Self care routines and habits have the power to help us manage our health and our work, home and relationships. Two years after the pandemic changed everyone’s lives, we now have an opportunity to consider the self care routines we want to keep and the meaningful things we need in our daily lives we use to stay productive, happy and healthy.
Journal every day. This is something that I have done consistently for the past year and it has had a huge impact on my overall wellbeing. Finding the time to reflect each day on the things I am grateful for puts any worries or concerns into perspective. I find it a valuable way to keep my mind strong. Expressive writing each day cools down the brain. I started my journaling practice by simply noting down the things that I was grateful for each day. I then looked for some more guided ideas and started to follow the Daily Stoic journal for a range of different daily reflection prompts which has really helped my journaling practice.
Create a routine and set goals. As humans we are creatures of habit- we like order and routine. We take comfort from knowing that we are following our own North Star. Having a daily routine and regular habits supports cognitive function and may even free us up to be more creative. Regular routines can also help us feel like we have control over our daily lives and that we can take positive steps in managing our health. From previous blogs you will be aware of my own reliance on routines- they really do provide me with a security to the pattern of each day and a reassuring certainty in an uncertain world.
Have one priority task per day. When that task is complete, and only that task, you know that the day has been a success and everything thereafter is a bonus. Attempting to clear a catalogue of tasks will only result in a focus on the things you have not yet completed. Try it- it really does work.
Gratitude and forgiveness. There is always something to be grateful for in our daily lives, we just need to build the time and space to be able to recognise those good things that happen to us. Daily gratitude practice is proven to increase happiness in our lives and reduces our overall pain. The simplest way that I have found to do this is by writing down each day the things that I am grateful for. Inevitably this list is always over 5 thing, even simple things as it is not raining go down on the list! Similarly, it is also important to know when to let go. We have to be able to forgive. If we hold onto feeling of anger or resentment, it is only us that it affects. It eats us up inside, eroding any feelings of positivity that we may have within. I am firmly in the belief that the ability to forgive is one of the most significant mindset shifts you can look to make if you are seeking a happier life.
Sleep well. The need for quality sleep is well documented in maintaining wellbeing. If we treat sleep like a bank and keep making regular deposits - we keep our sleep balance topped up. If we keep taking too many sleep withdrawals, we will suffer in the long run. We need to establish good sleep hygiene- by having regular times to go to bed and to get up, eat and drink in a sleep friendly way, moderate our screen time before bed, etc
Drink more and less. Water flushes toxins from the body and maintains our immune systems- it is very much the elixir of life. Consuming less alcohol improves our sleep and recovery, boosts our mood and saves us money. The message is very simple.
Move more. It is proven that only 20 mins of low to medium intensity exercise is needed to improve our cognitive function. The release of chemicals in the brain when we exercise has such a well documented effect on our mood.
Eat well. A healthy gut generally leads to a healthy mind. What is for certain is that an unhealthy gut will defiantly lead to an unhealthy mind. Probiotics, ample fruit and vegetables of varying colours, good protein, healthy fats and grains all contribute to a healthy balance diet. In modern western society we need to simply limit the beige- namely the refined carbs, processed food, ready made meals, snacks and any product that is overly packaged.
Learn something new. Do you remember the excitement as a child of learning something new? Buddhists refer to this as the mind of the beginner. As a child out time used to fly as we were fully engrossed in our chosen hobby. At what point did we lose that feeling? Learning a new hobby has to better than doom scrolling. Purposeful learning is good for us and it is what our brains crave and are designed to do.
Switch off the news. It may seem like an ostrich approach to burying our heads in the sand, but analyse any news broadcast and it will be pretty much be made up of negative news. Bad news sells, and always has. However, we have a conscious choice to decide if we want to consume that bad news. This is not to say that we shouldn’t care about all the humanitarian disasters that are occurring at any point in time, but we have a capacity issue with how much we can really cope with. If we accept this limited capacity issue, then we need to pick our causes to worry about carefully, and think about the ways we can really have an impact on them. I am not advocating ignoring all the negativity that news agencies bring to our doors, but we must become more discerning in our consumption of that news to maintain the quality of our lives. If we constantly immerse ourselves in a negative environment, we can only expect negative effects on our mindset. Our modern news streams have taken on many of the social media design features that set out to hook our attention and keep us returning to a particular site. Live updates, likes and peer comments are all tools of the modern news to grab and keep our attention, often not with our best interests at heart.
Get out in nature as much as possible. Nature is literally the elixir of life. Our genetic evolution comes from our hunter gatherer past, and cannot be rewired. We were designed to be in nature, not stuck inside in an artificial environment. We need to feel the connection with the world, regularly. We need to feel the seasons, breath in the air and be fully aware of what is around us.
Quick and practical things you can do right now
Use a calendar or smart phone app to organise your activities and put the things you want to do in your schedule. If you schedule it, you are more likely to do it.
Choose a regular time to wake up and to go to bed and try to stick to it.
Make physical movement manageable with local walks or bike rides a few times a week.
Start a new hobby or re-engage in an old one, like playing sports or games, creating arts and crafts, playing an instrument or singing.
Keep an eye out for meaningful activities that will enable you to connect with others in your local community, like a book club at the library or a local walking group.
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