Paring Down, Staying Sane: Take Care

Sometimes when I schedule topics ahead of time to write, I swear I seem to set myself up for irony. Or perhaps I just have a knack for knowing exactly what I need to hear myself as I decide what to share with you.

Last time I wrote about taking care of yourself, I finished that article as the last task of a marathon 14-hour work day. Today, as I write about another aspect of taking care of yourself, I show up at the keyboard feeling remarkably emotionally vulnerable and all sorts of worn out for various personal reasons. Irony, serendipity or a bit of both?

Why Should You Take Care of Yourself?

As you begin to narrow in on your true priorities and cut your to-do list down to the core of what matters to you, you will find that you have more time to take care of yourself. And it turns out that if you take good care of yourself, you'll actually have more time, creativity, verve and general awesome you-ness to bring into everything that you do. It's pretty much a win-win situation.

Steven Covey calls this sharpening the saw; you are only as good as your tools, and you are your own most important tool. You can only take good care of other people and accomplish ambitious goals if you're in good shape yourself. It's like in airplane safety where they tell you to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting other passengers... because otherwise you might both suffocate.

So those are the productivity-oriented reasons to do it. Sometimes they are a good way to talk yourself into justifying taking care of yourself, but eventually I hope that you'll also do it without needing that justification-- because you love and value yourself and believe that you are worthy of good care.

How Do You Take Care of Yourself?

1. Start with the basics. Taking good care of yourself means noticing and meeting your basic needs: healthful food, enough water, enough exercise, enough sleep, some fun, a blend of connection with others you care for and time alone. You don't need to be perfect at all this stuff all the time, but you need to be on top of it.

2. Vary your pace. You can't always go at top speed and all-out effort. Sometimes, you need to take breaks, or slow down. If you allow the pace of your life to ramp up and stay up without some down time now and again, you'll burn out. On the other hand, if you've gotten into a rut, maybe you need to seek some challenges and take it up a notch for a while.

3. Notice what fills you and feeds you, heart and soul. Do more of that.

4. Taking care of yourself isn't about excessive self-indulgence. Taking good care of yourself isn't something you need to feel guilty about. That said, it's also not a license to do way too much of something that's short-term indulgent at the expense of your long-term well-being. It's all a balance, right?

5. Don't organize away your whimsicality and spontaneity. There are times to ignore your lists and routines and do what feels right in the moment.

6. Don't give up. If you've gotten into the habit of putting yourself last on your list, you might struggle with taking better care of yourself. Keep working on it. It will get easier over time, and you'll see rewards.

Taking good care of yourself can be hard sometimes, but it's totally worth it. Now that I'm finished with this article, I'm going to spend the next hour taking wonderful care of me by having food, a bath, and some time to gently be with my thoughts and feelings. That's what I need tonight, and I give it to myself both out of love and with the knowledge that tomorrow I will work and play the better for it.

Want to catch up? This post is the last part in a series. You can also read about the power of later, being more efficient, empowering yourself with the right focus,, harnessing excitement, committing to less, letting go, and the series introduction if you'd like to catch up.