4 Certain transformational Self-Care Tips during uncertain times

I celebrated the life and legacy of my grandfather.

I embraced my birthday.

I navigated uncharted family territory. 

I thought I was doing well managing myself care during the abyss of uncertainty. With the pandemic and racial tension at an all-time high, until sleep became elusive, I was crying more than I was laughing, stress eating, and slipping out of mindfulness into numbness. 

I was falling apart. 

I needed a more in-depth, more structured self-care routine ASAP to authentically show up every day and not drag through it to continue running my business, lead a team, and pour into others daily through coaching. 

Here is an overview of four new tried and trusted elements of my self-care routine that you can implement too.

1. Morning Pages.
   I swear by them. They are NECESSARY. Each morning I get up, and for 30 minutes, I write. Mercilessly. Every single thought, task, feeling, and more gets on those pages. As I write, I release any creativity blocks and regressed feelings standing in between me and the day ahead. It is not pretty -- I do not care. It's my truth in those early morning moments or even late nights. It is healing and healthy work. The kicker, you cannot go back and read what you wrote. You release it and move on. Yeah, I know, right!? Super hard at first, amazingly freeing once you learn to let go. Eventually, you can go back to read what you wrote, but not for some time. To learn more about the concept of Morning Pages, check out The Artist's Way. It is a beautifully challenging, 12-week process. It is WORTH it. 
   
   
2. Meal Prep (but let me explain).
   Here's the thing, I don't meal prep in the traditional Martha Stewart way with an apron and hours in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. Meal prep is one of my least favorite tasks. I do it because it's fewer decisions I have to make in my day and week. It also ensures that I get at least two square, healthy meals each day. My plan: I map out my meals for the week by day and mealtime, make a grocery pick-up order, and then build in the cook and eat time in my schedule. Otherwise, I'll end up skipping lunch and not eat dinner until 10 pm. Plus, eating my feelings every single day is not an option -- periodt! One additional tip around meal prep is to keep your favorite, healthy snacks in abundance in grab-to-go portions (even though I'm just going down the hall). Splurge and by the individually wrapped items or divvy up things quickly while putting the groceries away. 
   
   
3. I limit my workload.
   I heard you; yes, you can. I'll tell you how. I no longer have massive blocks of time open on my calendar for everyone to see. I schedule my day from admin hour to lunch to walking the dog to personal tasks like taking a 30-minute block to pay bills. Now, do I label these things by their actual tasks on my public calendar? Of course not! It just says "busy" or "unavailable." This approach intentionally limits the number of meetings and coaching sessions on my calendar to avoid being spread too then each day. It also ensures that the important stuff gets done and not at 2 am.
   
   
4. I structure my day by energy pattern.
   It sounds fancy, but it's super easy and powerful. I started paying attention to my body rhythm. When was I more alert and focused versus when I was more distracted and less energized? I started scheduling high energy tasks during my "peak performance" times and scheduling low-energy tasks when I was more tired. As an example, I schedule my coaching clients during my peak energy time blocks during the day. My clients deserve a fully engaged coach for every session. 

These are 4 of my self-care tips. I'll share more next week. In the meantime, I was hoping you would send me a quick email and share one of your self-care tips. I'd love to compile a list and share it with those who need to prioritize self-care.