Happy New Year lovely ladies! We’ve officially made it a week into 2019, which is usually the time when the foundations of all of our well planned resolutions start to crack. If you’re like me, self care needed to be made a priority in the new year. It’s not too late to make a new year’s commitment to yourself, and it is certainly not too early to need a boost in continuing your resolutions, so we’ve compiled some tips and tricks to making 2019 the year of you!
- Covey’s Time Management Grid. I learned about this tool in college from a very wise and scatterbrained professor. The grid separates what needs to be done into four different sections: Urgent and Important; Not Urgent and Important; Urgent but Not Important; and Not Urgent and Not Important. What we find urgent and important in our lives will differ, but we need to try to remember that not all tasks are as important as others. If we focus too much of our energy on tasks that are not important or urgent, what will be left when an urgent and important task comes up? It is a-okay to order in dinner, leave the laundry in the dryer, not go out to a social function, or cancel plans to make room for your mental and physical health (which are both urgent and important).
- Goals are highly personal beasts; don’t try to fit a mold. We have all had days where taking a shower or feeding ourselves took all of the energy we had. There are days where we clean our entire homes after a full day of work, cook dinner, paint portraits of our kids/pets, learn a language, and still make it to bed by 10pm. Every day is a new opportunity to assess how you feel and set reasonable and attainable goals; they rarely will be the same day to day. If taking a shower takes 100% of your energy, you gave that day all of the effort you had, which is always an accomplishment.
- Finding hobbies or activities that are easy on the body. Physical exhaustion does not always go hand and hand with mental exhaustion. On the days where your brain is itching to be used but your body can’t be bothered, here are some things you can do that require very little energy!
- Books on tape
- Coloring books or coloring apps on your phone or iPad
- Learn a new language (DuoLingo is one of many apps that are great for learning something new)
- Knit, Crochet, Sew, and all of the other Joanns Fabrics type crafts (if you don’t know how, many stores offer classes for when you are feeling up to it!)
- Write a blog for Girls With Guts!
- Don’t forget about your therapist. I was never one for therapy until I forced myself to go. After four appointments I was hooked, and now don’t understand how anyone lives without it. Find a therapist in your area and just start going – or, there are also now online therapy programs that you can use so you don’t even have to leave the house!
- Change up your look. A new hair cut or color, mani/pedi, or a cool tattoo (please be careful, talk to your doctor, and make sure you are going to a reputable and clean facility) can make you feel like a new person! You’ll look awesome, and sometimes that makes all the difference!
- Hire a cleaning service and/or set up a meal kit plan! Both of these things can take SO much pressure off of you during the week. House cleaning services are often not terribly expensive, and even getting your home deep cleaned 2-4 times a year can make an enormous difference. Meal kits are now extremely popular and reasonably priced – there are a lot of different options and many of them offer large discounts for first time users, so you can shop around and get an idea of which one works best for you and your family.
- Become a human burrito. Sometimes, the best thing to do for yourself is to put your phone on silent, wrap yourself up in your blanket like a giant burrito, turn off the lights, put on some music or a TV show you’ve seen a million times (my go to is The Office, and my husband can now recite every episode word for word because I do this so often), and hibernate. Be alone, be with someone and quiet, close your eyes and have a light conversation, it doesn’t really matter, what matters is that you are focusing on your needs at that moment!
There are so many other ways to practice self care, if you have any tips or tricks please share them with us in the comments! We hope your first week of 2019 was a healthy and happy one, and hope that this new year is our healthiest one yet!
Casey Flancbaum was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at 22, which ultimately was changed to a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease the next year. She found the GWG organization and forum during a late night search for a support group geared towards women and is so grateful for the online community that she is now a part of!
Casey holds degrees in Music Performance from the Crane School of Music and University of North Texas, and is currently an active performer and teacher in the DFW area. In her free time, Casey loves to cook, garden, and spend time with her amazing husband, Samson, and three adorable fur kids, Jackson, Roxy, and Roscoe!
