Even though self-care looks easy to do in hindsight, there are certain things that you need to accomplish in order to take care of yourself properly. Simply rewarding yourself with food or material things usually isn’t enough for you to have proper self-care, as you will also have to make an effort to take care of your physical and mental health. Here are some effective tips for taking good care of yourself.
Always Have Enough Rest
As most of us would have a lot of goals in life, we often forget about resting well because of how busy we are in achieving those goals. There are even some people that do multiple jobs every day, and due to those jobs, they barely get rest or sleep. Unfortunately, what most of us don’t know is that rest is as important as achieving our goals because, without rest, we wouldn’t be able to have enough energy to accomplish different tasks. In addition, not getting enough rest every day would severely affect our physical and mental health.
Most health experts recommend that we get at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night, but for teens, it is recommended that they get more than 9 hours of sleep to enable growth and development. So, if you want to have better self-care, you should make an effort to have enough sleep every day, as proper sleep would also benefit you from having an easier time accomplishing tasks at work or school. Check Spectrumhealthcare.com for more tips on getting proper self-care.
Have a Healthy Diet
One of the most common tips that many self-care books and articles would tell you is to have a healthy diet. Even though having a healthy diet is already cliché in self-care, it always appears in articles and books because it is arguably one of the best ways for you to take good care of yourself.
Having a healthy diet means your meals should consist of nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. In addition, these foods should also have the right balance of protein, carbs, and fat. Fortunately, there are many guides online that you can follow to have a healthy diet, and some of these guides would even provide you with healthy and tasty recipes that you can prepare for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Practice Good Hygiene
In addition to a healthy diet, good hygiene is also a great way to take care of yourself. Not only will you get rid of a lot of viruses or bacteria in your body, but you will also look and smell good when you practice good hygiene. Of course, to practice good hygiene, you need to have a proper bath time, which would consist of using body soap and shampoo.
Good hygiene would also apply to your teeth, so you need to make sure that you brush your teeth three times a day. If you want to smell even better, you can use deodorant and perfume before leaving for school or work. If you want your husband or wife to have good hygiene and self-care, check this article to learn more about what you can give your spouse besides a proper hygiene kit.
Find a Hobby You Can Enjoy
Your life shouldn’t just consist of sleeping, eating, and working, as you can use your free time to do something you enjoy very much, and one of the best things that you can do is find a hobby. A hobby could be anything, from collecting toys to playing an instrument, and as long as you enjoy the hobby, then you will certainly be able to have fun and relax while not worrying about work or life in general. Find a hobby that you enjoy the most, but if you have a lot of time to do anything, you are free to find multiple hobbies, like firing the best light crossbow at an archery range or playing basketball.
Find Time to Relax
If you don’t want to do hobbies on particular days, you can just use your free time to relax and unwind. A great way to relax is to listen to calming music or ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) audio clips, and these can also be utilized to have a faster and easier time sleeping. Reading books is also great for relaxation, although you may need books that are easier to read compared to the more complex ones that can be confusing and headache-inducing to read if you are just trying to relax.
Other ways for you to relax are watching TV, playing video games, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, or simply lying down on a sofa or bed. Relaxing is an effective way for you to destress and forget about your problems and tasks, even for just a little while. Worrying too much about work, school, or life, in general, can be bad for your mental health, so always take time to relax and calm down.
Talk to Your Loved Ones
In order to take care of your mental health, relaxing and finding hobbies sometimes aren’t enough, especially if you currently have big problems or issues affecting your life. So, to release the stress, sadness, and frustration you feel, you will need to talk to your loved ones about them. You can talk to anyone you trust, from your family members up to your closest friends, and they may even give you advice on how to deal with your problems. Some of your loved ones may even be experiencing bigger problems compared to yours, so talking to them is also a great way to take care of their mental health besides yours.
Taking care of yourself is essential and should be considered one of your goals. Without taking care of yourself, you wouldn’t even be able to accomplish your other goals, so do your best in self-care, particularly in monitoring and maintaining good physical and mental health.