Simple tips to boost your self-care
Self-care is all the rage, especially on social media. But what actually is self-care – apart from a trendy buzzword?
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What is self-care?
Self-care was practised as far back as ancient Greece. Apparently, even in ancient times it was important to take time for yourself alongside your professional life and personal obligations. The idea is to spend time and energy in strengthening and improving yourself in order to be able to better tackle the challenges of daily life. Even today, it is understood to mean caring for yourself in body and mind. This includes being aware of your own needs and treating yourself with love and consideration.
The 3-2-1 method
That’s all well and good, but how do you fit self-care into your busy daily routine? One simple way to get started with self-care is to use the 3-2-1 method. The numbers indicate how often you should do an activity based on your own needs. For example:
- Stand up and move a little three times during the working day
- Incorporate two habits into your daily routine that make you feel good, such as reading or taking a short walk in the park
- Do one activity a day for your body. For instance, exercising in a sports club, dancing to your favourite music or going to bed a little earlier
It is important that you adapt the activities to suit you. Just because meditation helps your best friend relax, it doesn’t mean that it will have the same effect on you. Perhaps you’re someone who finds it easier to de-stress while doing sport or playing music. Or reading a thriller.
Exercise
Social interaction
Hobbies
Take time out
Plan and combine
Misconceptions common to self-care
In social media, self-care practices are often “prescribed” like medication. Meditating, journalling and mindfulness may help some people relax, but for others it can feel like a punishment and cause even more stress in daily life.
Part of the self-care journey is finding out what you like. And sometimes it takes a bit longer to find recreational activities that do you good. But don’t let that put you off. And: recovery is not the same as relaxation. “For many people, recovery means taking a bubble bath or watching a series on the sofa in the evening. But research shows that effective recovery tends to be more active,” says Bierbauer. He adds: “There’s nothing wrong with relaxation. There’s definitely a place for it, but activities can produce a greater physical and mental recovery effect.”
About the expert
Dr Walter Bierbauer works as a senior researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zurich. His research focuses on the topics of changing health behaviour and stress and disease management.