Treat yourself like the precious person that you are. It’s time to prioritise self-care and learn what the signs you need more self-care are.
In a culture that often makes you feel guilty for taking care of yourself, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of self-neglect. But unhealthy habits, like not getting enough sleep, skipping meals, and grabbing unhealthy food on the go can take a toll on your health over time. Self-care is about taking care of yourself so that you’re healthy in all aspects of your life. Take a look at these signs that it’s time for you to prioritize self-care:
You’re always getting sick
If you’re always getting sick, your body is telling you that something is off. Are you missing out on sleep? Are your hormones misfiring? Is stress taking a toll on your immune system and making it more difficult for you to fight off infections?
Perhaps the answer lies in how well you are taking care of yourself overall. It could be as simple as eating healthier food and exercising regularly—but if that doesn’t seem plausible, then perhaps it’s time to schedule an appointment with a doctor and get checked out.
The bottom line is: If something feels wrong, don’t ignore it! Get help from someone who knows what they’re doing (preferably a medical professional).
Your sleep habits are a mess
If you’re getting enough sleep, but still waking up feeling like you haven’t slept, it could be a sign that something else is going on. It could be signs you need more self-care. The brain is a complex machine and sometimes needs to be taken care of. It’s important to remember that there are different forms of sleep and they all serve distinct purposes:
- Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep helps join short-term memories into long-term ones by strengthening synapses in the brain. REM is when most dreams occur; it’s also when we have our deepest level of unconsciousness during the night. Most deep sleep occurs during non-REM periods—which is why it can take some time for us to wake up after dozing off!
You’re exhausted all the time
Exhaustion is a common symptom of many health issues. If you’re feeling exhausted right now, take a break! Stress, lack of sleep and poor diet can all lead to exhaustion. When we’re overworked and stressed out, our bodies release cortisol—a hormone that helps us deal with stress. But too much cortisol leads to increased blood pressure and weight gain while decreasing bone density—and those aren’t things you want on your plate right now!
- Get extra sleep as often as possible (but don’t skimp on your other responsibilities).
- Taking breaks throughout the day is a great idea—even just five minutes can help. You might go for a walk outside, meditate at home, sit down with a cup of tea, or take advantage of your lunch break.
You’re constantly stressed
Stress can make you sick. It can affect your sleep, and it makes you feel like a victim of your own life. Stress can even lead to anxiety and depression—and that’s not good for anyone’s health! It feels like you’re running in place: no matter how hard you work or how much progress you make, there’s always more work ahead of you and less time to do it.
When we neglect to take care of ourselves, our mental health suffers. Stress is one key sign that we need more self-care in our lives because when we’re stressed out all the time (or feeling as though we are), it means that our mental health is suffering from too much pressure coming from outside sources—including stressors such as job changes or financial struggles.
You feel like you can’t slow down for a minute
While it’s true that self-care can be as simple as taking a few minutes to relax, slowing down more generally can be an important part of your self-care routine. The best way to do this? Try some breathing exercises, meditation or yoga. You can also try taking a walk at lunch or going for a run after work. Even just taking the time to sit down and have lunch with someone is good for you!
You’re not eating well
We all know that eating well is good for you. But did you know that not eating well can cause stress?
Skipping meals and eating fast food is a common practice, but it can have negative consequences. When you’re hungry, all of your body’s resources go into trying to keep you alive and functioning – which means they don’t have any extra energy left over for other important things. This means that your brain has less access to glucose, which means it can’t function at its best. You’ll feel physically tired, mentally foggy, and emotionally drained – and those are just the short-term effects! The long-term effects include:
- Increased risk of heart disease and diabetes
- Decreased cognitive ability
- Weakened immune system
You have low self-esteem and feel bad about yourself
The first step to improving your self-care is to boost your self-esteem.
Self-esteem means feeling good about yourself. It’s not something that can be bought or earned—it’s a feeling of being good enough, and it directly affects how we feel about ourselves and our lives.
Low self-esteem can be a vicious cycle, making it hard to feel good about yourself and your life in general. But if you’re willing to work at it and reach out for help when needed, you can learn to manage your feelings of inadequacy and embrace a healthier lifestyle. One way of boosting your self-esteem is to improve your self-talk.
Self-talk is a concept that isn’t really talked about often but it’s easy to see the effects of on other people, whether it be positive or negative.
Self-talk is the way you talk to yourself in your head – it’s a way of thinking, like remembering what to do. How you talk to yourself can make a huge difference in how you feel about yourself and by working on replacing negative self-talk with more positive self-talk, you’re more likely to feel in control of things that are going on in your life and to achieve your goals.
You’re too hard on yourself
We all want to be the best versions of ourselves. But sometimes, that means being hard on ourselves when we make mistakes or fail at something.
When you’re putting yourself down, it’s easy to feel stressed out and overwhelmed. And when that happens, it’s harder to be your best self and do the things you want to do.
If you’re not careful, the stress can also lead to anxiety or depression. And that’s something we want to avoid!
So how do we avoid this? The best way to start is by recognizing that being hard on yourself is actually a form of self-sabotage—it makes you feel bad about yourself and prevents you from achieving the goals you want to achieve.
It’s difficult to break a habit like self-sabotage, but the first step is recognizing that it’s a problem in the first place. Once you realize it’s happening, try taking a step back from whatever situation triggered the self-sabotage and ask yourself why you might be doing this. Are there parts of this situation that are outside of your control? Is there anything positive about what’s happening? Ask yourself questions like these until you find some answers that make sense for you.
You don’t often have time to exercise or move your body — or you hate to exercise and think of it as torture
One of the best ways to take care of yourself is by moving your body. But for those who dread exercise or feel it isn’t possible in their schedule, the news may seem discouraging.
Whatever your age, there’s strong scientific evidence that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and happier life.
People who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing many long-term (chronic) conditions, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some cancers.
Research also shows that physical activity can also boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reduce your risk of stress and clinical depression.
You don’t take time to just relax, breathe deeply, and do nothing on most days
When we are tired, stressed, or busy taking care of others, it can be tempting to neglect our own needs. The more we take care of ourselves—by getting enough sleep, eating well, and finding time for relaxation—the better we will be able to care for others. By not prioritizing our own needs first, it’s possible that what feels like selfless dedication might actually be more selfishness disguised as kindness!
Your life is busy, but if you want to stay healthy you’ve got to make self-care non-negotiable
How do you know if self-care is a priority to you?
- You’ve made plans with friends, family and/or your significant other and have chosen not to go because of work or other obligations.
- You’re consistently cancelling plans with people in order to work more (or play more video games).
- Your physical health is suffering because of stress or lack of sleep.
Taking time for self-care can be hard, especially when we feel like it’s the last thing we want to do. But if you find yourself making excuses for not prioritizing self-care, then it’s time to make it a non-negotiable part of your schedule!
Don’t let the demands of life get in the way of taking care of yourself. If it feels like your health is suffering, then it probably is. Take some time out to examine what’s going on with you and make a plan to start making changes in small ways that will add up to big improvements over time.
