5 Easy Steps to Take Care of Yourself Even When You Don't Have Time

Posted on February 28, 2011 12:00:00am, by Gerrianne Clare

 In today’s crazy world we often hear, “What are you doing to take care of yourself”? 

 For many people this is yet another thing “to do” and it feels like an impossible task with so many “other things” that take priority. 
 

Today I want to offer you 5 quick and easy steps to take care of yourself “NOW”.

 When it comes to taking care of yourself, what comes to mind?

 

 For many people the list includes:

  •  Taking a long hot bath,
  • spending time with friends,
  • going to the gym,
  • reading a good book
  • getting things done on my list 
All of these things are important and can go a long way to nurturing our body and soul, however, many of them mean that we have to wait until a future time to feel the nurturing that we so desperately crave. 
 
How can you free up more time to nurture yourself? How can you be nurtured in what you are doing NOW so taking care of yourself happens while you go through your day? 
 

Here are 5 quick and easy things you can do, right now, in this moment, to help you get reconnected and nurture you.     

1.  Recognizing the overwhelm you are feeling  - Often times people feel out of sorts, and run with a feeling of angst or overwhelm beneath the surface and don’t even recognize what is happening for them in the moment. When you take time to STOP and recognize what is going on for you in the moment, you can take action to shift how you are feeling. Some of the actions you can take include those below

2.  Breathe deeply and intentionally – Taking three slow, deep, intentional breaths is a great way to take care of you in the moment. When you focus your attention into your body, notice the breath go in and out of your lungs, and set the intention to calm yourself down, you can “take care of yourself” in the moment. Try it through the use of this breathing tool.

3.  Make a list of all you need to do – It is amazing how many of us walk around with our “to do” lists compiled in our heads as we are trying to get everything done throughout our day. With the large number of tasks that need to get done, we can get overwhelmed trying to keep track of everything. When we take the list out of our head and put it on paper we can look at all we need to do objectively and can often see what can be grouped together, delegated or delayed so as to free up time during our busy day. Writing the list and checking off the items can be incredibly freeing and empowering.

4.  Once you have written your list, break it up into

a.       Small tasks that can be done quickly and easily – when you set the intention to blast through these 5 minute items when time appears it can free up a lot of time in a crazy day.  
                                                               i.      A 5 minute item could be: Starting a list of favorite dinners, snacks, lunch ideas that your family enjoys. Keep the list on the fridge, add new ideas as they come up so you have ideas in front of you when you need to get groceries or plan a meal. If we don’t have these ideas listed they can get lost in the shuffle of a busy day and easily forgotten.
b.       High priority items that need to get accomplished today – Schedule time to take care of these items first. Getting these big items off your list earlier frees up mental energy. If they cannot be done until later, then schedule time to do them when appropriate. By scheduling the time, you free up having to think about when you are going to do them.
                                                               i.      A high priority item may be: helping your son get supplies for his science project that is due next week
c.       Tasks that require more time, energy and resources  that we have to plan for – schedule in time for the planning, be realistic at how much time you need
                                                               i.       An item that may require more time: planning a family vacation – location, flights, timing etc.
d.      Those that can be taken off the agenda for today – these may be fluff activities that make you feel busy and are not really necessary. These activities may also include those that you can delegate to someone else. I also know as busy parents we can sometimes take on things that our children need to be doing themselves. This is a subject for another blog

       5.  Focus on accomplishing one task at a time, completing it fully and then moving on – Even though many of us pride ourselves on multi-tasking, it often takes more time to get things done when we do not focus             our attention on completing the task at hand. When we are doing many things at once, we are often unconscious to the details of what we are doing. To engage yourself fully in what you are doing and             acknowledge yourself for the work we have done goes a long way in helping to take care of yourself. 

Next week in my blog, I will expand on these steps in a little more detail in a 15 minute audio. This you can listen to “on the go”

I want to finish by asking you this question "what is your number one challenge in taking care of yourself?" 
 
Please let me know your thoughts.  I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Much love,
Gerrianne
 

 

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