Self-care is defined as the activities that we do to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Activities often mentioned as self0-care include activities like getting more sleep, exercise, eating well, meditation, and drinking more water.
Sometimes, self-care represents longer periods of time like a spa day, a vacation, or a sabbatical.
What I find interesting is that none of the self-care activities are tied to work. Some can be accomplished during an in-office day by taking a 10-minute walk outside, packing a healthy lunch, and always having a glass of water at your side. I think all of these are important and should be worked into daily routines.
However, the activities themselves all represent a “break” from work. I’ve been wondering if there are additional forms of self-care tied to the work that we do.
My Perspective – Finding Your Work Self-Care
If we start with the role of self-care, we have a goal of reducing stress, increasing motivation, and finding happiness in our lives.
The activities that increase and reduce stress for each of us are different. Digging in to understand what relaxes you and what makes you anxious can provide clues to the work activities that can be used as self-care during busy days.
Your activities should fill you with energy and be enjoyable to do.
Possible activities could be reading an industry publication, working on a financial spreadsheet, brainstorming a project with a peer, diving into research as background for a new project.
The list is endless and won’t be the same for everyone.
My Story
When I think about work activities that would reduce stress and make me happy, there are a few things that come to mind. Here are my top 3:
- Reading. I will read business related content during breaks in the workday as well as at home because I enjoy it so much. Learning new concepts and thinking about how they could apply to my work is fun and relaxing.
- Research. This has a broad range of activities including creating research studies, benchmarking other companies and products, and searching online for background information or trends.
- Analyzing Data. The data could be from research report or last month’s financials, the content doesn’t matter. Searching for patterns and insights is the part of the work that I find energizing and engaging.
Your Turn
What are your favorite self-care activities?
Do you know the work activities that reduce your stress levels?
How might you work more of these into your day-to-day work?