What’s your Number 1 Priority ?
You are Your Number 1 Priority: Take Care of Yourself, Body & Mind.
With crazy and hectic lifestyles, spending time focusing on ourselves seems near impossible. Instead, we use our much needed “me-time” to keep working, in hopes of shortening our never-ending to-do list. But what we often forget is the effects that stress can have on our body, mind, and overall level of productivity. It is so important to devote time towards distressing and resetting. I promise that long to-do list can wait.
There are so many small, quick things that you can fit into your schedule that will have a huge effect on your mood and mental health.
Here are five tips that I like to use to distress:
1. Morning Meditation
After my morning coffee, I like to take 5–10 minutes to meditate. Meditation is a great way to start off the day with a clear mind and a positive attitude. I love using the app Headspace because it makes meditating so easy and it’s only for 10 minutes a day! But meditation is not the only source of morning relaxation. It can be yoga, reading, or writing down your thoughts — your morning meditation should be what is calming for you. Starting my day off with a clear mind allows for a better flow of new ideas to come in.
2. Staying Active
I know that to many people, working out is another chore on their to-do list. But I firmly believe that taking as little as 10 minutes to work up a sweat, leaves me feeling happier and more confident throughout the day. Find a workout that is fun for you, whether it be running, Zumba, or swimming! No matter the activity, breaking a sweat allows you to cleanse your body of stress and negativity.
3. My Planner is my Best Friend
The simplest tip for destressing is using a planner or making lists. I know that I always have a million things on my mind and things can quickly be forgotten. But by writing out my weekly tasks and planning everything on paper, I can declutter my mind. Having my week visually in front of me is one less thing I have to think about during my day and allows my thoughts to be more organized.
4. Take a Few Days Off
Sometimes I need to take a few days off to distress. Look at your schedule and find a few days where you can take a mini vacation. During my days off I do not work and instead focus on taking care of myself. You should be relaxing and doing things you love during your time off. Despite what we may think sometimes, the world will not fall apart if we stop working for a few days!
5. 10 pm and I Am Off Duty
Making it a general rule to not answer emails after 10:00 pm has made me more efficient with my time and gave me something to look forward to at the end of the day. I know that no matter how busy my day is, my work day ends at 10 pm. With this rule, any time after 10 pm is my time, and I can relax and wind down before bedtime.
Without taking the time to take care of ourselves, we are not functioning at our fullest capacity. Regardless of how busy our week is, our number one priority should always be ourselves. If our body and mind are in order, our other priorities will follow soon after.
We would love to hear steps that you follow to take care of yourself! What are some tips that you find helpful to distress and declutter your mind?
Phromsavanh is a passionate serial entrepreneur creating business solutions in the industry she knows best — fashion. She is an innovative brand builder with multifaceted expertise in retail, marketing, strategy, business development, and consumer behavior. Phromsavanh is an acclaimed Keynote speaker and enjoys speaking on topics that include — entrepreneurship, minority women in business, leadership, women’s empowerment, E-commerce, shopping habits and personalization, fashion, retail, and motivational ideas for carving a non-conventional path. Contact Monica to have her speak at your company event or conference soon.
