Key Steps for Developing a Solid Self-Care Plan
Focusing on your mental and physical well-being throughout the year is important, not just when things aren’t going your way. While it’s tempting to turn to self-care only when you need it, you should make it part of your everyday routine to live an emotionally healthy life all year. Here are some key steps to developing a solid self-care plan that works for you.
List Your Priorities
Prioritizing your health and happiness is important for self-care, but knowing what’s right for you cannot be easy. Here are some questions to ask yourself when setting priorities:
- What do I want in life?
- What types of goals and aspirations do I have?
- Am I living the life that matches my priorities? You may find that these questions help you identify which aspects of your life are most important to you. List them down on a piece of paper so you can keep track.
Identify Your Needs and Wants
We often neglect ourselves because we feel like we don’t deserve to take care of ourselves after all our hard work. However, you deserve as much love as anyone else in this world! When identifying needs and wants, remember that they should be grounded in reality, so they don’t become too unrealistic or unachievable.
The following list provides a few examples:
- Clarity around what’s best for me (and not just doing whatever everyone else says)
- Enough sleep every night
- Three healthy meals a day
- Regular exercise
Create An Action Plan
Now that you’ve got a clear idea of what your priorities are and what kind of needs and wants, you’re looking for in a self-care plan, it’s time to create an action plan.
Compare Your Daily Schedule to Your Priorities
Comparing your daily schedule to your priorities will help you find the time for self-care. Start by creating a list of everything you need to do in a day, prioritizing all tasks, and then dividing it into timeslots according to what’s most important.
Some people like to write down self-care tasks on their calendars and only fill in the details when they have time; others set reminders for themselves on their phones as needed.
Look For Ways to Add Self-Care
Take time each day to journal or do yoga. It might not seem like you have time for it now, but if you don’t make room for it, it will be harder to focus and function at work, which will get in the way of your self-care progress.
This is a great opportunity to meditate as well. Meditation is an incredible tool that has been shown to reduce stress, boost our immune system, and help us sleep better, among other things.
Work On a Routine
If you are already working on a routine, it may be worthwhile to take an inventory of the tasks you do daily and produce a list. You might even want to start breaking these down into smaller tasks, as it can be overwhelming when looking at the whole thing.
Don’t worry if things aren’t perfect right away! It will take time to get your routine in order, but that is okay because there is no rush. It is preferable to begin sooner rather than later so that you have more time for adjustments. Remember, this is about self-care, not meeting someone else’s expectations or doing what everyone else does.
Final Thought
If you’re serious about becoming an entrepreneur, self-care is one of the biggest priorities you’ll have to take care of immediately. Of course, self-care might seem like an indulgence or luxury item when dealing with the stress of launching your own business—but this couldn’t be further from the truth!
Becoming your own boss means taking care of yourself in a way that would never be expected from an employer or manager, and that involves paying extra attention to your mental and physical health.
English