“An empty tank will take you exactly nowhere take some time to refuel.”

“An empty tank will take you exactly nowhere take some time to refuel.”  

I like this quote, it aligns nicely with another analogy I use

 

“You have to fit your own oxygen mask before helping others.”

 

If you don’t look after yourself helping others is going to become increasingly difficult.

When we don’t look after ourselves our mental load can increase to a point where our energy and resilience can suffer. We have nothing left for ourselves or others.

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In order to balance our mental load we need to practice self-care in order to refuel. Self-care can come in many forms from exercising, cleaning, reading and meditating to socialising, time management and eating well. Whatever form the self-care takes the consistent elements are time and commitment.

 

So how exactly do we do this? 

 

How do we find time and commitment to refuel when so many other people and events in life demand our attention?

 

We ring-fence it 

 

• Everyday we put aside some time for ourselves.

 

• We could do this by making it part of our routine. Set aside a set time for exercise, meditation, reading, a bath or a stroll.

 

• We could put it in our diary. Block the time out for an important meeting like blocking the time out for a doctors appointment, a dentists appointment, for food shopping or to meet a friend. 

 

• We could involve other people. Join a book group to ensure we read regularly. Join a walking or running group. Attend an exercise or mediation class. The inclusion of others means we make a commitment to more than just ourselves. 

 

• We could write it on our goal list or to do list for the day, ensuring it had as much importance as everything else and didn’t get left until last.

 

• We could set reminders on our phones, so that during the day when life gets busy we don’t forget to make time for us. 

 

• We could set a longer term goal to achieve, something which requires regular practice, such as a running event, a reading challenge, a meditation retreat, or a writing goal.

 

• We could write about it, blog about our progress, diarise it. Make ourselves accountable to our words.

 

Whatever we do we need to treat time to ourselves with as much importance as we treat time for work, family, friends, shopping or cleaning.

 

If we don’t we will have no fuel to be able to attend to anyone or anything else.

 

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