12 Ways To Take Care of Yourself

Do you make the time to not only look at ways to take care of yourself, but actually do something about it.

We all have times in our lives when we just have too much going on. There are always deadlines, commitments, pressures and just too many priorities to juggle. And when work is making huge demands on you, your family still need your time and attention.

In these circumstances, often the one thing you put off is taking care of yourself. But if you don’t take care of yourself, who is going to do it for you? We often forget how important it is to take look after ourselves. We seem to put our needs behind that of our family or work. Well that’s crazy, because if you get ill then you’re going to be able to do nothing.

The fact is, we could all take better care of ourselves—physically, mentally and emotionally. It is essential you make the time to look after yourself.  The more time we spend taking care of ourselves the more able we are to manage stress and increase our ability to meet the challenges that come our way each day.

Here are 12 ideas to get you started:

1. You must exercise every day in order to feel good and be energetic. Your body will thrive when you are physically active. Exercise can reduce daily stresses, it can improve your mood, and lowers the symptoms linked with depression and anxiety. It may cause your body to release endorphins, which are your brain’s feel-good transmitters. We already realise that physical activity has a multitude of benefits, which makes it so strange that so many people just don’t do it.
2. Take a 30 minute power nap which will help energize and recharge you. A snooze in the middle of the day dramatically boosts your brain power, and refreshes your mind and body. A power-nap makes you more productive.
3. It is so important to eat healthy. It can help in relieving stress and provide you with more energy. Eating right improves your body functions, strengthens your immune system and aids in maintaining a healthy weight. In every way eating healthily is one of the most sensible things you can do for yourself.
4. Get organized – living with clutter and never being able to find what you need when you need it causes stress. Take the time to get yourself organised, develop a system, and then use it. Instead of juggling all your to-do’s and must-remember’s in your head, write them down on a piece of paper. It’s important that you really take control over your life, and organising everything is a great way to look after yourself.
5. Devote 30 minutes per day to personal development material. Fill your mind with positive thoughts – it chases away the negative! If we want to be successful in work and life, we need to create habits of feeding our minds in a positive way. So taking in good inspiring information, and allowing yourself to grow personally is one of the most important things you can do to take care of yourself.
6. Say no to anything that is not important to you. Give yourself permission to concentrate on what’s important. Getting the unessential, tiresome responsibilities off your schedule will not only give you more time and space, it will also reduce the pressure that you feel.
7. Take 5-minute mini-breaks every hour. You can’t stay focused all the time. No matter how efficient you work, you’ll always get distracted, let your mind wander or end up spending time doing the wrong things when you try to keep going hour after hour.  Instead break up each hour by getting up from your chair, walking outside and take a 5-minute break. Get away from your work station or workplace
8. Write a daily gratitude list. A daily gratitude list is really helpful to shift your focus and help you appreciate your life. How better a way to take care of yourself than by allowing yourself to appreciate the good things happening in your life already.
9. Praise yourself. Positive self-speech can seriously impact your mood. Tell yourself you look good, that you’re doing great and that you can manage everything that comes your way. Loving yourself is a key to a healthy, happy lifestyle. Self-esteem is all about how much people value themselves; the pride they feel in themselves, and how worthwhile they feel. Self-esteem is important because feeling good about yourself can affect how you act. A person who has high self-esteem will make friends easily, is more in control of his or her behaviour, and will enjoy life more.
10. Take 5 minutes in the morning to just stretch and breathe. Make sure your morning starts with 5 minutes of silence and ease. Stand up and stretch your body to make you as tall as you can be. Then try a deep breathing exercise and pay attention to your breath. Starting the day in a way like this will make you’re more relaxed and able to get the best out of your day.
11.  Ask for help. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, and you’ll quickly learn that most people around you actually love to be of assistance to you! It makes them feel useful and important. When you build a good network around you then you will have a support team at hand.
12. Quit whingeing and moaning. Try laughing instead. Go out there and make somebody else smile. It’s infectious. When you start looking for the fun side of life once again, when laughter and joy re-enter your life, you will feel so much better about yourself.
13. Read your goals daily to keep you on track of what you really want. It sets your focus on what matters most to you, so you don’t lose yourself in the demands of the world around you or get distracted by other things. Your goals are important to you they make you thrive they give you excitement.
14. Write a daily journal and reflect on your progress in life. Keep your inner space clear by getting the things out of the head and reflecting on them, and so making them conscious. By keeping track of your days you also commit automatically to improve yourself, seeing where you are and where you want to be.

Using these guidelines and establishing your own routine will do such wonders for your mind, body and soul.

Score Your Way To Good Health - With Our Healthy Lifestyle Plan

Score your way to good health with our healthy lifestyle plan and it's unique 70 point weekly scorecard!

Click here to find out more