We’re now a few weeks into a new year. Some of you have set resolutions and some of you have set goals and we’re plodding along with a new lease on life for what the new year can bring. However, this is also a crucial time in which to pay attention to your self-care. Be careful not to burn out too quickly with all that oomph you have because you could quite easily take a few steps back and find it harder to come back to your motivation point.
Case in point, me. This week, I had a bought of mini exhaustion. I know it was mini because I recovered within a few days. What brought it on? All the great things I will do in 2019. I also started the year on a high with some great new clients and projects. Of course this has spurred me on and kept me motivated but it also meant that I neglected some simple self-care that I hadn’t planned for. I ended up with a severe Migraine that completely wiped out my Wednesday, overflowed into Thursday and by Friday, I was like “I need to do something fun.”
The signs of mini exhaustion
- My mind kept drawing a blank when I was thinking about my to do list
- My energy levels felt majorly depleted but I hadn’t done anything apparently taxing
- My temper was short
- I wasn’t being clear when giving instructions or talking to my family
- I gave up mid sentence if someone didn’t understand what I was saying because I couldn’t find another way to say it
- I was a little sniffly – cold-like symptoms
- I had a migraine – I’ve been getting migraines for a few years now and usually only about 3 a year. They are bad. Nausea, vomiting and only complete darkness and sleep can cure it but it also takes its toll on my body and takes a few days to feel ‘normal’ again.
- I felt like I couldn’t muster the energy to do anything. Even the washing up.
So clearly I knew something was wrong. I was off-kilter. When I was able to reflect, I realised I had done too much too soon and I think my adrenalin just couldn’t cope with the demands I was asking of my body. Not to say it won’t handle it, it’s just I dived into the year with everything and my body was like “hold up, you’ve not performed like this is 3 years, we need a minute to get ready lady!” So I listened, I took the rest and now I feel like I’ve reset.
5 tips to manage self-care and your goals
- Don’t do everything at once. Plan the goals/activities into your diary but give yourself a few days or weeks in-between new ones.
- When things are going well, ride the wave but ensure you replenish yourself each day through any activity that doesn’t relate to your goal.
- Be grateful or any other mindfulness activity – Taking those few minutes to take stock of what’s going well will help you see when you need to give a little more to you.
- Do something fun each week. Whatever it is, make sure it’s just fun. Laugh.
- Book in that time off. Use it as a marker for the work you’re doing, knowing that in a few months, you’ll be taking a break.