With more than 20% of Americans facing anxiety every single day, it can be difficult to know how to take care of yourself. This is especially true when you consider the stressors involved with work and school. Not only do Americans tend to over-work ourselves, but it can be especially difficult to know how, or when to take time off for yourself and how to take care of yourself in a real way. It’s important to understand that self-care is a great way to improve your mental health, as well as your ability to work and compete at your best self. Self-care isn’t just for those of us with anxiety or other disorders, but for anyone and everyone. After all, taking care of our mental health is just as important as taking care of our physical health. Here are some ways that you can step up your self care on the weekend.
The first thing you should do is to make sure that your schedule is completely clear. Although it may seem like a good idea to schedule in your self-care, it’s all about really maintaining a sense of calmness throughout the whole weekend. So make sure that you don’t have any deadlines that you have to work on the following weekend, and if you do to get them done before the weekend, and to cross off all the items that have been stressing you or before the weekend occurs. This will ensure that you won’t have any surprise stressors and you will really have the whole weekend to sit back and relax. It may even be a good idea to not check your email or phone while you’re relaxing just so that you can make sure that nothing pops up. For some of us, however, not having our phones can be a source of anxiety. So if it helps you, keep it with you but disable the notifications.
The next thing you should do is to concentrate on is by doing something that you love. Whether it’s gardening or just reading a book, setting aside the time to do something that you generally love doing is a great way to start off your self care weekend. If it’s something that is relatively calming and you love doing it, why not try it out? You should also make sure that during your weekend you also take care of yourself and your body. Need a haircut? Get it done this weekend and the stress will fade away!
Another thing to consider for your self-care weekend is to do something fun. When it comes to fun, it could be anything that you’d love. If you’re free this weekend, why not try something exciting like Barefoot Waterskiing? This sport is for anyone, and it’s a great way to get in some needed physical exercise and experience the fun of waterskiing, but with less items that you need! If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out this episode of Barefoot Gear Garage, where Keith St. Onges, the fourteen time national barefoot water skiing champion explains the gear you’ll need for this fantastic sport. Not only is it a great way to do something you love, but expanding your interests and passions is a fantastic way to take care of yourself and your body.