3 Self-Care-Shifts for When Life Gets Nuts

“I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.”

~ Audre Lorde

When life is coming at you from all directions it’s easy to set your own self-care needs to the side so you can get through to-do, but what will that do for you? Not only will your productivity crash when you need it most, but you’ll come out the other side even more stressed and fatigued than necessary.

So, when life gets nuts, decide on a different approach for self-care. First step, dig in and get through to-do.

Second, watch this reboot video from last fall to hear 3 ‘Self-Care-Shifts’ to help you through. Or, read the transcript that follows and then #DTFW (do the freakin’ work)!

Hey, Michelle Cederberg here, coming to you from Beautiful Fort St. John, B.C. on a lovely sunny, October afternoon. I am here presenting at a health and safety conference for the city of Fort St. John, great group of people. I actually had a whole bunch of firefighters in my audience, so that was kind of fun.

I’m here today to talk to you about busy. I don’t know about you, but when fall hits it seems like life ramps up a few notches. Your kids are going back to school, everybody’s back from holidays, work seems to get a little busier. For me as a speaker, I’m back on the road. I was busy through all of September, I’m on the road a lot through October, and it seems to be continuing through November.

How the heck do you maintain work/life balance, and some sense of sanity when life is hitting you from all sides? Sometimes, you just gotta surrender and do the freaking work.

Sometimes, you have to say that maybe work-life balance is going to have to ease back a little bit, or stop entirely while you hammer through to-do. I don’t want you for a second to think I’m saying don’t prioritize self care, don’t do the things you need to do to take care of yourselves, ’cause I’m absolutely not saying that. But, sometimes when life is busy, we have to honor busy and make slight shifts in how we take care of ourselves..

Get that stuff done, and with the rest of your life, do the bare minimum that you need in order to survive. By bare minimum, I mean prioritize key ‘survival tactics’ and nothing else besides the work you need to do. Here are three important ones:

1) Zzzzzs Please! I think the number one thing that we need to do when life is hitting us from all sides, is to get enough sleep. Let your body restore, because when that happens, your brain and your body are going to help you cope with the stress far, far better.

2) Move, Just Less. Also, add in movement… in small steps. Now, if your regular exercise routine is to go to the gym all the time, or to head out for a long run, or to do something more intense, how about back you off on that a bit while you’re under the gun? I had an airport day yesterday, where my flights were delayed three and a half hours in Calgary, and then I got bumped to a later flight in Vancouver so I missed my normal workout. Instead, I did a lot of airport walking while I waited. It was all that I could do, but it felt good and also helped me keep my sanity. Slower, shorter, whatever. I got some movement, and it really helped me stay clear.

3) Feed Success, Not Stress. When we’re busy we often let healthy eating slide, which is the last thing we should do to get through the stress. When you’re busy, reach for healthy. Pack healthy snacks, eat less sugar and processed foods, and avoid junk food. Sugary, fatty foods will drain your energy and you’ll have less stamina to get that work done.

Busy happens. Busy is not an excuse to drop ‘everything self-care’, but it is a reminder that sometimes we need to honor that shit needs to get done (yeah, I said that) and simplify how we take care of ourselves.

Sometimes we just have to crush the to-do list, and back off on the things that we need to do for ourselves. Just a bit. Get your sleep, modify your exercise, and absolutely, absolutely make sure that you are feeding your body what it needs.

It’s how your body works. You are capable of great things if you allow yourself to do them. In the busyness that is fall, crush those goals and create self care in a way that you can manage. When those moments open up when you have achieved some of your goals, celebrate them, and then give yourself a little more self care. It’s how your body works, it’s how we work.

Until next time, I am Michelle Cederberg reminding you that you got one chance to do this life, I say dare to live it big.

To learn more about my new sessions and to chat about how to bring me into your organization reach out to me and make your autumn (and winter) awesome!

Michelle Cederberg, CSP, MKin, BA Psyc
CEP, CPCC, ORSC

Empowering today’s dreamers, leaders and go-getters to create the life and career they want.

www.michellecederberg.com
403-850-5589