Self-Care
What is Self-Care?
Different forms of care are necessary to support our mental health and overall well-being. According to Well-Being at Stanford, there are three main types of care that serve as the foundation of our well-being. These are:
- Professional care, which is support or resourcing from professional services, sometimes outside of your community, that positively impacts your well-being.
- Community care, which is support or resourcing from your community that positively impacts your well-being.
- Self-Care, which encompasses the actions within your sphere of influence that positively impact your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Why is Self-Care Important?
While it’s important to note that self-care alone is insufficient to support well-being, it is an important component thereof. Self-care can be thought of as the things we do to replenish the reserve of physical, mental and emotional energy and nourishment that we draw from to execute our day-to-day tasks. When we do not practice regular self-care, that reserve gets low, and we are not able to continue to do the work and play that our lives demand. Self-care, therefore, has no final destination but must be incorporated into our existing routines to restore us on a regular basis. A lack of a robust self-care routine can result in stress, depression, and/or burnout.
How Do We Know We Need Self-Care?
Negative changes in your energy, mood, focus, relationships, and body can be indicators that you are in need of more self-care.
Self-Care During Academic Work
Take Breaks
Focused attention requires mental energy, which is depleted throughout the day—not to mention that hours of classes and studying can lead to fatigue and burnout. To restore your energy and focus requires periods of rest.
How to do it:
- Use the Pomodoro Technique. Work without interruption for 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break, then do another 25 minutes. After four 25-minute rounds, take a longer break and repeat, or move on to the next thing.
- Whenever possible, try to make your break a physical one, rather than simply looking at something else on your screen: stand up, walk around, stretch, or get a glass of water.
- Breaks also provide an opportunity for your brain to store information in your memory. At the end of each study session, while still sitting in your chair, try to close your eyes and relax for a few minutes.
- To prevent screen fatigue, try the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break by looking at something 20 feet away.
Manage Your Time
Time management is useful for self-care because it is a tool for scheduling daily priorities, including self-care habits. Planning ahead can reduce overwhelm and help you to protect time for the activities that support your well-being.
How to do it:
- Use brain dumps to clear your head and help you prioritize what academic tasks need to be done urgently, so that work feels more manageable.
- Start calendaring with a digital or physical planner to plan and optimize your days, weeks, and quarters. Be sure to reserve times on your calendar for self-care activities (exercise, hobbies, social events, etc.).
Improve Your Sleep Habits
Remember that you should be aiming for seven to nine hours of sleep per night. There are four different sleep phases and the most restorative is REM sleep, which plays an important role in storing memories, processing emotions, and implementing learning. Good sleep also reduces the risk of other mental and physical health issues. You need a full night’s sleep to reap all the benefits of good rest and access that much-need REM sleep.
How to do it:
- Carve out time to wind down for the day a few hours in advance of your bedtime.
- Avoid using devices or watching TV within an hour of bedtime. The blue light emitted by our devices interrupts the release of melatonin, which helps us sleep more soundly. Instead, you might read, meditate, or listen to music. At the very least, if you must use your laptop or phone for an assignment, make sure you have a setting such as Night Shift turned on; this switches your display to warmer colors, which don’t affect you the same way.
- Consider putting your phone on the other side of the room so you are not tempted to use it late into the night and so that you have to physically get up to turn your alarm off.
Personalize Your Self-Care and Seek Other Forms of Support
Our well-being requires layers of support, and sometimes that means seeking external help.
How to do it:
- If you are physically ill, visit your medical provider; for mental health needs you can visit CAPS at Vaden.
- Stanford also offers a variety of free coaching services, including well-being coaching, career coaching, financial coaching, and academic coaching.
- Popular understandings of self-care can focus too much on luxury experiences like spa days or shopping sprees. But your self-care routine can and should be tailored to your circumstances. What is important is to incorporate regular moments of rest, joy, and reflection.
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Self-Care
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