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Q: What can I do during the work day for self-care?
You might be practicing self-care during your off-hours and weekends, but making sure to take some time to show yourself kindness during the actual work day as well can be challenging. However, it’s also very important. You want to avoid burnout or poor mental health, and taking a few minutes every hour or so can definitely make a difference. Here’s some of the things you can do:
- Give your eyes a break from the computer screen for about 10 minutes every hour. Focus on something in the distance, or use that time to organize your desk or file papers, anything that isn’t looking at a cell phone or laptop.
- Stretch or take a walk. If you’re in the office, you can get up and go for a walk around the block. If you can’t leave your desk, there are some easy and useful chair yoga stretches you can do right there. Look online for a 5 or 10 minute chair yoga session and implement it once or twice a day.
- If you’re feeling extra stressed, step away and collect yourself. Don’t keep pushing yourself if you’re reaching your breaking point. Instead, go to the kitchen or bathroom and practice deep breaths and splash some water on your face.
- Make sure to eat. Don’t skip meals! Once your blood sugar is low, you will feel crabby, upset, and anxious. Make sure you are taking the time in the morning to eat breakfast and stepping away from your work to eat lunch.
- Break up the day with exercise. If you like eating lunch at your desk, use your lunch time to do a quick workout instead. There’s plenty of free body-weight workouts on YouTube, or you can go for a run or a long walk. You can even use an empty room for yoga or meditation.
- Talk to your boss. If you’re truly feeling stressed to the point of being unproductive or panicky, talk to your supervisor and let them know you aren’t feeling well. It’s okay to take a mental health day when you’re overwhelmed to the point of not being able to get anything done.
