During these times that try men's souls (COVID-19), I have struggled to take care of my own well-being. Sure, I go to my doctor appointments and take my medicine, but I realized that staying at home all the time was mentally, physically, and spiritually draining. Things that I used to do to take care of my mind, body, and soul are no longer readily available. After struggling with a bit of depression, as I am sure most of us have, I decided that I needed to start caring for my whole self. This takes a little more effort than going for a pedicure or brunch with the girls, but doesn't everything during a pandemic?
To begin, I pulled out my trusty Bullet Journal to search for empty spaces in my month that I fill with self-care activities. I know that I am more likely to do an activity if I assign it a time in my calendar and actually write down the activity in my BuJo. I discoverd that I have more time in the day than I actually realized. Some days, I can allot 30 minutes. Others, several hours. Next, I created a Self-Care Bingo board for my Bullet Journal. To do this, I thought about all the ways that I can care for myself in order to rejuvenate. These activities ranged from painting my nails and reading a magazine to prepping for healthy meals and practicing yoga. I encourage you to find 25 things that you enjoy or need to do to establish the practice of self-care. Thirdly, I picked 7 habits that I want to practice during the span of 4 months. With those 7 habits, I created a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) for each habit and a reward that I would give myself once I accomplished each goal. Finally, I wrote a contract in my Bullet Journal in order to bind myself to achieving these goals along with the rewards which I would freely give to myself upon completion.
What started out as a worthy idea quickly became a plan for self-care. If you do not take care of yourself, then no one will. You are worth the time and effort that it takes to organize these ideas and carry them out. You will love and cherish your own well-being and will set a great example for the others in your life. During this next week, I encourage you to create your own Self-Care BINGO board and Self-Care Contract. To get you started, I have created Free Bullet Journal Printables of my BINGO board and Self-Care Contract. Fell free to download these and add them to your BuJo, or better yet, use them as a spring board for your own.
No comments:
Post a Comment