be more prone to stick it out and do it. We all have different motivations in life, my why, could be the complete opposite of your why, because of our different backgrounds and current life situations.

The best way to approach this is to make a list of 5 benefits of why self-care is important to you. Write this down in a notebook or save it on your favorite note-keeping app. Make sure you have quick access, whenever you need to revisit them. This will help you stay motivated throughout the whole process.

// ORGANIZE YOUR SPACE //

Life can be messy sometimes and usually, the outside reflects the inside. In order to take care of yourself, you also need to look around at your physical space and ask yourself, is this a reflection of what is going on inside of me?

If your house is full of clutter and stuff you don’t like or need, it can lead to feeling overwhelmed and uninspired. This can also leave you feeling drained, which leads to less self-care. The key here is to start small. These 2 articles might give you a push in the right direction: 20 Things You Can DECLUTTER in 20 Minutes or Less // Declutter Your Home (OR ANY SPACE) in 5 Easy Steps

If it’s not possible to organize your entire house, start with 1 room and make it your place of peace. Here you practice self-care without the guilt attached to a messy space.

// MAKE A SELF-CARE TO-DO LIST //

What works for one person, will likely not work for someone else, so it is important for you to know what refreshes you and fills your tank. This will help you use the time you have set aside for self-care more effectively. For, example, I love reading a few pages of my favorite book in bed, but you may not like reading, but would instead find pleasure in applying a face mask or stretching.

Sit down and make a list and add it to your schedule.

I have found this amazing list over on the Get Mom Balanced blog, which you can steal some ideas from :)

// DON’T FEEL GUILTY //

This is a big one… We cannot feel guilty for wanting to spend time with and on ourselves. As I mentioned in the introduction, you only get one body and one life. If we don’t make it a priority to look after ourselves, NO ONE WILL. Take 10 minutes a day (or whatever time you have) to connect with yourself. Out of that space, it would be much easier to serve others and meet the demands of our daily stress-filled lives.

Make YOU, your biggest priority.

There you have it, my 5cents on self-care. Since I started taking small steps to implement self-care into my daily routine, I am a much more organized. I also now see the value it is adding to my relationships with friends and family, my married life, and even my daily homemaking tasks.

Take the plunge today, you won’t regret it…

// I would love to hear from you… //
How often do you practice self-care and what do you do to fill up your love tank?

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