Signs You Need to Practice Self Care — and Why It's Important

We all need to prioritise taking care of ourselves, especially now.

This pandemic has been a reminder of the importance of taking care of ourselves, in a variety of ways.

But at the same time, it has often been used as an excuse to ignore this. With more time on our hands and more time spent at home, who needs more self-care?

During the pandemic, there has been an increase in people feeling anxious, stressed and more depressed.

Although a bubble bath and a glass of wine are unlikely to render all your problems insignificant, incorporating regular acts of self-care is an important part of maintaining good mental health. If I have learnt anything throughout this pandemic, it is that taking time purely for myself, to do something that makes me happy, is not selfish but necessary.

We should all realise that too.

For some people, self-care can be buying something small that makes you happy. For others, it can be eating a healthy meal or sleeping through your alarm. It can be whatever — as long as it is something specifically for yourself. It should never be laced with guilt but something you should indulge in.

But what are the signs that you should abandon the cluttered to-do list, take some time out, or write the day off as a ‘self-care’ day? There can be many, but these are mine, drawn from my own experience.

When You Find Yourself Incessantly Scrolling

We’ve all been there and had those days where we’re checking our phone every few minutes and can’t pry ourselves away from Instagram.

A lot of the time I don’t even realise I’m doing it until the time passes and I realise I haven’t even achieved anything.

On days where I am particularly glued to my phone — I know that something isn’t quite right. I’m not my usual focused self, so if I find myself on my phone constantly, I decide to take a few hours to do something else — for me.

Whether that be to having a relaxing bath, making myself a cup of tea, or reading my book. Sometimes these things are all I need to get myself refreshed.

When You Are Lacking in Concentration

This is pretty similar to the one above but a lot of the time I find myself wanting to plough through something, even when I know my mind isn’t where it needs to be.

The truth is, if you do this, you are likely to not be working at your full potential and would be better off doing it another time (if this is possible.) Being productive is never about trying to work for as many hours as you can, but working smart. And self-care plays a huge role in this.

One of the best things I have discovered recently is working out my ‘best hours’. I am naturally an early riser and have always worked better in the mornings and my optimal hours are between 8 am-12 pm so I always try to get the bulk of things done between this time.

After that, I always try to be a bit more lenient with what I get done, or I save more mundane tasks for then.

When You’ve Had a Bad Nights Sleep

I frequently suffer from bouts of insomnia which always impact the way I can work the next day. Sometimes it can have the opposite effect, but most of the time it reduces the amount of time I can concentrate for.

On days like these, if I can, I will forget my to-do list and take the day off to do things for me.

I have the luxury of being able to do this at the moment and not everyone will, but if you can — do. It will hopefully make you feel more relaxed and make it easier to sleep when it comes round to night time.

When You’re Forgetting to Prioritise Yourself (regularly)

Adding self-care into your daily and weekly routine should be a priority for everyone — but it is so easy to forget in day to day life. It is far easier to get into a routine of not prioritising yourself and letting work, phone calls and deadlines take over — rather than looking after yourself.

If we’ve learnt anything during this pandemic — we should have realised that looking after ourselves is one of the most important things we can do. It is a habit that we need to craft now and maintain for a lifetime.

Self-care doesn’t have to arduous, it can be something small like going on a short walk or making yourself a hot drink.

Adopting these small things into your day to day life to prioritize yourself, will always help you in the long run and improve your outlook and overall productivity.

When You’re in a Rut

When you’ve built up consecutive days of feeling down and under the weather — this is possibly one of the best signs to call it quits. Nobody benefits from being in a rut and it can be hard to get things done when you feel this way.

I usually get in a rut when I’m not getting enough sleep, drinking too much coffee and not writing in my journal. It’s about knowing the self-care habits that benefit you the most and make sure you implement them into your routine.

Without them, you’ll only face more days where you feel like you’re in a rut and nothing is going anywhere.

In the Post-Covid world, we should all be prioritizing self-care and making sure to implement practices that make us feel happy.

These can be big or small but they have to be practised guilt-free and be beneficial to you.

The world is getting faster, more hectic and harder to follow as the year goes on, so taking time for ourselves is all the more important. And recognising when and if to do this, is half the battle.