What is your plan for self-care? Now, that may sound silly, making a plan for self-care? Really? Yes, really. For work or school, we plan out our schedule. We put in our meetings, our projects, our start and stop times for our days. But when it comes to self-care, we tend to just assume that it will happen. Have you noticed how rarely it actually happens?

I recommend to my clients that they schedule out their days so that everything that needs to happen will actually happen. Everything from work tasks, to chores that need to get taken care of, to self-care! If we do not block out the time, we tend to keep pushing back the things that in the moment we deem not important. Self-care often falls into that category.

As you can probably attest to, self-care is important, but we often put it as a lower priority. However, if we do not take care of ourselves well, we are not able to do anything else well! Put in your schedule the time that you will stop work. With many people working virtually, it can be difficult to put an end time, but it is crucial in order to create a work-life balance. Put in your schedule when you will exercise, when you will rest, when you will journal, meditate, pray, meet with friends, read, soak in a tub, hike, or whatever nurtures you!

When I suggest this to my clients, they often respond how there is not enough time in their day. So we start with small chunks, just 15 minutes. Everyone can find 15 minutes in their day. If I said that you needed to find 15 minutes to care for your child or someone that you loved, you would have no problem finding the time.

Schedule 15 minutes a day for yourself, for your self-care. Watch the impact on your mood and energy. Watch the impact on your productivity! And then, when you are ready, increase it to 30 minutes a day! One day, you may even feel good enough about this, and you, to give yourself an hour a day!