7 Self-Care Hacks to Create an Effective and Fulfilled Life

Every highly effective individual needs an effective self-care routine. Otherwise, being highly effective gets harder and harder until, eventually, burnout sets in. We all want to be highly effective and engaged, giving 110% to everything we do including our careers, families, hobbies and side-hustles. With a consistent and robust self-care routine, you can bring that 110% to all of those areas of your life and be able to enjoy them. The key is to be able to bring your best self to each area of your life and be fulfilled and happy in the process. Just bringing your A-game might bring success, but the art of being fulfilled in life is just as important. Here’s my “secret sauce” for weekly self-care which allows me to show up confidently and with a zest for life:

  1. Do something to help organize your thoughts: This can be as simple as writing down what’s on your mind. Journaling can be especially calming for emptying out your mind of all of the days tasks, ideas and emotions. There’s an incredible amount of information that your brain takes in daily– from social media, work, email, news, even tv or streaming. Let it all out. I find it helps me to write down ideas, tasks and thoughts throughout the day as reminders on my phone. That way I can reference back to them and check them as completed when I’ve finished with that thought or task. I think of it as “cleaning as I go”. That way my brain can delete the thoughts or things to do as I think of them so I’m not actively trying to remember and using energy to not forget.
  1. Do something that lets you empty your mind: Many people find meditation or prayer helps them empty their mind completely. For me, I needed something more active to empty my mind – dance, specifically ballet. Not only do I feel 10 feet tall and graceful when I’m dancing, but I also have so many things to think about that there’s no room in my brain for stress or thinking about anything else. I’m focusing on my breath, focusing on turning out, straightening through my knees, creating space in my back to stretch taller. Dancing allows me to completely empty my mind of worries, thoughts, problem-solving for an hour. Weekly brain “spring cleaning” if you will.
journaling, setting goals, keeping track of things, organizing your mind
  1. Do something that gives you a sense of accomplishment: Some weeks, this is as simple as folding the laundry or painting my nails. Just something I can finish and check off my list to feel like I’m making progress. Other times I get ambitious and do things like craft something, sew or fix clothes (hem pants, tailoring etc). It allows me to feel accomplished and combats the negative thought that creeps up and tells me that I’m wasting time when I do things like binge watch tv.
  1. Do something that gives you a sense of control: This may be a set it and forget it part of your self-care but it’s important to have something you can control so you can go with the flow for the things in life you can’t control. For me, it’s as simple as how drawers are organized in the bathroom or how my clothes are hung in my closet (colorcoded and by sleeve length. 
organization, Marie kondo, tidying up, things you can control
  1. Do something that makes you feel beautiful: This is the classic self-care idea, but it’s doing something that makes you feel like you feel like the fabulous you. I love doing my nails. When my nails are done, I feel put together for work and everything else. Generally I do my own as I can sit and watch my favorite shows at night while I do them so it’s a double-win for relaxing. Find what makes you feel amazing. Maybe it’s getting a massage, doing a mask, putting on lipstick or some combination of all of those things.
  1. Do something that makes you laugh: I’ve always told my husband that I’m ok with getting “happy wrinkles”. Laughter is not only the best medicine for stress relief, but it also adds some fun to your life. Hopefully, making a point of laughing or being silly will get me those happy wrinkles. I’ve been working hard on those! Find a comedian that makes you laugh to listen to on the way to work, have dinner with friends who you can laugh with, or even just be silly with your family at home.
  1. Do something that makes you feel alive: Typically this is running for me. Partway in I always feel like I might die, but pushing past that, endorphins make me feel like I could run forever, like I’m flying in a way. It could be listening to your favorite song or better yet, belting it out. It could be travel or trying new things. Find what makes you feel truly alive so you feel like you’re using your time to live and not wasting it.
biking, self care, working out

Many of these things will overlap. Some weeks when I paint my nails, it helps me feel beautiful and feels like I accomplished one of my tasks on my list of things to do. Each thing doesn’t need to be its own activity and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. For example, you can dictate to a google home, alexa or your phone instead of journaling while you make dinner to help you organize your thoughts. If you are finding you don’t have the time for self-care, it may be an indicator that it’s time to get help with some of the things you’re trying to do each week.

What are your self-care steps to being the best you?

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