Self-Care Strategies

Last week I explained the difference between short-term and long-term self-care and discussed how both are important in managing stress and burnout. I want to piggyback that discussion by looking at self-care in a more concrete way. 

Self care looks different depending on our emotional distance to current stressors. For example, we are usually able to make different self-care choices when we are under low stress vs. when experiencing a crisis. This is because during a crisis we are often in a “fight or flight” response, making it more difficult to slow down and contemplate our options. 

This diagram lays out 4 different self-care strategies that you can take depending on your stress level. It is important to become familiar with all of these so you can learn to prepare and act accordingly whenever your stress level rises. 

As this diagram suggests, we can engage in self-care before something stressful occurs (Prepare Self-Care), while something stressful is actively happening (In Moment Self-Care), immediately after a stressful situation subsides (Recover Self-Care) and after we have recovered and moved forward from a stressor (Maintain Self-Care). 

What stage of stress are you in right now? Use self-awareness to map our your experience and record it in your Intra-Journal. Using these strategies overtime can help you outsmart stress! 😉💪🏻

Can you think of a time when you used one of these self-care strategies? Share your stories below!👇🏻