February 5, 2018

When Burnout and Stress Take Over: The Importance of Self-Care

?: Nick Karvounis on Unsplash

Self-care is simply practicing personal healthy habits that are crucial to how you function. Self-care practices can be different for everyone, but their benefits have been shown to help each individual with focus, mood, and stress relief.

You have a busy day ahead of you. Whether it’s a long day of classes with essays and tests stacking up or you’re overwhelmed at work, your to-do list seems to be bursting at the seems. To make time for it all, you skip lunch, skip your workouts or decide not to meet your friends for dinner. It’s a common thought that forcing yourself into whatever you need to do – like stay up all night to study for a test or stay hours late at work to finish that presentation – will pay off in the end. But what happens when you become so overwhelmed that these tasks begin to effect your health?

Three signs that you need to practice self-care

When you abilities become worn, your skills aren’t as sharp, you’re losing focus and sleep and you become stressed, you should turn to some healthy self-care habits to get you back to your best you. If you are feeling these symptoms, you may want to focus your attention on some healthy self-care tips –

Burnout. With the busy lives that we lead, we are all looking for the best way to get more energy. When you were younger, you woke up full of vibrant energy. Now, after a full day at school or work, you feel just as tired as the morning.
Stress. Some stress can be beneficial; it can provide us with the boost in motivation we need to get the job done. But when stress becomes excess stress, it can lead to poor quality of sleep, muscle tension, headaches, or over/under eating when it’s not properly managed.
Focus. Your to-do list seems to be growing faster than you can complete the tasks on it. When you become overwhelmed, it is hard for you to focus on one thing while you’re brain is working faster than your hands can.

Here are a few tips to help get you back on track

Self-care is important in order to maintain a healthy relationship with your health, especially your self-esteem and confidence. Make time throughout the day for yourself – enjoy a bubble bath, read a book, learn a new language!

When you’re overworked, stressed and disorganized, you are less productive. Take breaks at work or school to decompress – grab a healthy snack, take a quick walk, read a book!

Smart self-care habits like eating healthy and practicing mediation can really help your stress management and can lead to increased energy and productivity levels.

You cannot be physically healthy if you aren’t mentally healthy first. Care for both your physical and mental health by eating healthy, making sure to get adequate sleep, and exercise regularly.

Rhodiola

When you feel like you don’t have any energy left, you may want to look into a nutrient that has been proven to help your body adapt to daily stress and fatigue – Rhodiola. It is an ancient herb used to support energy and well-being, by modulating the body’s response to stress and helping to generate cellular energy. It has also been shown to enhance exercise performance, reduce fatigue, stress and anxiety, support the immune system and boost endothelial health and cardiovascular health.† Click here to read more about Rhodiola!