How to Prioritize Self-Care With a Busy Schedule

Every season comes with its own vision of health and goals. At the start of the year, we make New Year’s Resolutions to be healthy no matter what. In the spring, we work to have a “beach body” and when summer comes around, we tell ourselves we’ll look the best and use all of our free time to work out and eat healthy. We’ll go outdoors and live the dream in a healthy bod. Then comes fall, with the start of new school years, work objectives, and a whole new rundown of goals.

Every season, we tell ourselves we’ll be healthy, and every season, it gets busy and health and self-care can get put on the backburner.

But self-care, or in other words, health should not be underestimated! You need your health so you can live well in each new year. You need your health to live infinitely in the summer. You need your health to do well in school and at work. You need your health to be prioritized so that you can do you. When you prioritize your health, you’ll be more robust and able to take on what each new season of life brings. A healthy you is more likely to be able to handle stress and long days. A healthy you is more able to withstand those busy days. So, don’t let hectic school schedules and long days at work prevent you from taking care of yourself.

Self-care is a form of taking care of yourself. Self-care means that you take care of your basic needs, as well as treat yourself and love yourself. Fitness, for example, can be a key part of self-care, but a day at the spa can also be essential. No matter what is going on around you, you need to maintain a healthy living and prioritize self-care. Here’s how:

1. Get perspective.

Get perspective. To really be able to prioritize self-care, you need to take a step back and get perspective. What’s preventing you from taking care of yourself? Is there anything so important in your life, that it prevents you from taking care of you? After all, if there are things you need to do, you can’t do them if you’re not up to par.

Whether it’s service for others, work, or raising children, you can’t do it if you’re not also watching over yourself. So think it through and realize that YOU need to be okay, if you’re going to make everything else in your life okay. Once you’ve done this, you’ll finally be able to prioritize self-care. You’ll have the ‘why’ and we’ll give you the ‘how.’

2. Make a self-care checklist.

Creating a self-care checklist turns a large mental load into small simple tasks. Create a daily checklist: make the bed, get dressed, work out, eat 3 healthy meals, do something outside, etc. Write down a weekly checklist: spend time with friends, go for 2 runs, go to the gym once, watch a sunset, etc. You can even create a monthly checklist: get your nails done, learn how to make 2 new healthy meals, go to the spa, try a new work out, see a movie, and more.

These checklists will allow you to easily prioritize self-care, no matter what is going on.

3. Put your goals around you.

Telling your friends and co-workers about your self-care checklist/goals may inspire them to support you, or even joining in as you put yourself first, treating yourself to a healthy lunch, or going out for a run. Plus, it gives you a public responsibility to live up to what you said you would do.

You can also write your self-care goals on your mirror, or even print out your goals or mantras and frame them. This will remind you of the perspective you gained, and the need to continue with self-care.

4. Make it happen.

With perspective, a checklist, and goals all around you, you’ll be able to prioritize self-care. In the end, though, you have to make it happen. It’s up to you to calendar it in. Write down that you are making homemade salad on Tuesday night. Put a reminder on your phone. You have to squeeze it into your busy schedule. You have to make sure it’s just as likely to happen as getting up and going to work. Don’t put it on the backburner! It’s your life, so take care of yourself and make your life your own.

Here at Live Infinitely, we’re very passionate about self-care. We love how fitness and the outdoors can make a person feel more at ease and free. Here’s to living infinitely by taking care of ourselves. When we take care of ourselves, we’re taking care of everything else in our life too.

Download one of these free checklists below to print out at home!

Right click the image and download. They are 8 1/2 by 11 inches, making them great binder covers, room decorations, and framed reminders.

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About the Author

Lauren Kutschke is a freelance content writer and social media manager. She loves to hike, ski and spend time with her husband and dog. Lauren has a passion for photography and is currently learning German.

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