Self-care is one of the most important, yet forgotten essentials to a good college life. One thing about college is it will wear you down. It’s a big adjustment from having family and teachers look out for you and the things you need taken care of, to doing it all on your own. Plus, the stress of schoolwork, exams and balancing a social life. It’s a lot to deal with on your own, but you can. That’s why this semester I’m taking care of myself with Self-Care Sunday.
Self-Care Sunday is a day for me to do things I enjoy. It’s a day where I don’t let anything stress me out, like school work, worrying about my job and even sometimes doing errands. It’s a day set aside for socializing, rest, and allowing myself to step back, rewind and mentally and physically prepare for the week ahead. This doesn’t have to be a Sunday, but for me it worked out best. I don’t have work on Sunday’s – although my online job can require work to be done separetely – I do my best to get it done before then. The most I will allow myself to do is that may be a burden are chores like dishes, laundry tidiness but even then, seeing everything come together nice and neatly can be rewarding.
Why do I do this? Other than just giving myself a much needed break, I feel like dedicating a day strictly to prevent stress and doing things I enjoy help me work towards a healthier and happier lifestyle. The more I balance out things and activities that bring me serotonin with the things that bring me stress, I can balance out everything and get everything I need to get done, including my social needs. By blocking off one day a week, it also puts pressure on me to get things promptly and lower the chances of procrastination. Like, of course I can still technically do work on Sunday’s but if I tell myself I can’t, I most likely won’t. This gives time to hang out with friends, sleep in, lay back and watch tv and do little things that bring me joy that my everyday schedule may not be able to accommodate. I’ve put a big emphasis on choosing peace this school year, and this is a big part of it. Choosing to put my needs and mental wellbeing first is a big part that will lead the other aspects in my life to go well. If my stress is being managed and mitigated, that negative feeling and tiredness won’t spill over into other aspects that go on in my day-to-day life. I think it is important for everyone to set aside time to do things they enjoy because allowing peace into your life makes everything you do so much more enjoyable. If you enjoy the things you do, they become easier for you and overtime no longer causes you stress.