My son and I both came down with a cold this week (not surprising given that he started day care last week), so this seems like a good time to discuss self care.  Over the past few years, the concept of self care has taken over the internet, with women’s websites constantly telling us we need to escape from our lives and indulge ourselves with expensive products, time-consuming rituals, and unhealthy splurges — as if we need one more thing to do.  (Ever notice that these self-care articles rarely seem to be directed at men? I guess the assumption is that they already know how to take care of themselves.)

I love a good spa session every now and then and definitely enjoy the occasional piece of chocolate cake, but I don’t really consider these things to be self care. Taking care of myself involves creating day-to-day habits that keep me physically and mentally healthy, performing optimally, and able to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy my life.

To me, self-care means:

1. Getting enough sleep, so that my immune system functions well, my mood is lifted, and I can make better decisions;
2. Eating well, so that I have adequate energy and my body can better resist illness;
3. Unfollowing people and pages on social media when their content serves only to upset me, and knowing when to step away from the news;
4. Carving out time to express myself creatively, which currently includes making creative meals a few nights a week and writing for this blog;
5. Continually reminding myself to pay attention to all the good things surrounding me, no matter how busy I am or how many negative things are taking place;
6. Maintaining a strong social network that I can rely on when I really need it;
7. Working towards greater efficiency and routine in my everyday tasks so that when I’m really short on time and attention, the machinery keeps running with little effort;
8. Putting some deep thought into what is most important to me and what is unimportant, revisiting those conclusions often, and aligning my time allocation and other resources with those priorities;
9. Moving my body regularly and breathing in some fresh air;
10. Keeping some of my time quiet and media-free so that I can process and reflect;
11. Refraining from overcommitting myself (that one took me a while to learn);
12. Working diligently on pending projects and avoiding procrastination so that my to-do list and stress level hopefully don’t build to unmanageable proportions;
13. Keeping my home and workspace tidy enough so that the clutter doesn’t add to my stress, but not letting myself get hung up on having a perfect-looking home or office;
14. Knowing that sometimes it makes more sense to hire someone to do something for me or ask for help rather than trying to do everything myself; and
15. Understanding that every rule has to bend sometimes, and it’s occasionally fine to eat take-out, not exercise, and let the chores slide if that enables me to stay on top of more urgent needs and get a little more sleep (see number 1).

What does self care mean to you?  Tell us in the comments.

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