7 tips to building a manageable self-care routine from home STAT

Now more than ever it is imperative that all of us have a solid self-care routine in place and I’ve got 7 tips to help you build a manageable routine stat.

One of three things have happened to a huge percentage of career professionals in the world this last month. 1: Your career isn’t considered essential and you’ve been sent home to shelter safely, maybe you are still working and maybe not. 2: Your career is essential, and you are now working from home (or even out in the field! Thank you and please be safe). 3: You’ve been made re-available for employment in the marketplace (laid off, made redundant, let go, etc etc etc)

There are enough articles floating around out there about this Option 3 that I am not even going to share my opinion on that one! Of course, if you want to know which side of the salad bar I am on with this topic, you can listen to this conversation with Mark Cuban here

Whether you are still working, no longer working or waiting for this pandemic dust to settle before you start actively looking, you still need to create a new routine and make sure you are administering self-care to yourself.

Every. Single Day. Now. More. Than Ever.

In fact, when this all began and we were all sent to our homes to shelter in place for ‘a couple of weeks’ the medical experts told us to take full advantage of this time and eat right (lots of fruits and veggies), get plenty of rest (and even catch up on lost sleep) and lastly to exercise. This was all great and valuable advice, all self-care related and more important now than it ever was before.

So many professionals have never given self-care much thought (or cared). I get that many of you have spent your entire life being in a career you believe you never wanted or needed a vacation from. Here’s the problem with that: It isn’t sustainable. And your career is not your identity. If you’ve been made redundant in all this, that is a very harsh reality you’ve just learned in real time.

Trying to lump your self-care into your passion for your career – a love and passion for your chosen career – does not fill your self-care tank and will not prevent work related stress from negatively impacting your health or well-being (or even leading to burnout if left un-managed).

I’ve been asked by many how to remain resilient and continue to administer self-care in this time of redundancy and change when many are just not ‘feeling’ it. We are in pain, shock, standing in a spot of fear of the unknown….for all these reasons and more it is imperative we all make this effort for your health and well-being.

As the restrictions for sheltering safely do vary depending on country and region, I will keep this article to the parameters for setting up and maintaining a good self-care routine for yourself in your new environment. For most of us, this is our immediate neighborhood or home only. If you’ve a little more leeway where you live, you may find additional ideas and nuggets in my article, 50+ ideas for making the best of a crappy situation. These are just my ideas, there’s more out there to consider.

All of these suggestions below are ways for you to set yourself up for success during this time of restriction of movement and contact with others. Take it seriously, be proactive and stick with it. All of this combined will set you up for success!

Tip #1: CLEAR THE CLUTTER

This is a key starting point. I promise you, once you get started chipping away at the clutter and you will not be able to stop. You are home WAY more now than you’ve ever been, perhaps in years. Built up clutter and dust bunnies are probably a bit more visible and disturbing to you than they were before. Get rid of it. Clutter is distracting and can impact your focus and concentration. Not your clutter? Speak to the person whose clutter it is and give them a firm deadline for getting rid of it. It’s yours and you’re not ready to part with it? Put it in a box and in a closet or another room where you do not see it. If you haven’t opened the box in 6 months get rid of it. Don’t even open it, just out with the next garbage run.

Bonus:

Enroll a friend or family member in your clutter removal initiative. Ask them to hold you accountable to what clutter you said you would remove. And that box you put in the closet? Tell them if it is still there in six months to toss it without saying a word to you about it. And if you are not convinced about the value of clearing the clutter…(disclaimer…must have sense of humor!)

Tip # 2: BUILD YOUR ‘NEW’ ROUTINE

Many have spent the last few weeks in a state of shock and have sat in disbelief watching the same news reports repeatedly or having the same conversation with others repeatedly about what is going on. Yes, it is surreal, and it is worldwide. It is OK to acknowledge your feelings about what is going on and you should – but – building a routine will help you manage the stress of what is going on and allow you to better focus on next steps.

My routine begins with setting my alarm, making my bed and either showering and dressing for a day of work OR administering some self-care for myself before beginning my work routine. Just the act of a consistent routine starting my day helps bring normalcy and efficiency to it.  I also stay off social media (I’ve been off the social scroll since the end of last year so this one is easy for me), only watch the news for 30 minutes while making dinner each night (again, routine!) and lastly watch one episode of Animal Planet’s Too Cute before bed on YouTube (seriously click through to the link, you can thank me later).

Bonus:

Be conscious of, and respectful of your boundaries when building a new routine. This ties in with #3 (calendar everything) as well. When we are not as busy, we tend to take every opportunity no matter when it drops into our schedule even if it means we must move other things around, or, cancel out social, self-care or fun time. That is a boundary! Don’t do it. Tighten up your routine so you have the space not just for self-care but for family time, calls with friends, volunteering (there are opportunities out there!) etc etc. These are all just as important in your new routine and you need to respect them in your calendar.

Tip #3: CALENDAR EVERYTHING

I get you may not have as much to calendar these days but do it anyways. It is a highly effective habit that you do not want to get out of. It allows you to get a Birdseye view on your day and week and prevents you from being caught off guard when things do start to pick up again. What happens when we get busy and we are not organized? CHAOS!

Calendar your self-care. Calendar your dog walk. Calendar your virtual games and happy hours with friends. Calendar your meal plan, which nights you will be cooking and which nights you want takeout. Which day you will be going out to run essential errands. Yep, calendar it all.

Bonus:

Have you always color coded your appointments? Calls, tasks, out of office, personal, etc? Keep color coding it. Besides already being a fantastic, enviable habit, it will allow you to see when things pick up again professionally.

Tip #4: MAKE LISTS

Making lists is not to be confused with calendaring. We make lists when we plan to go to the grocery store. Lists with what we should pack on a big trip. Yet we rarely make lists when we are having a big think on life. Now is your chance. You really do have valuable time you can use to contemplate what your goals were when you started out in this journey called life, how on target or off course you are to achieve them and what goals you want to continue to move towards.

Bonus:

If you feel like you’re drawing a blank on this and want to dig a little deeper into your past and future goals, you can download a very cool and fun exercise which will give you not one but FOUR valuable lists of information about yourself you probably didn’t even know. You’ll want to grab the instructions & exercise here.

Tip #5: SPEAKING OF EXERCISE…..

Exercise is key to self-care. No matter what sort of physical shape you are in, get your body moving. I do not need to tell you the value and importance of exercise in life not just to your physical well-being but your mental well-being too. Haven’t put on sneakers in a long time? That’s OK, grab your favorite pair of flip flops or sandals and just walk. Not a walker? That’s no excuse. I’ve a 74-year-old friend who is also a personal trainer. You read that right, she is 74, still working and in better shape than I will ever be. I hired her to help me re-start my fitness journey several years ago when I couldn’t even touch my toes! And do you know what she started me on?…..wait for it…..chair aerobics. YouTube has a ton of great options where you’ll be sure to find a routine that is just right for you to get started.

Bonus:

No bonus here, just a reminder there are no excuses for not starting to move your body (chair aerobics!)

Tip #6: READ/LISTEN/WATCH/LEARN

This is the time to learn a new skill, improve on an existing skill or even get certified in something you’ve always wanted to but never had the time for. Read that book(s) you keep putting off (calendar some reading time in with your self-care or start a virtual book club!). There are so many free classes available online right now it’s insane! I don’t have enough time to take them all. What am I doing? I am taking one webinar a week specific to my industry continuing education and I’ve downloaded all the Jayne Austen books. Oh, and nightly episodes of Too Cute.

Tip #7: KEEP FLEXING YOUR FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND BRAIN MUSCLE

Probably the hardest part of our change in circumstances is we are not working our fine motor skills and brain muscles as much as we do in a work environment. Amazing outlets are available to you with just a little ingenuity. Interactive card games (including a version of cards against humanity) are available online which can be played in real time with your friends and family also staying safe at home. Order that 1,000-piece puzzle, get that model airplane kit you’ve always wanted to build, order the most complicated Lego set out there (better yet, order two and send one to your best friend and you can build them together virtually).

Activities that work both the brain and fingers are great creative outlets. The focus lowers your stress and heart rate and allow you to stimulate more creative thinking.

Where you might get stuck

Getting started!  Yes, I get this is the most difficult step to take, the first always is. None of us are in the best place in our heads right now, but I promise you; you will feel so much better than how you do right now, even on your first day of making yourself a priority. Before you know it, as you begin to work self-care into your life it will become a good habit you cannot live without, and it will be easier to keep up this good new habit when the world begins to return to a new normal for you.

As a reminder, our cortisol response system was not designed to handle all this ongoing constant stress we have right now nor for it to be 24/7. It will be up to you to make that shift to get started taking care of yourself in new ways, and it is doable! Sometimes people need extra support to get started and I am here to give that to you. Let’s take 30 minutes ON MY DIME to see if I can get you kick started on a self-care routine you can fold into your new world.

ABOUT RACHELLE

Hi I’m Rachelle Stone. I was a 25+ year veteran of the Meeting & Convention Industry who, in 2014, left to transition to full time Consulting & Coaching after my own personal implosion (yes, I burned out!). I now guide stressed out business owners and executives through the strategic steps needed to breakthrough plateaus and ceilings, accelerate their growth, increase profits, and reach their goals WITHOUT burning out.

Before you go

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