You're Never Too Busy for Self-Care

I know it often feels like self-care is the latest health trend that's only for people with hours of disposable time. Hell, I get so busy I forget to even drink enough water a day. How am I supposed to sit cross-legged in the floor, humming to myself for an hour to relax? That's not relaxing. I'm just breathing while stressing about all the stuff I still need to do.

But, that's not exactly what self-care is about. If you think you're too busy for self-care, think again. All you need is 5 minutes to start.

Yes, you read that right - 5 minutes.

Self-Care in 5 Minutes? You're Kidding Right?!

I thought it was a joke too. How can 5 minutes make a difference? But, it does.

I read something about setting aside 5 minutes a day to make a change in your life. It could be learning a new skill, reducing stress, exercising, etc. If you start small, it doesn't seem so impossible to fit into even the busiest schedules.

Why shouldn't I give this a go?

I started by figuring out what I wanted to do to take better care of myself and what time of day I'd do it. Obviously, the answers to these questions are completely up to you, but here's what I started with:

Self-care activity - Do a 5 minute workout

Time of day - Before dinner

I chose a workout because I always feel less stressed after exercise, it feels kind of meditative to me, and it's something healthy I can do for myself.

By doing the workout before dinner, I can let whatever I'm cooking for dinner finish up while I'm exercising. There's no time wasted.

Not Too Busy for Self-Care After All

I took a day to prepare and made a YouTube playlist of 5-minute workouts. I wanted low-impact, no equipment workouts I could do in my living room. I stuck with simple walking, cardio, and dance workouts. If the videos were longer, I'd just do 5 minutes each day until I finished it. When I started my self-care experiment, I had four weeks of workouts scheduled.

I almost forgot to do anything my first day. After that, I set a daily reminder on my Echo.

After a few days, I didn't really notice any change, but I promised myself I'd see this through for a month.

At the end of week one, I already noticed I was starting to fall asleep faster. I also didn't feel quite as groggy when waking up.

By the time week two was done, I wasn't getting as many tension headaches. I can't tell you how nice it was to not have to pop OTC headache meds like a daily supplement.

By week three, something surprising happened. I found myself upping my self-care time to 8-10 minutes. I was enjoying myself so much that it didn't seem so hard to add those extra minutes.

When the end of week four rolled around, I felt noticeably better. I'm not saying I was suddenly a fitness model or self-care guru, but I personally noticed my energy level increased and my stress level decreased.

Choosing a Self-Care Activity

In my experience, yes, 5 minutes of self-care does make a difference in your daily life. Just don't expect miracles or some drastic change in a few days. Even spending hours a day on self-care won't change your life that quick.

If you've always written self-care off as some silly trend or just don't think you have the time, now's the time to take it seriously. You matter. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of others. It's not selfish. Think of it as just as essential to your health as eating, getting enough water, and even bathing.

You might be feeling a bit indecisive about where to start. If so, try any one of these self-care activities and devote just 5 minutes a day to it. Set a goal of at least 2-4 weeks to really see results. Please, don't get discouraged if you miss a day or two. It happens and it's okay. You can always start again the next day.

• Start a gratitude journal
• Write about your stresses
• Exercise
• Meditate
• Read (read what you enjoy, not what you think you should read)
• Learn a skill you've always wanted to learn
• Enjoy a favorite hobby
• Give yourself a pep talk in the mirror
• Listen to music with no distractions
• Sit quietly and enjoy your favorite beverage or snack
• Take a short walk
• Try a self massage

If you're like me, you'll discover self-care is an essential part of your daily life. Once you start with 5 minutes of self-care, it starts to get easier to fit more time in daily.

I'm personally up to 20 minutes a day, split between exercise and reading. And, I'm not giving up my 20 minutes for anything.

Good luck everyone! Let me know what your goal is and how it works out for you.