Time restraints and self care seem to be at odds with each other. The busier we are, the less time we feel we have for things like self care. Yet we also tend to need self care the most during those busy periods.
So what should you do?
Is it possible to get self care without adding even more to your plate? How can you squeeze in some self care without magically finding more time in your day?
Below I’ve outlined 6 ways you can add some self care into your busy schedule without feeling overwhelmed.
Actively seeking self care when times are busy requires a little thinking outside of the box, and learning to recognize the difference between busyness and noise.
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About being busy
One of the things I’ve learned over the past few months in my effort to slow down my own life, is that ‘busy’ can mean different things. And even deeper than that, being ‘busy’ and having something to do aren’t always the same.
This can sound a bit confusing, I know, so let me simplify it a little.
So many of us consider ourselves busy. We have a ton of tasks to do, our to do list seems to never stop growing, and it truly feels sometimes like there are just not enough hours in the day. That’s normal and can feel stressful all on its own.
But as humans, we’ve gone and created some additional stress for ourselves by constantly adding little things into the background that we aren’t realizing. We’ve given our brains so much stimulation and overwhelm that sometimes those ‘extra’ things are the ones that make us feel so burnt out and depleted.
One of the best ways to squeeze self care into your busy schedule is to learn to slow down the moments that already exist. To take your existing schedule and figure out how to simplify it a bit. We will get into with some of the tips below!
1. Embrace the silence
As someone with ADHD, I had a hard time accepting that this would be beneficial in any way to me. My brain craaaaves stimulation.
But giving it a shot has truly helped me slow down and helped my brain find some moments of relief from constant overstimulation.
We live in a time where stimulation is everywhere. Whether it’s our phones distracting us, or music playing in the background, or the TV being on, or just us constantly keeping our brains ‘on’.
Stimulation can be a good thing, but it’s also possible to get too much of it. And we don’t always realize when we’ve passed that boundary.
Learning to embrace silence, even if it’s just for a few minutes each day can be SO beneficial for your brain and mind. If you can find a way to make one of your daily tasks an ‘unstimulated’ version, that’s gonna be a game changer.
Showering has been this for me. For the past several years, my shower time was also spent watching TV on my phone sitting on the little shower ledge. I claimed it was my ‘me-time’, and it was. It was enjoyable.
But I started trying out ‘silent showers’ instead and they are even more relaxing than my TV time showers.
Just letting my brain decompress for 15-20 minutes has made such a difference in the amount of overwhelm I feel.
Action step: Find a little area of your daily or weekly routine where you can cut out the background noise and enjoy some silence. Your brain will thank you for giving it a rest 😊
2. Combine self care with your to do list in a morning routine.
Time will unfortunately never get more plentiful. There will always be 24 hours in a day. But how we use that time can have a huge impact on our mental health.
We recognize here that our lives are busy, we’re not denying that. You have a huge to do list and it’s not realistic to try and cut out all of your tasks.
But what you can do is be intentional about how you set up your day, and how you go about that to do list.
How are you approaching your day right now? Do you have a set routine that allows you to make the most of your time, or are you waking up each day and kinda winging it, hoping to get everything done before bedtime?
Spoiler alert: most of us are winging it.
Setting out to create a daily routine that allows you to get done what you need to get done in a way you can count on each day, while also getting self care? Amazing.
I deep dive into this in my workbook The Morning Map, but creating a morning routine that combines some of your daily tasks (like cleaning or walking the dogs) with some self care (like doing a facial or journaling) can provide your brain with structure, which it loves.
But doing this can also free up some time throughout the day, because instead of ‘winging it’, we are doing things in a routine way that can usually allow us to go faster and make more progress in a smaller amount of time.
If you want some help building your dream morning routine, check out the workbook The Morning Map.
Otherwise, try to brainstorm some ways you can create a morning or nighttime routine that allows you to work on your to do list while also prioritizing self care.
Action step: Organize your daily tasks into somewhat of a routine! Morning routine, nighttime routine, or whatever works for your schedule.
3. Journal for 5 minutes.
When our schedules are busy, our minds are typically full. Like, at max capacity.
One of the simplest acts of self care is to clear out our brains.
Setting a goal to spend 5 minutes each day getting your thoughts out can make a HUGE difference in how you feel mentally.
I call these types of journal entries my ‘brain dumps’. (and you will see me recommend brain dumps all over this blog, for good reason)
I know your schedule is already hectic, but chances are, you can find 5 minutes a day to squeeze in some journaling.
Most of us have at least 5 minutes in each day that we’re currently spending doing something negative for our mental health (uh doom scrolling any one?), so replacing that time with a positive habit like journaling is the perfect self care idea for busy people.
Want some self care journal prompts? You can grab my free ones below!
kit form for self care journal pages
Action step: Commit to journaling for at least 5 minutes 3 times in the next week. Keep it simple and just strive to get thoughts out of your head.
4. Stop multitasking
Multitasking: getting more stuff done more quickly, right? Wrong.
Most people think that multitasking is the ultimate hack for busy schedules, but a lot of studies have come out recently to show that it actually has the opposite effect in most cases.
When we any task, our brain has to essentially ‘get in gear’ for that task. And different tasks require different gears from our brains.
So by doing multiple different tasks at once, we are making our brains do a lot of extra work and causing it to keep bouncing back and forth between gears. This can make our brains tired faster, and can also end up taking more time to see productivity pay off.
Now that doesn’t mean you can’t ever do more than one thing at a time. Sometimes multitasking is a need. But try to keep it to a minimum by using the following rule:
Good multitasking = pairing a positive and simple activity (like doing a facial) with a ‘task’ (making breakfast). This lets you do two things at once (one of them being self care), but doesn’t overwhelm your brain. Something like doing a facial doesn’t require much brain power.
Bad multitasking = pairing multiple tasks together (example: cooking dinner while also folding laundry). This overwhelms our brains, and usually doesn’t actually end up saving us any time.
Action step: Try to do your tasks one at a time instead of rushing to get everything done at once. This will save you time and energy in the long run!
5. Take a break from screen time.
No matter how busy we are, most of us still spend a good chunk of time on our phones every day- doom scrolling social media, reading the news, playing games, or watching videos.
I used to view time spent on my phone as ‘decompressing’. After coming home from a long day of work, scrolling through Instagram felt so nice.
But here’s the painful truth: screen time does the opposite of allowing our brains to decompress. The constant exposure and stimulation is actually hurting our brains.
Here’s a study from Stanford that gets deeper into the effects of screens on the adult brain. Definitely worth a read if you’re interested.
Working self care into your busy schedule can be as simple as cutting out the negative things that burn you out in the first place.
Most people think of self care as the act of doing something. But sometimes, self care can be not doing something.
Not overwhelming your brain with screens and constant stimulation is huge step in this direction.
Action step: Try to cut out some of your screen time. This can be putting your phone away for an hour before bed, or even doing a screen-free weekend!
6. Say no to a task.
I’m going to assume if you’re reading this post, it’s because you’re a busy person.
So let’s be honest with ourselves here- adding more onto our plates is kinda the opposite of self care, right?
Such a huge and overlooked part of taking care of ourselves is making sure that we aren’t adding too much to our plates.
I go a little more in depth about this in my blog post about breaking bad habits, which you can read here.
I’m not saying to never accept another task again. That’s not realistic.
But what you can do is learn to set boundaries for your own mental wellness.
If you’re a fellow people pleaser, then you know the struggle of constantly feeling overwhelmed but never wanting to turn down others when they ask for a favor, or even ask to spend time with you.
And setting that boundary can be so stinkin hard.
But once you begin to do it, it will get easier and easier and your brain will begin to feel happier and lighter.
There are several ways you can practice this, and in multiple areas of your life.
Check out my blog post: 5 Types of Boundaries to Set and How to Set Them
Action step: Practice setting boundaries over the next few days or weeks. Listen to your mind & body and notice when you’re beginning to feel overwhelmed. This is the perfect opportunity to recognize areas where boundaries can be set.
Embracing self care isn’t always about adding tasks onto your plate. Instead, it can be more beneficial to learn how to find some peace in the moments that already exist in your life.
I hope these tips above have helped you see ways to work self care into your routine, and I hope your mental wellbeing improves as you incorporate some of these techniques.
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