7 Uncommon Ideas When There’s No Time for Self-Care

I get it, you’re busy! You care for so many people (and things)! These 7 unique tips will help you care for yourself when there’s no time for self-care.

These simple but powerful suggestions can help when you’re exhausted and don’t have time to care for yourself.

I discovered these while working as a nurse in a busy healthcare system; I had to get creative to find some kind of livable work-life balance while my daughter was colicky (for nine months).

One of the main lessons I learned?

I actually didn’t need more time.

I needed more focus!

Serving and caring for others, having a rewarding career, or having a social life filled with community service activities are noble acts.

But without focus, these endeavors can take over our schedule – and our lives – to the point where we start to carry resentment.

Ongoing resentment can lead to burnout.

And nobody wants that.

So today, I’m sharing 7 novel ways to increase focus which can help you overcome your time problem and help find more me-time.

By the way, if you’d like more help finding time to take better care of yourself, get your FREE copy of my Self-care Starter Guide HERE!

Okay, let’s get to the tips!

Make Every Decision Count

Have you become someone who mindlessly goes through their day?

You might be if you:

• Get on social media without thinking.
• Scroll endlessly.
• Read useless information.
• Watch videos that tell you nothing.
• Eat and drink without being aware of what you’re putting in your body.

If so, it’s time to make some changes, starting with focusing on your decisions.

Focusing on making better decisions can help you find me-time, move away from living a mindless life, and be fully present to address each decision in a way that positively affects your life.

The best way to tell if you’re making a good decision is to ask yourself if what you are deciding to do will help you meet your goals.

Protect Yourself From Yourself

I listed several reasons above that may interfere with having me-time.

An additional reason is that you have trouble saying no.

If you need help saying no, I wrote this post about ways to do this.

Also, you must know how to effectively set and follow personal boundaries.

Say no to protect yourself from yourself!

When you’re focused on saying no appropriately, you can keep your self-care front and center and plan other things around it to be at your best when you serve and care for others.

See Your Barriers as Part of the Process

When you start taking care of yourself, you’ll run into barriers that interfere with or try to block you from having me-time.

Suppose you view these barriers as your failures.

In that case, you’re not only going to struggle to keep your focus on self-care, but you’re also going to beat yourself up over and over mentally and emotionally, which only perpetuates more negativity.

Instead, accept barriers and roadblocks as part of the process and start dealing with them as they arise.

You may need to choose a different day or time for specific activities. That’s okay. In the big picture, it’s not that critical.

As long as you stay focused, you will overcome your barriers eventually – I promise!

If You Have No Time for Self-care – Stop Cancelling on Yourself

If you’re someone who fills up your planner or calendar, schedule some time to take care of yourself.

Then keep your self-care appointment.

And before you cancel on yourself again, ask if you’ll cancel anything else on your schedule.

If you say no, I want to stop you and ask you to consider why you’re putting all other appointments, tasks, and activities ahead of your time.

Seriously, explore this. Why are you putting your self-care time as a lower priority?

• Do you feel guilty when you spend time on self-care?
• Or perhaps you only feel fulfilled taking care of or serving others?
• Is it because you feel less important or unworthy than other things, people on your schedule, or your to-do list?
• Do you only feel important or special if you’re busy (and self-care isn’t staying busy enough)?

To overcome this struggle, schedule a block on your calendar for meditation so you can focus, and if you’re a believer, schedule some quiet time to talk to your Higher Power about your busyness.

The more you’re consistent with your daily meditation or quiet time, the more you’ll be able to say yes to your self-care appointments.

Also, as believers, we must remember that anything can become an idol. Staying extremely busy to feel better about yourself is a common (but often overlooked and not mentioned) idol.

Consider This For Motivation When You Have No Time For Self-Care

There is a lot of science behind the study of motivation.

Most recently, if your family is a priority (common in people who care for others), you can find motivation by thinking about your family.

When exhausted and stressed, we get frustrated and blame our family for our lack of self-care.

However, if you focus, you can step back a little and recognize how much you value your family (& that’s why you do so much for them)!

You can also remember the truth – that your family would NOT want you working until you’re exhausted.

That’s another lie you tell yourself when you’re exhausted.

Step back every day for a few minutes to consider your love for them, and then spend time being grateful for your family.

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Looking for a way to stay motivated to take better care of yourself? Click my affiliate link to check out my Bible study.

Consider Tapping Into Your Faith

As a person who cares for others, you already know how important it is to feel as well as possible.

And how you’ll function at your best when all of your systems: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual, are at their highest level of wellness.

Self-care is an essential part of being well.

But to prioritize me-time, you must focus on the right things.

Here’s what I mean.

Often, we focus on diet and exercise to improve our wellness.

But focusing on our faith can also get us there, and often with less of our effort.

Romans 12:1 shows us. The verse reads,

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” (Romans 12:1 NLT).

God uses this verse to encourage us to focus on our faith and spiritual worship.

When we follow God’s request, our self-care is a part of the equation, which makes self-care one of our priorities.

So, even when you don’t have me-time, you feel a gentle nudge that keeps your DESIRE to take care of your body front and center. Often, this desire can serve as motivation to make good choices.

If you struggle to connect to the Spirit, a few moments of gratitude or using a gratitude journal can be helpful.

Start Where You Are

The key here is to start with whatever you have to work with.

Feel like you only have 5 minutes for me-time?

That’s perfect!

That could be 5 minutes of investing in self-care and a guaranteed positive return on investment.

It doesn’t matter how much time you have or how far you think you must go.

Seriously!

Start with some simple things you can do in 5 minutes, and you’ll see results!

In conclusion, I hope you see that you don’t need extra time to care for yourself.

You only need to focus and make the most of the time you already have.

Focus will give you more opportunities to care for yourself, even when you only have 5 minutes.

So before you go, schedule a 5-minute me-time block for today and tomorrow!

And then, keep the appointments with yourself!

Don’t forget your FREE Self-care Starter Guide! Get it HERE. 

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The post was originally published on 9/26/24.