How often do you find yourself exhausted after a long day and decide to treat yourself to some time off? Or reward yourself with something you enjoy after finishing a big project?
With assignments piling up, exam season around the corner and work hours increasing for the holidays, we are arguably about to enter one of the most stressful times of the year. This makes it easy to forget about taking care of ourselves and leads to us prioritizing everything but ourselves, only adding to our stress.
So set aside those assignments for a few minutes; this is why you need to prioritize your well-being and self-care.
Firstly, self-care is important because if you are physically, mentally and emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted, you are less likely to handle problems that come your way. When you are rejuvenated, you are better equipped to deal with those problems.
According to Advanced Dermatology, 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they practice self-care, and 84 per cent of people “consider it a necessity rather than an indulgence.” 82 per cent of surveyed people say they practice self-care to reduce stress or anxiety.
Recreated on Canva. Stats from advdermatology.com.
Self-care is more than just taking a hot bath, it is also taking care of your health. According to Mental Health First Aid, increasing physical activity helps the brain cope with stress better and eliminates anxiety symptoms. Studies show that spending time outside helps reduce fatigue, making it extremely effective in eliminating burnout and depression.
Mental Health First Aid also suggests that eating a more balanced diet,“can help alleviate anxiety or encourage the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.”
Without giving yourself time to recharge, Cratejoy states that high levels of stress will lead to health problems such as insomnia, depression and heart disease.
In addition, self-care has also been shown to increase happiness in people because the beauty of self-care is that it can be literally anything. Self-care is not a one-size-fits-all, it can be customized based on what works best for an individual.
If your friend does certain activities that work well for them and not for you, that is not something to be concerned with. Self-care is not linear; it is imperative to find what works for you.
According to Southern New Hampshire University, there are eight dimensions to focus on when building your self-care plan that will lead to increased happiness. These dimensions are a stepping stool towards personalizing self-care for an individual’s needs:
- Emotional: start journaling, read a book, exercise.
- Environmental: take time to take deep breaths outside, go for long walks, do some gardening.
- Financial: develop a financial plan to start saving, start investing, see what aspects of your life where you can stop spending.
- Intellectual: read a book, learn a new language, start following the news.
- Occupational: build your resume/cover letter, learn a trade, learn more about your job.
- Physical: take a cycling class, stretch everyday, take up yoga.
- Social: start planning events with friends, volunteer at your local community centre, become more active on social media.
- Spiritual: pray more often, go to church more frequently, start spending more time connecting to religion.
Also, prioritizing self-care will help you be a better person to those around you. If you are neglecting yourself and your needs but are spending lots of time focusing on your family and friends, it will become difficult to care for loved ones when you are not caring for your own needs.
Cratejoy states that prioritizing self-care will make one more productive as you will be able to focus on what is truly important in your life. This will help you to cross tasks off your to-do list at a faster rate.
Also, Cratejoy notes that self-care gives you alone time with yourself to evaluate problems in your life and what you can do to better yourself. Without this, people will be left feeling lost.
Self-care does not have to be extravagant, expensive or complicated; it is meant to suit your needs and lifestyle. Stressing about practicing self-care is the opposite of its purpose, so ensure that you are dedicating time to yourself and the things you love to help you live a happy life.