Taking Care of Yourself

I have been thinking a bit about self care this week, it might be because I have a bit of a cold and have been going very easy on myself. I know that a lot of people scoff at the term self care, and I will admit that I used to be one them, but I think that it is only because people do not understand what self care really is all about.

I used to think that self care was only home spa treatments, and while it can be that, it is more about taking care of yourself so that you don’t burnout. For example this week I have a cold and I have been feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. I am lucky enough to work from home so instead of taking time off and getting behind on work I have been taking breaks. Breaks from work to lay down so that I can rest my brain and my body. I have to say that this method has worked pretty well. I have been able to keep up with my work and I have not overexerted myself and made my illness worse. I also decided to take a break from walks and to only go out when I really need too. This way I can rest as much as possible, rest really is the only way I have found to get better fast. By not pushing myself to do anything extra this week I have still been able to muster enough energy to cook myself some meals and to keep my apartment tidy. I don’t know about you but a tidy environment always helps to keep me sane.

This is another non-spa type self care, cleaning. Over the years I have found that when the place that I am currently inhabiting is a mess I have trouble focusing. This past year I have started to clean my apartment every Sunday. That way my space is clean for the week and I am able to focus on my work from the start. I can’t tell you how good it feels to get up on Monday morning to a clean apartment. I am sure this is only something that really matters because I work from home, but I know that I am someone that needs her space clear so that she can tackle the mess of emails I receive on a daily basis. By taking care of the cleaning it helps me to not become overwhelmed during the day and that is self care. 

I suppose that I do have one thing that would qualify as a spa treatment that I do weekly but I also think that it is not something that everyone finds relaxing. I paint my nails once a week. I have discovered that taking a hour out of week to do my nails really chills me out. It is something nice and fun that I do for myself. A lot of my other self care is more about completing tasks and making sure that I do not become anxious in my everyday life but painting my nails is just plain simple fun for me. 

I have a certain Nail Polish company that I have become obsessed with, Holo Taco, and I have quite a lot of their polishes now. They are so pretty and I love them so much. I love picking out what colours I am going to use, yes colours plural because you can’t just use one colour, I currently have four on my nails. I take pride in taking care of my nails cutting and filing them a certain way and making sure that they look good. While I paint I cue up something to watch and I don’t allow myself to touch my phone, not only because I don’t want to mess up my nails but also because I want to have that hour where I am not on social media in any way. I am not the best at painting my nails but I have improved over the couple of years that I having been doing this weekly. 

Painting my nails is something that I do solely for myself. It is time that I fully get to focus on myself and do something that is just for me. Let’s face it, I am not painting my nails so that people notice and compliment me. There has been very few time when someone has actually noticed my nails and said anything about them, in fact there are many weeks when I don’t even see any one and the only person to see my nails in me. I do this for myself, it makes me happy and I think that is important. Taking an hour out of your week to do something that makes you happy shouldn’t be too difficult but sometimes it seems that people get too busy and forget to do things just for themselves every once in a while. I look forward to painting my nails and I get to enjoy the fruits of my labour all week, seems worth it to me. 

Mostly self care is doing something that is going to make your life better. It might be a spa type treatment but it is also completing a task that is going to make you feel better. If something is going to bother you then take the time to get it done so that you can sit and watch a tv show or read a book. Get those tasks that weigh on your mind out of the way so that you can do something enjoyable. However, if the tasks are too much at the moment and you just need to sit and take a minute to clear your head then do it! Self care is about listening to yourself and doing what you need at that time. If you take care of yourself then you are better equipped to take care of difficult tasks and to take care of others.