3 Ways I’m Practicing Professional Self-Care
Okay, I admit: I don’t talk about professional self-care often and that’s completely on purpose!
I suck at professional self-care, plain and simple. It’s the weakest area of self-care and something I talk about in therapy a lot. Right now, my main focus is to learn to separate my feelings from work and not allow work to control me.
Trust me, I get it. It’s easier said than done, especially because we spend so much time at work. But I’m determined to change my ways. In this post, I’m sharing some habits I use to practice professional self-care during the work week.
Before we begin, what is professional self-care? Professional self-care includes the habits and practices that improve our careers, help us achieve our professional goals (if any, let’s be honest), and help us maintain work-life balance. Simply put, it’s the habits you practice in your professional/9-5 life.
Here are three ways I’m practicing professional self-care lately:
Relaxing Morning Routine
How you start is how you finish, right? I’m determined to start my mornings off right. This means ensuring that my morning routine helps to maintain my good mood (or lift my mood, if needed). I try to incorporate habits that bring me joy. For example, I love word puzzles like Wordle, mini crosswords, Quordle, and Weaver. So after I open my eyes and take a moment for prayer and gratitude, I’ll play a few games.
But if we’re being honest, a good morning routine also starts at night. For me, that means practicing discipline and not scrolling TikTok for an hour and a half when I should be sleeping.
What sparks joy for you? Incorporate one or two things in the morning that can help you start the day off right.
Surrounding Myself with Calming Things
I’ll be the first to admit that it only takes an email or a phone call to shift my mood during the work day. Part of my mid-day professional self-care habits includes bringing me back to center/self.
Right now, I shuffle through a laundry list of habits and practices:
Listening to podcast
Lighting a candle (when I work from home)
Taking a quick walk
Going outside
Eat a good lunch
Drink water/take water breaks
If these habits sound like other areas of self-care, you’re definitely right! I mentioned in the Self-Care Audit E-Book that many self-care practices apply to different categories because we are intricate and interconnected human beings. If I’m not practicing practical self-care (like lighting a candle) when work gets tough, the lack of self-care during work hours can affect my mental, emotional, and even physical health.
Either way, it’s important for me to not get so sucked into work that I forget to be present and live. If you’re like me, try finding a few habits that “bring you back to Earth” and help you regulate your emotions at work.
This too shall pass.
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes, quotes and affirmations can be corny. But when I really stop to think about how this too shall pass, it’s a reminder for me that I can get through the tough work days. In other words, I remind myself that I’ve survived every hard day at work. Yes, I might have some battle scars along the way. But I’ve survived each day and I’ll survive this one too.
Whenever work is REALLY annoying and stressful, remind yourself that you can survive this day and this too shall pass.
So I need ALL the tips! How do you practice professional self-care?
