Have you noticed that you’re exhausted after work? Do you ever feel like you need more than just a good night’s sleep? You should consider implementing self-care in your daily routine. Self-care has been known to promote health, cope with illness, prevent disease, decrease pain and depression, and increase quality of life1. So why isn’t modern society prioritizing self-care for the working class?
Self-care is widely used to find a balance between personal lives and professional work and promoting mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, and other self-identified facets important to wellness. Researchers have regarded self-care as an important facilitator to reducing professional burnout and coping mechanisms to a stressful work life2 (Campoli & Cummings, 2024). This notion first sprouted in the 1970s when self-care practices became a political act of body sovereignty to critique modern medicine2. Furthermore, this act was aimed at demystifying the body and empowering people to have a choice in the care they receive while not disrupting their lives.
It may seem difficult to begin and maintain a self-care routine while navigating a busy life, but in reality, it’s quite simple. Researchers found that creating a Toolbox and Plan to introduce self-care is a necessary first step3. The Toolbox is a mental set of ideas that you can pull from when you need it. Whether it’s putting on a face mask or working out, you create activities that suit you best. The Plan is meant to set manageable goals and scheduling time for these activities. For instance, you might want to sleep more at night (Toolbox) then you will do this by brushing your teeth and getting into bed 1 hour earlier (Plan). Overtime, completing these steps can lead to gaining confidence in one’s ability to practice self-care and improve internal and external factors. Such factors are seeking support from peers, maybe even inviting them to join you, increasing self-awareness, and solidifying an identity.
Self-care is a multidimensional construct that gives power to an individual to do activities that engage personal and professional work while promoting mental and emotional wellbeing, physical, spiritual, and any other important area of life3. The wonderful thing about self-care is the ability to choose when, what, where, how, and why you engage in practice. This is not meant to disrupt your daily routine but rather, enhance the experience to foster a positive environment in the future. From yoga to writing to spending a peaceful night, self-care can be achievable while working and living a busy life.
References
1. Aujla, M., & Narasimhan, M. (2023). The cycling of self-care through history. The Lancet, 402(10417), 2066–2067. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(23)02645-4
2. Campoli, J., & Cummings, J. A. (2024). “Becoming a Person Who Does Self-Care”: How Health Care Trainees Naturalistically Develop Successful Self-Care Practices. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 11. https://doi.org/10.1177/23821205231223321
3. Dugan, A. G., & Barnes-Farrell, J. L. (2018). Working mothers’ second shift, personal resources, and self-care. Community, Work & Family, 23(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2018.144973
By Ximena Arias.
Ximena Arias is a research assistant in the Living F.R.E.E. Lab.
