Self-care is one of the more important things you can take care of as a caregiver. You have to make sure that you’re doing what you need to do for yourself so that you can do anything at all for the other people in your life.

But what qualifies as self-care?

There Are the Easy Things

The most common forms of self-care that everybody talks about are the simple ones, like taking a spa day or eating some chocolate. That’s still self-care, definitely. But it’s only part of the story. And if it’s the only part of self-care that you’re paying attention to, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Self-care Is about More, Though

Self-care encompasses a lot more than just the floofy activities. It might mean realizing that you need to be up early tomorrow, so you go to bed a little bit earlier tonight. It’s right there in the name self-care. You’re doing what you need to do in order to take the best care of yourself that you possibly can.

Self-care Can Also Be the Things You Don’t Want to Do

Believe it or not, self-care can also be those things that you don’t want to do at all. Paying your bills can fall under self-care that you don’t want to do, for instance. A catch-all term for these types of activities is “adulting,” or taking care of tasks that adults in life handle. So you might not want to eat a salad, but you do, because that’s something that will help you to eat healthier.

Assess What You Need and then Do That

One of the ways that you can get a little bit more comprehensive about your self-care is to start asking yourself what you need. Are you tired? Perhaps you need a nap or a better night’s sleep tonight than the night before. If your muscles are feeling stiff and sore, perhaps you need to spend a little time stretching. All of these things are self-care, even if you wouldn’t have described them that way before.

Being a caregiver takes a lot out of you. What replaces that is the fun stuff, but it’s also the “adulting” tasks that help you to stay healthy and happy, even if you don’t want to do them. Work out what you need and then do what you can to meet those needs. When you’re doing that regularly, you’re practicing self-care.

For Caregiver Services in Memphis TN, please contact the caring staff at Personal Care Services MidSouth today!