Taking Care of Yourself

In these days of economic challenges, the vast majority of people are working longer hours and working so much harder than ever before. We all know why this is happening and we strive to do the very best under increasing stressful conditions and with less and less sleep. However, in the long run, by not dealing with the stress and not getting enough sleep, you are undermining your very existence and your ability to survive.

There are plenty of studies that show that on the list of all of the bad things that we do to ourselves, the

No person is superhuman and you are no different. You may have others around you who have great expectations with regard to what you should accomplish and how you should be doing things but you can’t let that interfere in reality. No matter who you are, you can only do so much in any given period of time so it comes down to setting priorities, doing your best and then providing time for yourself to relax your mind and body.

stress and lack of sleep are the top two worst things. You may have a bad diet, drink a bit too much alcohol and even smoke but if you learn how to relax and get enough sleep, your chances of survival and a healthier life are so much greater. Now I am not including those who choose to be morbidly obese or those who drink excessively every day or those who smoke one cigarette after another. But, if you look around those who are in your own circle, you can’t help but notice that those who are living the happiest lives are those who know how to be good to themselves.

While you may feel that there is no way to make changes to improve these two areas of your life, I beg to differ with you. You need to create some new habits that will allow you to take better care of yourself in order to be able to perform at your top level every day. It can be done and you do deserve it, no matter what you may think about yourself. No person is superhuman and you are no different. You may have others around you who have great expectations with regard to what you should accomplish and how you should be doing things but you can’t let that interfere in reality. No matter who you are, you can only do so much in any given period of time so it comes down to setting priorities, doing your best and then providing time for yourself to relax your mind and body.

Let’s look at stress! How much of a person’s stress belongs to worrying about what may or may not happen? How much stress occurs because of judging oneself or judging others and comparing yourself and your work to what someone has done or someone believes you should have done? How much of your energy is wasted on everything else but the task at hand? Well, you can change all of that by just changing your focus and putting it on the tasks to be accomplished. If you can keep your thinking and your efforts on whatever it is that you need to do, the work will be done before you know it and you will have a real sense of accomplishment. And don’t forget, you can have fun while doing whatever task you are doing. Put on some music or the television. Get up and move around rather than just sitting in one place. And for heaven’s sake, take a break. If you are at the office, take a short walk. If you are with the kids, go to the park with a picnic or if you have little ones, do something relaxing while the kids nap. Don’t worry about the expectations of others. If you do not complete every task today, just be sure to complete the ones that need to be done today. And then reset your priorities for the next day.

You need an adequate amount of sleep everyday and you must set yourself a stopping time at the end of the day so that you can relax and clear your mind and leave the day behind. We all need 7–8 hours of sleep a night regardless of how little sleep we actually get. If you can’t sleep, allow yourself to stay in bed and relax. Watch TV, read a book or listen to some music in order to keep your mind focused on these things rather than thinking about work, what you need to get done the next day, what you didn’t get done the previous day, what someone else did or said about you, etc. If you work to create this new habit, you will wake refreshed and ready to take on the new day and will be able to do a better job since you don’t have to spend all of your time trying to figure out how you are going to stay awake. It will pay off in the long run. I promise. I know because I have done this and now with the new habits, I am so much happier and can do a better job in all aspects of my life.