Category: Self-Care Strategies

As a child, I often had my “head in the clouds” and spent a lot of time daydreaming. This made it difficult for me to focus on and complete the practical tasks of everyday life. It often took me a long time to get things done because I would get easily distracted which drove my parents crazy, lol. Eventually, I grew out of most of it and became better able to focus and get things done.

What remains is my need for deep introspection, insatiable curiosity, love of learning and exploring new ideas. I also still like to spend time with my “head in the clouds” when I can! This is just a part of my wiring as a soulful introvert. Exploring ways to work with instead of against my personality continues to be an active part of my personal self-care journey.

Despite the gifts that are a part of my wiring, I have also learned the importance of being able to focus on the here-and-now. To take a step back from over-analyzing and overthinking and just be present. The ability to practice being present helps me to stay grounded and not miss out on precious moments.

Practices such as mindfulness meditation and yoga have become more mainstream and accessible. You can find videos on YouTube, podcasts, and phone apps that are all designed to help us focus on the here-and-now.

One of my favorite strategies is a mindfulness practice I like to call “The Noticing Game.” It’s one I first explored with clients in my former counseling practice. As with all of the strategies I’ve shared in this series, it’s easy to try and just takes 3 simple steps.

The Noticing Game is great to use if you struggle with staying in the here-and-now due to overthinking, over-analyzing, or just plain worrying.

To get started with The Noticing Game, please follow the steps below:

1. Stop— We want to shift from a space of “doing” into one of “observing/listening”.
2. Activate Your 5 Senses— What can you touch, taste, hear, feel, and smell?
3. Notice & Describe— Begin to observe your surroundings and describe (in your head or out loud) what you are noticing. Example—You might to say something like, “I’m noticing the feel of my feet on the floor. I’m noticing my breath filling my lungs and my stomach going in and out. I’m noticing the red coffee mug on my desk. I’m noticing…” Simply describe what you are noticing in the here-and-now without judgement!

That’s it! Allow yourself to spend time “noticing” for 1-3 minutes and then return to your previous activity. If you find yourself getting stuck in overthinking or over-analyzing, simply repeat the process.

Don’t worry if you feel a little silly doing this at first. When you’ve been in the habit of focusing on the past or future, it takes time and practice to be present in the here-and-now.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my 5 favorite simple self-care strategies the past several weeks. If you missed the previous strategies you can find them all here.

Now it’s your turn. What are some of your favorite simple self-care strategies? If you have some, or if one of the strategies I shared resonated with you more than the others, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Wishing you more peace than your heart can hold.

Creatively,

P.S. Did you find this strategy helpful? If so, you can find all of the previous strategies here.

I started keeping a diary when I was a kid and never grew out of the habit. My writing moved from a diary, to notebooks, to journals. To single sheets of paper, to word documents, to Pages (for my Mac users). These days I go back and forth between analog and digital journal keeping.

I use my journal to reflect on the day, write down my thoughts, explore ideas, vent or express emotions. I use it to draft blog posts and newsletters, & explore book ideas. Words are one of my favorite forms of expression and the main tool I use to make sense of my world.

Writing or talking it out is probably my favorite self-care strategy because it speaks to my introvert heart.

We all have moments when we experience a build-up of too much “stuff” or all the things” as I like to call it. That time when everything needs your attention at once. When you have the external pressures of other’s expectations fighting with internal pressures of the expectations you’ve placed on yourself. When these things collide it can create a build-up that becomes overwhelming and can lead to shutting-down and tuning-out.

In order to help us combat this, writing or talking it out is a wonderful strategy to use. This is a way for us to get “all the things” out of our heads and onto the page (or digital recorder). Once everything is out, it’s often much easier for us to return to a state a calm where we can move forward in clutter-free way again.

This strategy is particularly helpful for my soulful introverts who struggle with mental clutter or overthinking.

To get started we are actually going to borrow some steps from our 3rd strategy.

1. Stop— Whenever you find your mind becoming cluttered and shutting-down, stop!
2. Breathe— Remember our first strategy? Now is the perfect time to take 3-5 slow deep belly breaths.
3. Set a Timer for 3-5 minutes— By setting a timer, you create a container for your break. This provides a sense of security, making it easier to take your “self-care” break, without feeling guilty.
4. Write or Talk it Out— Use paper and pen, your computer, iPad, or phone to do a little stream-of-consciousness journal writing. This is simply writing whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling, just write until the timer stops. If you’re not a writer, turn on the recorder in your phone and talk it out!
5. Get Back on Task— Now that your mind is clear from mental clutter, you can return to your previous task.

If mental clutter & overthinking is an ongoing challenge for you, I encourage you to practice this strategy a few times a week and see what you notice.

Did you find this strategy helpful? If so I would love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Wishing you more peace than your heart can hold.

Creatively,

P.S. Did you find this strategy helpful? If so, I invite you back to the blog, as I’ll be sharing the my final favorite simple self-care strategies next week. If you missed the previous ones, you can find them all here.

Multi-tasking.

We’ve all done it or at least tried to with varying degrees of success. Eating, while watching TV, while reading a book. Writing an email, while answering a call, while surfing the internet. If you’re a parent, you have an even more complicated job. Trying to balance the everyday tasks of managing a household, working, and being responsible for a little human 24/7.

At our best, we are marginally successful at getting most of the things done in a reasonable time-frame. At our worst, we are completely overwhelmed and plotting ways to hide from our lives.

“Sick day” anyone?

Life can have a way of making us feel like we have to run just to keep up. But despite all of this running and multi-tasking we aren’t anymore productive. Instead, we end-up more frazzled, on edge, or just plain frustrated.

So how do we get more done in less time and not become overwhelmed?

The answer to increased productivity and less overwhelm is the exact opposite of multi-tasking. We need to “slow it down” and focus on doing one thing at a time. I also like to call this “single-tasking.”

“Slow it Down” is one of my favorite self-care strategies because it serves a dual purpose. It helps us be more productive while also reducing stress and overwhelming feelings. This strategy is particularly helpful for my soulful introverts who get easily overwhelmed by too much “busy.”

If you are ready to ditch the multi-tasking then follow the steps below to help you get started:

1. Stop— Whenever you find yourself spinning in circles, but not getting any one thing done, stop!
2. Breathe— Remember the first strategy I shared in this series? Now is the perfect time to take 3-5 slow, deep belly breaths.
3. Start with One— What’s one small task (that takes 5 minutes or less) that you can do right now? Do that one thing. Once that task is complete, do one more thing.
4. Repeat the Process— Repeat step 3 until your tasks are done. If you find yourself shifting back into overwhelm, repeat steps 1 & 2.

We all have important responsibilities that need our time and attention on a regular basis. It’s so easy to get caught-up in what needs doing that we can forget to step back and nurture our own self-care. Taking time to “slow it down” is a wonderful opportunity to check-in with yourself. Notice if you are really getting more done or simply spinning in place.

Remember, taking time for self-care helps you to be your best for others.

Did you find this strategy helpful? If so I would love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Wishing you more peace than your heart can hold.

Creatively,

P.S. Did you find this strategy helpful? If so, I invite you back to the blog, as I’ll be sharing 2 more of my favorite simple self-care strategies over the next couple of weeks. If you missed the first couple of strategies, you can find them all here.

Do you ever feel like you have internal sound-track playing inside of your head? A voice that sometimes builds you up, but often feels like it’s tearing you down instead? This little voice is a chameleon. Sometimes it may sound like you. At other it may sound like your parents, relatives, friends or some other people you’ve met throughout your life. This voice is known by many names, but internal critic is the most common. I like to call her “Ms. Critic.”

In getting to know Ms. Critic and helping former clients get to know theirs, I’ve learned some things that may surprise you.

I believe that Ms. Critic’s true intention is to keep us safe.

I believe she wants to keep us from experiencing the pain of failure or rejection. To really explore this idea, I invite you to take a moment to reflect on your own internal critic and the message(s) you often hear. I imagine they might be variations of the following:

• “You can’t do …”
• “You’re not smart/pretty/handsome enough to…”
• “That person doesn’t want/like/need you to…”
• “You’re not enough.”

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Have you ever taken a moment to stop and notice your breathing? If not, I invite you to pause now and see what you notice. Is your breath rapid and shallow or slow and deep? Does it stay in your throat or does it move into your chest and belly. Does your belly rise and fall as you breathe? Does your chest? Are you able to breath in through your nose or only your mouth? Does the breath flow into one or both of nostrils as you inhale?

These are some of the questions I think about when I reflect on the breath. I only gained this awareness once I began practicing, and eventually learned how to teach yoga. I would hazard a guess that most of us are so busy on a regular basis that we rarely take time to think about or notice our breathing. If we are relatively healthy our bodies know how to keep us breathing so we don’t need to think about it. This is a gift.

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