Self-Care for the Busy Professional

Importance of Self Care Amongst Busy Professionals

You are at the peak of your profession and probably balancing family life and your career. Your 24 hours seem shorter; self-care looks more of a luxury than a necessity. You feel you don’t have time.

Self-care is any effort that you intentionally undertake to lead a healthy lifestyle. You need to take care of your physical, social, mental, psychological, and emotional needs. For you to excel professionally, yourself must also be at its optimum. The following are tips and suggestions on developing simple self-care routines and the importance of self-care amongst busy professionals.

Get Enough Sleep

You may often find yourself with a pile of work, and you end up extending your working hours beyond bedtime. It would be best if you did not sacrifice sleep for work. Rest is as essential as food and water. You need enough sleep if you want to be alert and responsive during the day. Sleep affects the entire body's functions. Some chronic illnesses are affected by lack of enough sleep: high blood pressure, obesity, and depression. Sleep helps remove toxins from the body that build up when you are awake.

If you need to keep your professional life at its peak, you need enough time for sleep. Most adults need an average of 7-9 hours of sleep. Enough rest is an important self-care for a busy working person.

Have a morning routine.

Wake up 20 minutes earlier and get some exercise. A simple stretch or a walk can improve your mood for the entire day. Exercise releases the hormone endorphin, which is a natural mood booster. Exercise increases focus and keenness for up to 10 hours. Activity is also vital in keeping fit and away from obesity and weight-related diseases.

Plan the rest of the day by writing down a to-do list and journaling. You will be more focused when you know your goals for the day and have planned for them in order of importance. A routine may not sound like self-care, but routines are important for maintaining order for a busy professional.

Eat healthy

Sometimes, when busy, you might find yourself eating more takeout, primarily fast foods, to try and save time. It is essential to set time to eat healthy meals. What you eat today will affect you now and in the future.

Take into consideration the recommended servings for your vegetables and legumes, fruits, milk or milk products, and whole grains.

Healthy foods will give you the energy you need and keep your body's functions at the required levels. Healthy eating is an important self-care for a busy professional as it saves time. A healthy body means fewer trips to the doctor hence more time for work.

Maintain your social life

Having a good social life is vital to the physical and mental health of an adult. Families and friends form strong social ties and support systems. The family provides a sense of security. Taking too much time on work can lead to burnout and depression. It is essential to find a balance between social relationships and work.

Creating time for social interactions while juggling a busy career can be challenging. It would help if you made conscious efforts towards that. Make a weekly phone call to your best friend or mother and catch up or vent.

People in good social relationships live longer, are healthier, and feel wealthier.

Set out time for yourself

You are important. Treat yourself like you would treat your best friend. For you to have a healthy relationship with others, you must have one with yourself. Take yourself out to lunch or ice cream, switch off all electronics, stare at the stars, or do something you like. Have some time where you are the center of focus.

A solo walk through the park or at the beach can produce and inspiration and spark your creativity.

Me time will help you self-analyze and regulate your emotions. When you are in a good place mentally, it reflects on others. Good mental health translates into good physical health. It is easier to stay fit when you are less stressed.

Practice Gratitude

One of the best ways to reduce stress and stay healthy is to be thankful. Gratitude helps one to cope with stress. There may be times you feel like you have underachieved or things are not moving as they should. Take a step back and appreciate the far that you have come.

Recognize the little you have achieved and the good health you have. Always know that what you have right now is somebody else’s dream. That project that you have started and is yet to be completed, celebrate it. Gratitude will help you examine your mindset and in making day-to-day choices.

Appreciate the people in your life and whatever little or big they have contributed. Jot down thank you messages, emails, or letters and send them to them. Try and practice gratitude at least once daily. This self-care tip is important to a busy professional, who sometimes gets engrossed in targets and achievements and forgets the little things that matter.

Therapy

When taking care of others and your job, you can find yourself in complete neglect of self-care. You could be suffering from depression or anxiety or fatigue/burnout. Therapy has broad treatments depending on the root cause of your ailment.

Burnout is a feeling of intense physical and mental exhaustion—feelings of failure and frustration. A visit to a licensed therapist  will help you deal with anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms. Therapy helps one to deal with distorted reasoning and helps in enhancing mental health. Personal treatment can refine the realization of own issues and scope of conflict.

A licensed therapist will guide you in making the necessary behavioral changes that will help you filter out negative thoughts and challenge them rather than reinforcing them. Therapy is an important self-care among busy professionals as it enhances professional development and competence. Untreated mental health issues affect the relationship with clients and colleagues.

Conclusion

Mental and physical health plays a critical role in being successful. For one to achieve a healthy balance, one cannot ignore self-care. Self-care aims to prevent illnesses or accidents or to take care of already existing ailments. Self-care is important amongst busy professionals who intend to have a long prosperous life. Find the time and incorporate self-care into your busy schedule.