“Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano — You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body”
- Juvenal
Self-Care. Over and over, you hear about the concept of self-care. It doesn’t matter what you do for your career, or whether you are looking for balance between home and work, you are going to hear that you need to take time for self-care.
Like so many things, it is easier said than done.
You’ve got a meeting, you ran late into the building today, there was a meeting that could have been an email, you got sidetracked by a colleague, you used the only “free” time of your day to manage something about home. Whatever cuts into your time has done the damage. There is no time.
You can throw up your hands and say “tomorrow.” You can point fingers and blame. Or you can put your head down and do the work. Prioritize your self-care in the moments that you have.
Take a 5 minute walk after you eat lunch- invite a colleague to go with you (they’ll thank you).
Stretch. Twist your trunk and loosen your back. Stand up, then try to touch your toes- feel totally out of shape?- then put your hands on your thighs.
Roll your shoulders back after too much time on the computer. Do 10 shoulder rolls back and forth.
Don’t answer emails for an hour.
Listen to some music.
If you have a meditation app, try one of the 5 minute ones. Headspace and Calm have tons of very short meditations.
Realize this… even a small step in the line of self-care is an important one for today. Do something small today, and then do it again tomorrow. As James Clear talks about, make it about “showing up” in the beginning of starting a self care habit. From there, you can refine it and make it something more robust. Just start today.
