Why We Need A Basic Self-Care Routine?

Keeping up with a busy schedule can lead to an increase in our stress levels. A good basic self-care routine can be your foundation to giving you the right support for better mental and physical health. Having some small self-care habits will help you re-center, calm and de-stress your life. Plus doing a small healthy habit each day will feel a lot better than doing absolutely nothing.

We are all creatures of habit and these support our daily routines. Some of these habits aren’t so good for us or no longer serve us. Some may be so deeply ingrained into our daily routine that we don’t recognize that we do them. We all know that we need better healthier habits in our lives. But changing our habits can feel daunting especially if we feel stressed. So raising our awareness will be key here.

Raising Our Awareness Will Be The First Step To Change.

Raising our awareness of what we do to cope with our stress triggers is one way to begin to change things for the better. We can then see what we could introduce in terms of basic self-care to help us regain a sense of balance and control again.

Journaling is one of the best ways we can raise our awareness. Plus it helps to take us out of our head. So rather than trying to keep reasoning it out in our heads, just keeping the negative cycle going and adding to our stress, we can journal it out. When we start to get it all down in black and white we can review what exactly is going on and look for a better solution.

Journaling Has Many Benefits.

Journaling has many benefits for our mental and physical health. It can help us feel calm, re-centered and grounded. Our thoughts, emotions and behaviours become clearer as we begin to take a few minutes to stop and think about what is really happening. Reducing our stress and anxiety levels thus our mental health can feel better supported as a result. I’ve talked before on how many ways journaling supports our mental and physical health you can check that our here.

Introducing journaling for a few minutes a day can start the change process you need to feel less stressed. We are only setting aside a few minutes a day to bring in a healthy habit. But like all small healthy habits they can ripple out into the rest of our lives and help us change other things.

How To Introduce Journaling As A Health Habit.

It doesn’t matter whether you use paper/pen, a computer program such as word or a dedicated app. Just pick the one that suits you best. Sometimes using an app t record our thoughts allows for better flow and reduces our perfectionist side.

It is best if you set aside a specific amount of time. Usually 15 to 20 minutes is enough time for our deeper thoughts and feelings to surface. Then with a little support and forward planning you can succeed at introducing this healthy self-care habit.

Other Tips That Will Help.

1 Don’t forget to pick your why. Your why is an important ingredient to getting you started with any type of change and introducing journaling into you routine is no exception.

So what is your why? It could be to reduce your stress by releasing some pressure with a good rant. Or it could be to raise your awareness about what you want to change in your life or around a particular problem.

No matter what your why is don’t get too caught up in creating it. It’s okay to have a “why” for now. It can always change as your awareness grows and you change.

2 Pick the right time to journal that suits your lifestyle. It’s important to add any new habit into the right time in your day. When would suit you best? Perhaps you’re better in the morning and you have some time then. Or maybe it would be better just before you go to bed and the house is quieter. It could be at any time as long it’s the same time each day to cement it into your routine.  So pick one time and give it a try. You may have to experiment with a variety of times to find the right one for you.

3 Add in your cues. So you found the time you will try, now what happens before you journal will be your cue. So if you picked an evening time to journal will this be before you get into bed or right after the kids are in bed? No matter when it happens you need to recognize your cue. So if you pick just after you climb into bed then that’s your cue.

4 Eliminate any distractions. As I said you might need to experiment with the time of day you will journal. So what could get in your way? With journaling it could be people interrupting you. So asking for 15 minutes of time alone or waiting till everyone is in bed might be help here. Stopping notifications on your phone, tablet and not sitting in front of the TV would also help.

So the key here is to think ahead before you begin. What could set you up for failure or distract you during your new habit? Think this through and plan accordingly.

A Few Words Of Caution.

1. Journaling is meant as a catalyst for change here. It can help raise our awareness of other changes that are needed in our lives. Journaling can help spark our interest in creating better routines in our lives. But don’t become overwhelmed if you feel that a lot needs to change. Take it one step at a time and reach out for support where you need to.
2. It can be very cathartic to vent. But if it’s the only thing you focus on then this can add to your stress. So if you have suffered a traumaor if you find that you are focusing too much on the negativethen I would advise you speak with a therapist before continuing.

Work With Me.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No woman is an island. In fact I would strongly advice you make sure you create a positive support system before you start to make any changes in your life.

If you need extra support then you can also work with me. We all struggle with stress and overwhelm from time to time. If you find this has become a problem for you and you’d like some support then schedule an appointment with me.