6 Tips for Practicing Self-Care This Spring
Spring is a time of renewal, meaning it’s an ideal time of year to refresh and care for yourself. Self-care has been proven to be a vital part of an individual’s growth and development. By focusing on wellbeing, you’re encouraging your mind to deal healthily with past stress and building up your resilience for future challenges.
There are a lot of ways to care for yourself. Sometimes, it can be as simple as small acts that help center you mentally and physically, and improve your life. In light of the coming spring, here are a couple of easy-to-follow tips for practicing self-care:
1. Get Out More
After a long hard winter, spring is the season when the weather finally starts to warm up. As the climate grows more temperate, consider spending more time outdoors whenever possible. The heat isn’t as agitating as summer, making the weather perfect for everything from hiking to simply shifting your home office to your backyard.
Studies have shown that spending time in nature can improve short-term memory and attention span by up to 20 percent. It also helps to restore mental energy, improve concentration, and relieve stress.
2. Take Care of Your Tech
In modern life, functioning technology has become an essential utility. If everyday devices like phones, computers, and laptops don’t work, it can add a lot of stress to life. For this reason, taking care of your tech is an investment in your emotional wellbeing.
To say goodbye to the frustration of your laptop losing your term paper or deleting a work report at the last minute, get your glitchy computer fixed. Doing so will prevent anxiety-causing issues before they can happen and allow you to relax and enjoy your technology for recreational purposes. The investment is definitely worth your mental health and peace of mind.
3. Consider Your Sleep Schedule
Sleep is very important for taking care of both your mind and body in a proper manner. A lot of common problems, such as exhaustion, stress, and mood swings, happen because people don’t get enough sleep. The pandemic has led to many people experiencing excessive amounts of stress, as well as to more people working from home, both of which can disturb regular sleep schedules.
Many people develop bad habits over time that they don’t even know can impact their sleep, like browsing on their phone late at night, eating irregularly, and sleeping in sub-optimal positions. To prevent your sleep from being hampered, work on developing good habits, such as meditation, keeping a regular sleep schedule, eating light for dinner, and putting your phone and computer away for at least an hour before bed.
4. Work on Work-Life Balance
Many struggle to balance their professional and personal lives, which ultimately takes a toll on health and mental wellbeing. If you find yourself in such a situation, you must learn how to balance the two.
Often, people end up flooded with work because they fail to set up boundaries. The first thing you need to work on is figuring out what your priorities are and be sure they’re the focus of your schedule. Learning how to say no is an important part of setting boundaries and something you should practice if you aren’t already doing so. Learn to communicate with your colleagues and management. Make sure to turn off work-related devices and notifications at the end of your shift.
5. Find a New Favorite Show
Sometimes, just turning your brain off and watching something is the best thing you can do to relax. TV shows are a great way to do this, whether you’re alone or with company. Watching TV can be mentally and emotionally stimulating while also taking the focus off real-life stressors.
There are thousands of terrific TV shows out there across genres like drama, fantasy, comedy, sci-fi, and more. If you’ve run out of shows to watch and are itching for some new ones, check out some of 2020’s best shows.
6. Find Joy in Food
A poor diet is often the root cause of physical and mental ailments. If you often feel sluggish or even uncomfortable after eating, consider switching to healthier options. Spring is a great time to eat more vegetables and fruits, so don’t forget to check your local farmers’ market for fresh produce.
There are few joys in life as uniquely satisfying as trying out a delicious new dish. If you like cooking, find new recipes to try out. Otherwise, order a new dish or dessert from that restaurant you’ve been dying to try.
Find Joy in the Coming Season
In many cultures across the globe, spring is considered the season of rejuvenation and renewal. Over the past year, a lot has been going on that might have affected your spirits, but it’s never too late to improve your mood by showing yourself a little extra care.
