Dear Me, Avoid Burnout and Take Care of Yourself

         By now, you’ve probably heard the term “self-care”. It’s the concept of taking time out of our busy lives to do the things that we enjoy or need. Even though this concept sounds super simple, many of us struggle to make ourselves a priority. Here’s the thing though, we need to make self-care a priority. If we’re constantly working and doing for others, but never for ourselves we eventually reach a point of burnout. You know, the point where we’re exhausted both physically and mentally and every aspect of life just feels miserable until we find a way to recharge.
     I started a puzzle the other day. Not because there wasn’t anything to do, but because I needed a break from everything that needed to be done and that’s okay. Now, the one problem with me starting a puzzle is that I don’t like to walk away from things until I’m finished with them. I have to regularly remind myself to take a break when I’m doing a puzzle... sometimes my kids remind me too. Taking these breaks actually helps me get farther with the puzzle because I have a fresh set of eyes each time I go back. Have you ever done that? Worked on a puzzle for a long time, getting nowhere and walked away only to come back and put in a bunch of pieces? That puzzle is life... Walk away and come back with fresh eyes and you’ll put in more pieces! Coming back to what needs to be done after taking some time for yourself often leads to an improved mood and better focus which in turn leads to better productivity.

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     Maybe you’re thinking “I just don’t have time for any of that”. I totally get it, but guess what... that’s one of the biggest reasons why you need to make the time for it. If you’re feeling this way you're probably already headed towards burnout. Once you reach that point, all of the time consuming things in your life that stopped you from taking care of yourself in the first place become a lot harder and maybe even impossible. Make time for self-care so that you can put your best foot forward and do all of the things that you need to do more efficiently.

     If you get it, but you’re still feeling like you just can’t find time for self-care try evaluating your days. See what you may be able to cut out to make the time for it. A really good place to start is social media. Most of us are guilty of scrolling through social media, I know that I am. It’s really easy to get sucked into our news feed only to find that 20 minutes has flown by. That’s 20 minutes that you could be using for yourself! Trust me, Karen’s triple shot, vanilla, soy latte is not more important than you. I mean, good for Karen, she’s doing something for herself, but hey, you could be too!

     I have one last idea to help you make time for you if you still can’t find a way... it’s actually my favorite... GET UP EARLY! I know that’s super easy for me to say, right? I’m one of those crazy morning people that has my first cup of coffee long before the sun comes up and am ready to take on the world by 6am each day. However, this wasn’t always the case. I have pushed myself for years now to get my butt out of bed before anyone else gets up and starts needing things from me. I am a much happier person when I can drink my morning coffee and plan my day in peace. There’s something magical about that quiet time before the “I’m hungry”s, “I need a drink”s and the “mom can you help me with”s. It was not easy to force myself out of bed early in the beginning, but as time has gone on I’ve come to crave my early mornings. With three kids, a husband, pets and a business, it’s the easiest way for me to get my self-care time in. If you do give early mornings a try, just know that you aren’t alone, I'm up with you each morning too!

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     To recap, if you are tired, overwhelmed and feel like you don’t have time for self-care... you need self-care! Aside from this... you deserve it! YOU ARE WORTHY OF YOUR TIME and owe it to yourself to do the things that make you happy. You wouldn’t tell your loved ones not to do the things that they enjoy so please don’t do it to yourself! MAKE THE TIME!

     Come back next week for a new post that will be loaded with ideas on what to do with your self-care time if you aren’t sure where to start. I’m also putting together a 30 day self-care challenge that we’ll be releasing soon. This challenge will include a free downloadable workbook that includes a self-care tracker, brainstorming pages to help make it happen and information on how to win products by completing the challenge. We also have a self-care Facebook group in the works that will allow for everyone to come together with inspiration, ideas and questions. Yes... Karen will be able to share her latte pic if that’s what self-care looks like for her.