Why do we need, at the very least, a very basic self-care routine when busy? The answer is simple, because it will bring stability to our mental and physical health.

It will help you re-center when everything else goes astray in your life. If we can bring it all back to basics on our bad days, we can reset our ability to cope with whatever life has thrown at us.

When we look at why we don’t have a self-care routine we usually find that:

1. We were not taught to do so
2. Have low self-esteem
3. Don’t set healthy boundarieswith others
4. Have forgotten that loving ourselvesjust that little bit more than we do another is important.

When we have learnt to put into place an ability to look after ourselves, it builds our self-confidence in our own abilities, reduces our stresses, anxiety etc. It also has the knock on affect of building our resilience to cope with the everyday ups and downs of life.

Reducing Our Stress With Some Quick Self-Care Is Vital.

If you have found that your stress is on the increase it can be helpful to set smaller self-care goals to reduce it. These small self-care steps can often be the first crucial step in looking after ourselves. With stress we can get stuck in survival mode so the important messages are not getting through to the brain. We can build into a negative cycle very quickly.

If we feel overwhelmed and stressed, both at work and at home, then other issues might also arise. These can include:

1. Having a never ending to-do list that doesn’t seem to get any shorter.
2. We take on other’s responsibilities and can be more easily manipulated.
3. We people please as a result and can’t say no.
4. Then we end up having sleep problems
5. Our basic self-care goes out the window, as we don’t have time for ourselves.
6. Our immune systems have become compromised.

It is time to start taking back control over our lives fast. We need to start a non-negotiable self-care routine. Or at the very least get some quick self-care stress busters into our daily life.

Once we start these we can also start to set boundaries within the rest of our life. If we allow poor boundaries to continue they can impact our physical and mental health in a detrimental manner. Remember we need to get that stress under control or else it will lead to burnout.

Quick Self-care Ideas.

All the ideas below are quick ranging from 3 minutes to 15 minutes. So try them one at time to find some quick wins you can add to your daily routine.

Stick To A Regular Sleep Routine Even On The Weekends.

Having a regular bedtime and wake up time, even on the weekends, is key to getting a better night’s sleep. And it’s not just sleep that needs this regular routine, your brain also needs this too. By going to sleep or waking up at different times we create what has been coined as “social jetlag”.

With social jetlag we get all the affects of jetlag on our brain and body by keeping this irregular schedule. Even the loss of one hour can take several days of normal sleep routine to catch up. It has been shown to cause increased risks of injuries, accidents and mood problems. So sticking to a regular sleep routine is vital for our mental and physical health.

For more sleeps tips please check out my blog 11 tips to help you get a better night’s sleep.

Watch Your Water Intake.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day will help you stay hydrated. Being dehydrated will affect your concentration levels, productivity, sleep and immune system also. So getting the required amount of water into our bodies is vital.

But let’s face it that can be a tall order if you are not use to drinking that much water. Try swapping out one cup of coffee or tea for a glass of water instead. That way you can build up the amount of water you consume even in a small way at the beginning. Remember it’s all about small steps adding up instead of pushing yourself.

Complete A Nightly Brain Dump.

Journaling has huge benefits for both mental and physical health. Research has shown it acts not only as a stress management, anxiety and depression support tool, but has been shown to benefit asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and other health conditions.

It improves cognitive functioning and it strengthens the immune system, preventing a host of illnesses. Plus allows our right brain to become more creative and also occupies our left brain with some rational and analytical operations.

In effect, it removes mental blocks and allows you to use all of your brain power to better understand yourself, others and the world around you. But again you might find that this doesn’t appeal or you don’t have much time to dedicate to it. So try completing a quick nightly brain dump instead. It should take no longer than 15 minutes.

To complete this brain dump all you have to do is start by listing out all your tasks, to –do’s, shopping list items, etc. Anything at all that is currently swirling around your mind. Add in any random thoughts or feelings that come up. Just get as much out of your mind as possible to free up some space in your head before bed.

You can also use this technique any time you feel stuck or overwhelmed. It will help you get reorientated and reduce your stress too. As you can pick one thing off the list that you can complete within the next five minutes that will help you feel unstuck. Then go to the next item on the list and so on. This way you regain your momentum and don’t get caught up in procrastination as much.

Try also keeping a gratitude list and an achievement log. These are also a great way to boost your mental health.

Use The Three Minute Breathing Meditation.

Meditation is a very useful when it comes to reducing stress, anxiety and even calming you when you feel angry, as it is a very effect anger management tool. One form of meditation, the 7/11 technique, can be useful tool when we are on the go.

Deep breathing techniques (7/11 technique) work by stimulating what is known as the Parasympathetic Nervous System. Most of you may have heard of the ‘fight, fright or flight’ response. This is the Sympathetic Nervous System that gets you ready for action and helps us naturally react to stimulus that causes us fear, anger, or threatens us in some manner.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System is simply the opposite of that. It activates a natural bodily response that can be described as ‘rest and digest’. It stimulates our out-breaths to decrease our blood pressure, dilate our pupils and slows our heart rate. Thus lowering emotional arousal in the process.

For most of us we only use the top half of our lungs when stressed, anxious or angry. This is an automatic process, but we can learn to consciously control our breathing. For relaxation, and to promote well being, we need to fill our whole lungs. This will help to change our mind/body state. Something as simple as the 7 – 11 technique is easy and quick to learn. I have a podcast here that teaches this.

But again sitting through entire meditation can be difficult at the start. One short meditation, the 3 minute breather, based on the 7/11 technique can give you a quick win. The 3 minute breather  can also be used on the go. In fact I recommend that you do use it throughout the day to reduce any stress hormones in the body. It will help bring you back to a more even keel.

Of course if you are feeling particularly anxious sitting may be very difficult so get up and walk about. If you don’t feel comfortable walking outside then you can either walk around the garden or walk in circles around a room inside your home.  The movement helps to dispel some of the energy that has built up in our bodies from the flight, fight, and fright response. You can also choose to focus on your feet impacting the ground instead of counting.

Cut Back On Notifications.

If you are becoming more stressed then you need to switch off from technology as much as possible. The constant bombardment from notifications on all our devices increases our stress and anxiety levels. We feel obliged to check a notification the instant it is reported. Our technology has certainly trained us to respond well.

So do yourself a favour and switch off any notifications on all your devices. Pop up email notices only distract you from your work. Social media can wait for set times during the day, three times a day at most if you have to.

Remember to also stick to a strict work schedule. If you cannot do this, then it’s time to ask for help with some of your tasks. Or check if your workload has expanded so much that it is now a job for two people.

We need to remember to only check reputable sources once a day, at the most, for updates on news as well. But if you can forego any news, if it is important then someone will always mention it to you.

Go For A 10 Minute Walk If You Don’t Have Time For Exercise.

Getting outside for a quick walk will certainly help with your stress. Even if we don’t have time for our regular exercise routine a quick walk will help you feel as if you have done something that day.

A 10 minute daily walk will be a really practical way you can help reduce your anxiety. If you are prone to anxiety your default mode may be the freeze response. Any sort of movement will help unfreeze you and release those stress response hormones coursing through your body.

Use Some Hand Lotion As A Positive Distraction.

If you are feeling stressed, or find the negative thoughts starting to build, rub hand lotion in to your hands. Allow yourself to focus on the sensations in your hands or the smell of the hand lotion.

Use this as a healthy means of distraction to re-balance/re-centre and calm yourself. This is something you can practice on the go also and no one will know. So while waiting for an appointment, meeting to start, or sitting in your car for example.

Of course chewing gum (mint) or scented candles can also be used.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No one is an island. In fact I would strongly advise you to reach out for counseling if you, or a loved one, need to.

My Books.

I offer a variety of tips and discuss a range of topics in my workbooks The Building Blocks Of Self-Care, Moving Towards Self-forgiveness, The Little Book Of Reflection And Gratitude and Building Acceptance Into Your Life. You can purchase them on Amazon or here.