10 Self-care tips for the age of social physical distancing
After 16 days at home, I am recognizing that self-care is becoming more and more important for me. So I woke up like this and decided to put together an updated list of self-care tips.
- Check yourself – take some time everyday to consider how you are feeling. Consider your overall health and well-being. What do you need? What would make you feel good today?
- Keep a routine – there are psychological benefits to keeping a routine. Keeping a routine has been associated with improved sleep cycles and enhanced mental health. So consider what a routine may look like for you. It takes time to establish a routine; it took me about a week to establish a routine that worked. A routine could include waking up at a regular time and mapping out your days to include what is important to you. For example, exercising, morning coffee, taking breaks, time to call a friend, and simply just ‘me time’.
- Set a daily goal or task – when we work towards and achieve goals, we get the benefit of the feel good neurotransmitter dopamine. So whilst it may be tempting and perfectly satisfying to binge watch the 10 seasons of Friends (because they’ll be there for you), setting a task or goal you can achieve everyday can be beneficial to your wellbeing. Importantly set goals that are achievable, that could be chunked down into smaller tasks. For example cleaning out that one junk draw we all have, instead of attempting to spring clean the entire home.
- Keep active – Importantly keep moving, the benefits of exercise are well documented. Specifically the release of feel-good endorphins. If you can go for a walk or run outside you will always get the benefits of sunlight, if not you can always or do some form of exercise at home. You can leverage the multitude of online workout videos. Importantly keep moving.
- Create special moments – with not much changing in our day to day lives, we have to make extra effort to carve out moments in way that creates a different experience. For example; doing something unique and different on the weekend. This could be as simple as having a special breakfast on the weekends, or putting on one of your favourite pieces of clothing and jumping on a video call with a friend.
- Stay connected – interacting with others boosts feelings of well-being. Leverage your social networks, set up group chats with people you would have otherwise connected with in person. Take it a step further and actually use the phone or video chat so you can see and hear each other. Physical distancing does not have to equal social distancing
- Focus on what you can control – letting go of what is not within your control, for example – frequently washing your hands is within your control. Stress and anxiety is often exacerbated by our thoughts pondering all the ‘what if’s’, try and ground yourself in what you know for sure and what is within your control.
- Focus on your well-being – specifically practice things that re-energize you – such as mediation, yoga, exercise, writing, reading, painting, watching television or listening to music etc.
- Switch off – take some time out. Although it’s important to keep informed, the news cycle can be overwhelming and distressing. A break from it could help reduce your level of stress. Personally I have decided to limit my new watching to a simple morning radio briefing, except for weekends where I am now taking a break from all news media.
- Ask for help – if you are struggling please reach out and connect with a friend or services available in your community. We are all in this together.
the psych view by SAM MARCHETTA 