How do i start taking care of myself

NIMH » Caring for Your Mental Health

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Overview

Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, act, make choices, and relate to others. Mental health is more than the absence of a mental illness—it’s essential to your overall health and quality of life. Self-care can play a role in maintaining your mental health and help support your treatment and recovery if you have a mental illness.

About Self-Care

Self-care means taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health. When it comes to your mental health, self-care can help you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy. Even small acts of self-care in your daily life can have a big impact.

Here are some tips to help you get started with self-care:

Get regular exercise. Just 30 minutes of walking every day can help boost your mood and improve your health. Small amounts of exercise add up, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t do 30 minutes at one time.
Eat healthy, regular meals and stay hydrated. A balanced diet and plenty of water can improve your energy and focus throughout the day. Also, limit caffeinated beverages such as soft drinks or coffee.
Make sleep a priority. Stick to a schedule, and make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Blue light from devices and screens can make it harder to fall asleep, so reduce blue light exposure from your phone or computer before bedtime.
Try a relaxing activity. Explore relaxation or wellness programs or apps, which may incorporate meditation, muscle relaxation, or breathing exercises. Schedule regular times for these and other healthy activities you enjoy such as journaling.
Set goals and priorities. Decide what must get done now and what can wait. Learn to say “no” to new tasks if you start to feel like you’re taking on too much. Try to be mindful of what you have accomplished at the end of the day, not what you have been unable to do.
Practice gratitude. Remind yourself daily of things you are grateful for. Be specific. Write them down at night, or replay them in your mind.
Focus on positivity. Identify and challenge your negative and unhelpful thoughts.
Stay connected. Reach out to your friends or family members who can provide emotional support and practical help.

Self-care looks different for everyone, and it is important to find what you need and enjoy. It may take trial and error to discover what works best for you. In addition, although self-care is not a cure for mental illnesses, understanding what causes or triggers your mild symptoms and what coping techniques work for you can help manage your mental health.

For other ideas for healthy practices for your mind, body, surroundings, and relationships, see the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Wellness Toolkits.

When to Seek Professional Help

Seek professional help if you are experiencing severe or distressing symptoms that have lasted two weeks or more, such as:

Difficulty sleeping
Appetite changes that result in unwanted weight changes
Struggling to get out of bed in the morning because of mood
Difficulty concentrating
Loss of interest in things you usually find enjoyable
Inability to perform usual daily functions and responsibilities

Don’t wait until your symptoms are overwhelming. Talk about your concerns with your primary care provider, who can refer you to a mental health specialist if needed. If you don’t know where to start, read the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Tips for Talking With a Health Care Provider About Your Mental Health. Learn more about how to get help or find a provider on the NIMH’s Help for Mental Illnesses webpage.

What to Do in a Crisis

If you are thinking about harming yourself or attempting suicide, tell someone who can help right away or dial 911 in an emergency. You can also call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org, or contact the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services provide 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend’s social media updates.

For additional information about suicide prevention, please see NIMH’s Suicide Prevention webpage.

Featured Videos

NIMH Expert Discusses Managing Stress & Anxiety: Learn coping techniques to help maintain your mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and when to get professional help.

GREAT: Helpful Practices to Manage Stress and Anxiety: Learn about helpful practices to manage stress and anxiety. GREAT was developed by Dr. Krystal Lewis, a licensed clinical psychologist at NIMH.

Getting to Know Your Brain: Dealing with Stress: Test your knowledge about stress and the brain. Also learn how to create and use a “stress catcher” to practice strategies to deal with stress.

Guided Visualization: Dealing with Stress: Learn how the brain handles stress and practice a guided visualization activity.

Mental Health Minute: Stress and Anxiety in Adolescents: Got 60 seconds? Take a mental health minute to learn about stress and anxiety in adolescents.

Featured Fact Sheets

Learn More

Federal Resources

NIH Emotional Wellness Toolkit: This NIH toolkit provides six strategies for improving your emotional health.
NIH Social Wellness Toolkit: This NIH toolkit provides six strategies for improving your social health.
MedlinePlus: How to Improve Mental Health: MedlinePlus provides health information and tips for improving your mental health.
CDC COVID-19: Care for Yourself: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides information on caring for yourself, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CDC COVID-19: Coping With Stress: CDC provides information on how to cope with stress, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other Resources

Note: This list of non-federal resources is provided for informational purposes only. It is not comprehensive and does not constitute an endorsement by NIMH, NIH, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or the U.S. government.

DBSA Wellness Toolbox (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance)
Live Your Life Well (Mental Health America)
Mental Health: Keeping Your Emotional Health (American Academy of Family Physicians)

Last Reviewed: April 2021

Unless otherwise specified, NIMH information and publications are in the public domain and available for use free of charge. Citation of NIMH is appreciated. Please see our Citing NIMH Information and Publications page for more information.

Taking Good Care of Yourself

Now that you've made the decision to begin your journey to recovery, below are some tools to aid you in the process. Identifying tools and developing plans will help you be more prepared and empowered to take action when it comes to your recovery. Here are healthy steps to take:

Work Toward Goals Care for Yourself Build Strong Connections Meditate

Working Toward Goals

People in recovery offer the following suggestions:

Focus on your strengths.
Focus on solving problems.
Focus on the future instead of reviewing hurts from the past.
Focus on your life instead of your illness.

As you work on your recovery, you might want to write down some of your main goals. These goals can be short-term and easily achievable, or you can start identifying bigger, more long-term goals that you want to work your way towards. It's helpful to think of small steps to take toward them over a certain amount of time, like a week or a month. Remember to congratulate yourself for any successes. Achieving goals - even small ones - is a sign of hope and accomplishment.

Developing goals for recovery can be tricky, especially if you aren't sure what it is that you want to accomplish. Consider your interests, things that bring you joy and things that keep you motivated. Also, think about the things you want, like where you want your life to go or what you would do more of if you could. Having a deep investment in the goals that you set will increase the chances of completing them.

Once you have set goals for yourself, you need to figure out what things are necessary to accomplish those goals. Be clear about why you set this goal and how your life will be different once this goal is achieved. You should also consider the strengths and skills that you possess that will help you achieve your goal. Try to involve necessary support systems and resources that can help you through the process if and when you need it. Finally, remember to stay focused on the goal and not on the difficulties you might be having. Keep an open mind, and know that you may hit barriers along the way. Recovery is no easy task, and focusing on the negative experiences will only make things harder.

Create a journal or scrapbook with pictures and clippings to help maintain your goals. Keeping a journal or scrapbook is a good way to track your goals and remind you of the things you've accomplished and the things you still plan to accomplish. Continue to add new goals as they come up. Recovery is a constant process and continuing to set goals for yourself will keep you motivated to reach and maintain wellness.

Care for Yourself

Taking good care of yourself is paramount to the success of your recovery process. People in recovery find that their physical, spiritual, and emotional health are all connected, and that supporting one supports the others. Taking care of all aspects of you will increase the likelihood that you stay well.

To help support you in your recovery, you can access a three-minute screening tool and progress monitor for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. Click here to take the screener or mark your progress.

Some tips for self-care include:

Live Healthy, eat healthy foods, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and avoid drugs and alcohol. Manage stress and go for regular medical check-ups.
Practice good hygiene. Good hygiene is important for social, medical, and psychological reasons in that it not only reduces the risk of illness, but it also improves the way others view you and how you view yourself.
See friends to build your sense of belonging. Consider joining a support group to make new friends.

Try to do something you enjoy every day. That might mean dancing, watching a favorite TV show, working in the garden, painting or reading.
Find ways to relax, like meditation, yoga, getting a massage, taking a bath or walking in the woods.

The National Institute of Wellness has created an online "wellness" screener that allows you to keep track of your own recovery journey. Visit the NIW's website at http://www.testwell.org/twfree.htm to obtain your wellness score.

You can also visit LiveYourLifeWell.info to learn more about the 10 Tools to Live Your Life Well.

Strengthen Your Connections

The importance of incorporating joy, spirit, and relaxation in your life has many implications in developing resiliency (the ability to recover from an illness) and staying healthy. The four C's to joy, spirit, and relaxation are: connect with yourself, connect with others, connect to your community, and create joy and satisfaction. As you use these four C's remember to continue trying to push your comfort levels and do things you may not have done before.

Connect With Yourself

It is important that you check in with yourself periodically. If you do not then you may not realize that things are changing or getting out of control. Checking in with yourself allows you the opportunity to evaluate where you are in your recovery. You may find that you need to readjust what step of your action plan you are on or try different coping tools.

If you have had low times in the past you understand how hard it can be to get out of those places. Learning all that you can about your mental health condition will help let you know that your hard times are not your fault. Making a list of accomplishments that you have achieved is a good resource to turn back to when you are feeling low.

Another tool that may help you is to journal about your experiences. Keeping a journal is a great way to learn about yourself. Being completely honest in your journal is important; in your journal, you should feel free to let your guard down. This will help you discover how you really feel and vent your stress in a non-threatening manner.

Another method of connecting with yourself is to become an advocate and share your story. There has been a lot of research that explores the power of storytelling as a form of therapy. Sharing your own experiences through writing or talking is an important stage of recovery. Just as you are supported by reading the thoughts and experiences of others you can also be the person that helps lift another.

Connect With Others

Spending time with positive, loving people you care about and trust can ease stress, help your mood and improve the way you feel overall. They may be family members, close friends, members of a support group or a peer counselor at the local drop-in center. Many communities even have warmlines (free hotlines run by people with mental health conditions) that you can call to talk to someone and receive peer support.

Research points to the benefits of social connection:

Increased happiness. In one compelling study, a key difference between very happy people and less happy people was good relationships.
Better health. Loneliness was associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure in a recent study of older people.
A longer life. People with strong social and community ties were two or three times less likely to die during a 9-year study.

Connection happens when you get:

Concrete help, such as having a friend pick your kids up from school;
Emotional support, like hearing someone say, "I'm really sorry you're having such a tough time";
Perspective, like being reminded that even the moodiest teenagers grow up;
Advice, such as a suggestion to plan a weekly date with your spouse;
Validation, like learning that other folks love reading train schedules too.

Do you have enough support? Ask yourself if you have at least a few friends or family members who:

You feel comfortable to be with;
Give you a sense that you could tell them anything;
Can help you solve problems;
Make you feel valued;
Take your concerns seriously.

Connect to Your Community

A great way to feel emotionally strong and resilient in times of stress is to feel connected to a broad community. Think about the things you like to do. You can expand your social network by looking into a community organization that brings people together who share the same interests. For instance, many communities have local biking, hiking, or walking groups. Is there something you've always wanted to do like learn a new language? Take a class, or join a local group. You also may find the support you need through local support groups for a specific issue like parenting, dealing with a health problem, or caring for a loved one who's ill.

Or consider volunteering with a community organization that helps fill a need. Here are some tips to make sure your volunteer experience works for you, and does not become an additional source of stress:

Get the right match. Think about what kind of work you like to do, based on your interests, skills and availability. Consider making this a list for easier readability. Do you like to read, write, build things, repair things, or sort and organize? Do you have a special field of knowledge that you could teach to struggling students as a tutor or coach? Are you especially concerned about homelessness or pollution? Do you love to garden or work in an office? Do you speak another language? Do you need to be at home, and bring your volunteer work home with you? Whatever your situation and your interests, there is probably a volunteer opportunity to make a great contribution in your community. Volunteering will help you build strong connections with others - a proven way to protect your mental health.
Make it count. You want your volunteer time to make a difference, so ask questions to make sure the organization uses volunteers efficiently and productively. Ask what volunteers do, where and when they do it, and whether an employee is available with information and guidance when needed.
Find a connection. To find a volunteer position that's right for you, contact your volunteer center. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Volunteer Clearinghouse" or "Volunteer Center," or find options online at http://www.volunteermatch.org/. Your local Mental Health America affiliate office also may be looking for volunteers. You can also contact your city or county information line to ask for a referral to a volunteer coordinator service in your area.

Create Joy and Satisfaction

Living with a mental health condition can be taxing emotionally, physically, and mentally. Experts have found that good feelings can boost your ability to deal with stress, solve problems, think flexibly, and even fight disease. Taking care of your body emotionally, physically, and mentally through creating joy and satisfaction is an important part of living with or without a mental health condition.

Studies show that:

Laughing decreases pain, may help your heart and lungs, promotes muscle relaxation, and can reduce anxiety.
Positive emotions can decrease stress hormones and build emotional strength.
Leisure activities offer a distraction from problems, a sense of competence and many other benefits. For example, in one study observing twins, the one who participated in leisure activities was less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or dementia than their fellow twin.

Some tips to enjoy life and relax:

Do something you loved to do as a kid. Run through the sprinklers, hang from the monkey bars, or make a mess with finger paints.
Do something you've always wanted to do. Bake a soufflé, build a tree house, or learn to knit. If you're not sure how, take a class or look for a local group dedicated to the activity.
Watch or listen to comedy. Via video, podcast, or website. Or get a laugh the old-fashioned way - through the comics section.
Therapeutic massage. A massage can relieve muscle tension, stimulate the body's natural painkillers and boost your immune system. It can also help you feel less anxious and more relaxed.
A nature break. A blue sky, lush bushes, a scenic lake. Walking in - or even just looking at - nature calms our nerves and relieves mental fatigue. In one study, workers with views of nature were happier with their jobs than workers with similar jobs but no nature view.

Meditate

Research shows that meditation offers not only calm, but also helps with anxiety and depression, cancer, chronic pain, asthma, heart disease and high blood pressure.

To get started, all you need is a few minutes each day. Later you may want to work up to 10, 20, or 30 minutes. You can find one of many meditation options in a book or CD, online, or in a class. Or you can try some suggestions below. If one doesn't work, stay calm...and try another.

Types of Meditation:

Deep breathing. Sit or lie down comfortably. Rest your hands on your stomach. Slowly count to four while inhaling through your nose. Feel your stomach rise. Hold your breath for a second. Slowly count to four while you exhale, preferably through pursed lips to control the breath. Your stomach will fall slowly. Repeat a few times.
Mindfulness Meditation. Focus on your breath. Notice anything that passes through your awareness without judgment. If your mind starts to tackle your to-do list, just return to focusing on your breath.
Visualization. Close your eyes, relax and imagine a peaceful place, like a forest. Engage all your senses: Hear the crunching leaves, smell the damp soil, feel the breeze.
Repeating a mantra. Sit quietly and pick any meaningful or soothing word, phrase, or sound. You can repeat the mantra aloud or silently. Experts say the repetition creates a physical relaxation response.
Participate in a meditative form of exercise. Try tai chi or qi gong, which use soothing, flowing motions.

How to take care of yourself when the apocalypse is around - SKB Kontur

Taking care of yourself is not selfishness
How it works: 8 tips
- Do not help out of a sense of duty
- Stop aggression against you
- Don't get infected by other people's feelings
- Give yourself an informational detox
- Explain that you are not available on weekends
- Don't let your plans for day 9 be ruined0004
- When someone calls you, let them know how long you can talk
- Find time for yourself

Self-care is not selfishness

Do you remember the flight attendant's instruction "Put the mask on yourself first, then the child"? This is a good metaphor for a productive and evolutionarily justified life strategy. Those close to us depend on us - on our state of health, energy and presence of mind. So our vitality is not a luxury, but a survival resource for the whole family.

But taking care of yourself is not a tube of cream between RSV and 6-personal income tax (although this is also). In the flow of affairs, we often forget that we are not only in control of a 15-minute tea break - our whole life is in our power, we and only we can make it a little better or worse.

To make this phrase stop being a slogan and become a tool, remember what your "I" is. What exactly is yours and no one else's. These are the areas where you can take care of yourself.

How can I take care of myself

What exactly is mine	What can I do to feel better here
Body, health	I don't work more than 8 hours a day, and at lunchtime I go outside for 15 minutes. I can’t stand illness on my legs and let myself rest, even if I know that I will earn less because of this.
My appearance	I myself choose whether or not to wear makeup, wear heels or sneakers, my mother's earrings or piercings.
Sleep	I sleep at least 8 hours. I don’t answer letters at work in the evening and I don’t receive guests on weekdays, even if it’s my mother-in-law. I bought an anatomical pillow to get enough sleep.
Time	I know when I am productive and how much time I need for what task. Therefore, I do not allow colleagues to distract me, but I book time on the calendar for voluminous tasks.
My pace of life	Someone manages to teach French, help a child with lessons, and do yoga. I don't have time, and that's okay. This is my pace.
My feelings	It depends on me whether I will accumulate resentment and anger or talk about what upsets me and try to change the situation.
My professionalism	Others may not always understand what my job is, but I know my qualifications, I remember the situations I was able to get out of with honor, and I appreciate my professional background.
My home	It's up to me to decide whether it's a boudoir, an artist's home, or a flower shop. I myself know what I need for comfort and how often I need to clean. I accept advice only on the Sber card.

Everyone can have their own table. Make one on the last page of your diary and check back when you feel cornered.

How it works: 8 tips

Do not help out of a sense of duty

We all value relationships with relatives and friends, but sometimes for the sake of these very relationships we infringe on ourselves and spend time not the way we would like. We go to the country house to the mother-in-law instead of going to the cinema with the children. We rent zeros for our sister's IP instead of sleeping. We glue wallpaper for adult children instead of sticking it for ourselves.

Ask yourself if you really want to help a friend or relative, or if you're just afraid of being rejected. If you want, it's all right, it's your choice. And if not, try to find a soft form to refuse. The form is important: not the refusal itself can offend, but a dismissive attitude.

The algorithm is as follows:

Recognize the need and emotions of the interlocutor.
Reject.
Suggest another option.

Aggressive failure	Soft rejection
I have nothing else to do but go to your garden. We actually have our own business,	I know you're counting on me. But today we have other plans. I'm sorry it happened. Maybe next weekend.
Actually, this is your business. When you registered an IP, didn’t you know that you would have to submit reports? Well, hand it over yourself, what do I have to do with it?	I see that you need help, but during the reporting period I have a lot of my own work. You could be helped by a freelance accountant who does not have a heavy workload in the office. If you want, I can share contacts.

Stop aggression against you

We recognize and resist overt aggression. But when a friend says that a new dress makes you fat, and the mother-in-law keeps asking when for the third one, this is also aggression.

You cannot dictate to another person how to behave, but you can say that you are uncomfortable and stop communication if you are not heard. There are soft and rather hard forms:

"I'm not ready to continue this conversation."
"I'm not ready to discuss this topic."

"I'm not ready to talk about this topic in that tone."

"I see this situation differently."

"Opinions are different."

“You tell very interesting things, so sorry that I have to leave. Thanks for the chat".

"I understand you, your feelings, but let's talk later, with a clear mind."

Do not get infected by other people's feelings

A gloomy colleague, a panicked neighbor, or a fussy boss can spoil the most complacent mood. Or not?

In general, empathy, the ability to put oneself in the place of another, is a valuable skill. But it is important to see where your emotions are and where the emotions of another are:

A neighbor is upset: her son dropped out of college. This is her situation and her feelings.
I understand her feelings, but I have circumstances, other reasons for joy and grief. All in all, today is a good day. I sympathize with the neighbor, but I do not have to be upset with her now.

To respond and sympathize does not mean to go headlong into the same experiences. The phrase “Know how to control yourself if you don’t want others to control you” is just about this. Don't let other people's emotions get you down.

Arrange an information detox for yourself

WhatsApp, Viber, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Telegram, mail, forums — all of them vying to distract us from business. If you manage your time, then you have probably curbed these irritants somehow.

But the noise of information disturbs us even when we are not very busy. News and messages burst into our space, make us think and worry about what we did not even know a minute ago. We seem to be walking all the time through the oriental bazaar, where persistent barkers call to us every now and then. At the same time, now half of the barkers are shouting about the pandemic.

There is nothing wrong with information as such. Just try to take control - become the sound engineer of this cacophony:

Turn off all automatic notifications on your phone.
Ask yourself when and for how long you are ready to read the news. 15 minutes at the beginning of the working day? OK. After lunch? OK.
If you feel that the information flow is sucking you in, set yourself an alarm or book the next period of time on the calendar for an important matter. This will help you switch.
Try not to get on the phone in the morning or before going to bed: at these moments we are especially vulnerable.

Explain that you are not available on weekends

This is also a detox, but from work. Even if you don’t get down to business on the weekend, but simply read a message from the director, lightness and carelessness can instantly disappear.

Teach colleagues and contractors that you do not solve work issues on Saturday-Sunday:

"Hello! Ok, I'll do it on Monday."

"Hello! I can’t say anything yet: there are no documents at hand. Let's talk during business hours."

"Hello! I do not know. I make dumplings with my son, everything is in flour. Come on Monday."

"Hello! I'm out of town, I saw your message just now. Let's talk on Monday."

If the director insists that you be in touch on weekends, weigh the pros and cons. Think about in which case it would be justified for you. Salary above the market? Additional charges? Free schedule during working days? If you work weekends, make it a conscious decision of yours, not a yielding under pressure.

Don’t let your plans for the day be ruined

It happens that in the morning you plan everything perfectly, and then one runs “just to ask”, the other “requires very urgently”, after lunch the counterparty calls, and then two employees at once with questions about salary and sick leave. It seems to be nothing terrible, but the deeds are not done and there is no feeling of satisfaction.

The solutions are simple, it's time management:

Plan one big important thing for the day.
Break this important task into pieces and book time for them. If you don’t do everything, then you can happily cross out at least something.
Add smaller tasks that you also want to do that day, but without fanaticism. Estimate how much time they will actually take.
Book an hour and a half for urgent emergencies. They will still appear, and some of them cannot be transferred.
Do not accept new tasks by default, try to reschedule to another day. Often this is not critical.
Edit the plan as the play progresses. If a new task has come and it cannot be postponed, and the schedule is already packed to capacity, add a new one to the plan and transfer what you definitely won’t have time to do. This is important: you do not just leave unfinished tasks in the planner, but cross them out and set them for another day. As a result, at the end of the day everything will be crossed out - done. And you will be great.

Have the courage to say "no" and "I'll do it tomorrow" over and over again. And catch the pleasure that will grow inside you from these words.

When they call you, let them know how long you can talk

And this is not only about contractors. Everyone can have a talkative girlfriend who talks for hours, so much so that no words can be inserted. If you are comfortable talking for a long time, no problem. But if such conversations tire you and tear you away from your planned affairs, take the situation into your own hands.

Things don't necessarily mean calling the director or feeding the baby. If you want to lie in the bath for 15 minutes or just sit in silence before your husband arrives, this is also a good reason to interrupt the conversation. This is your time, and you decide how to spend it.

You can already at the beginning of the call say: "I have 15 minutes, and then we will have dinner with the family." If the conversation drags on, it can be politely rounded off:

"Sorry, I'm not comfortable talking now, let's talk another time."

"Sorry, I'm not comfortable talking right now, let's call you back tomorrow morning, ok?"

Take time for yourself

In difficult times, we all have no time for relaxation. When you need to make a breakthrough of a week or two, this is normal. But if the breakthrough lasts for several months, then on one breath, without taking a breath, you can no longer survive.

Think about the little things you could regularly please yourself with. A jar of jam for tea, certainly raspberry, will help someone. It is important for someone to wander around the shops once a week, gawk at beautiful dishes, try on a few crazy dresses. Someone rejoices listening to Dina Rubina's 20-minute podcast on Saturdays. Someone hasn't baked charlotte for a long time, but really, really wants to.

Remember your little recipes for happiness. Let these be 15-20 minute undertakings, let them happen only once or twice a week, but if it brings you at least a modicum of joy, it's worth it.

You are strong and wise. You will definitely make it. Our advice is in case you forgot in time trouble that you also need support and care. Take care of yourself. And the dark times will eventually end.

How to take care of yourself to protect yourself from burnout and overwork

February 5, 2021Health

Tips for maintaining good mental, emotional and physical health.

You can not only read this article, but also listen to it. If it's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.

Timothy James

Health coach, blogger.

In the cycle of work and other responsibilities, many often forget about themselves, their happiness and what is really important to them. And the time spent relaxing and taking care of yourself seems like wasted time. Even when fatigue, depression, health problems appear. If you stay in this state for a long time, you can burn out.

What leads to overwork and burnout

I have experienced this first hand. I used to think it was selfish to put my own needs ahead of someone else's. I thought that showing love meant always putting others first.

At the same time, I combined hard work in finance, starting my own business and training seven days a week. I slept for four to six hours, trying to balance between my personal life, family and pet. As a result, I felt tired, exhausted, exhausted.

During this period of my life, I often fell asleep in my clothes, barely falling on the bed. Gradually I got depressed. I completely stopped doing something for my own pleasure, thinking only about goals.

I forgot who I am, how to be happy. I did not see the point in devoting time to myself: to recharge and remember what I want from life.

So I lived for two years - without holidays and days off - until the body forced me to slow down. My immune system weakened, and first I collapsed with pneumonia, and then with a staph infection. I became so lethargic that it was hard to just get out of bed.

This went on for several months. And it was a good kick for me, reminding me to take care of myself. Because without it, I won't be able to help others.

If you constantly ignore your needs, sooner or later you will burn out. Check if it's time for you to take a break in your rhythm of life.

How burnout manifests itself

Here are the signs that you are at risk:

By the end of the day you are so exhausted that you fall on the couch and fall asleep without noticing.
By the end of the week, you find it incredibly difficult to get out of bed in the morning.
Sleeping too much on weekends just to feel normal.
No matter how long the rest lasts, you still wake up tired.
You can't go without caffeine during the day.
Often you work so hard that you forget to eat.
You really want fast food and sweets in large quantities to get energy.
You binge watch serials and distract yourself in other ways so as not to be alone with your thoughts.

If you feel that you are close to burnout, it is time for you to reconsider how you treat yourself.

What is taking care of yourself

I used to think that this meant a constant feeling of happiness. But then I realized that it is impossible to always be happy, and suffering is a part of life that we need for personal growth.

Real self-care helps you better understand yourself and your goals. It provides an anchor in difficult life situations that keeps you afloat. She teaches not to dwell on trifles and pay attention to health: mental, physical and emotional. Here are tips for strengthening all three areas.

What to do for mental health

Relax and allow yourself to do nothing. Don't pick up your phone during this time.
Meditate.
Read self-development books.
Listen to educational podcasts (news does not count).
Play with animals.
Hug your loved ones.
Do what makes you smile.
Get creative.
Listen to your favorite music.
Keep a gratitude journal.

What to do for emotional health

Forgive the person who has been held a grudge against for a long time.
Do what you have long wanted to do, but were afraid to do.
Focus on your own needs and goals, rather than comparing yourself to others.
Be more compassionate towards yourself.
Take a break from social media.
Allow yourself to experience your feelings instead of running away from them.
Read a fiction book that will cheer you up.
Take a break from technology.
Help someone without expecting anything in return.
Use positive affirmations.
Write down what you like about yourself.

What to do for physical health

Practice deep breathing.
Move to your favorite music.
Get enough sleep.
Take up weightlifting.
Walk.
Play sports.
Walk and be in the sun.
Try yoga or other forms of mindful movement.
Eat healthy foods (fruits and vegetables, raw foods).

How it will change your life

Self-care saved me from severe burnout. It was difficult for me to slow down during the day and engage in myself, so I began to get up earlier. I began to dedicate one hour to myself and created my own morning ritual to start the day on a positive note. And this positivity, in turn, energizes all spheres of life.

I used to feel disgusting when I got up in the morning for work. Now I do it with pleasure, because I look forward to a pleasant activity: going to the gym, podcast, or meditation. I noticed that in general I feel happier, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the good that is in my life.

I also lost 5.5 kilograms in eight weeks, although I went to the gym less often. I just cut back on daily stress and started eating better. I used to put a lot of strain on my body with a busy lifestyle and too much exercise. And because of such stress, he did not lose weight, but gained weight.

So my secret to weight loss is stress reduction, moderate exercise and mindful eating! A change in attitude towards sports also helped. I used to train just to look good, but now my health is more important.

Another important part of daily self-care is a gratitude journal. Write down what you want to say thank you to life and the people around you. This helps to find joyful moments every day and pay more attention to loved ones.

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