Self-Care Toolkit What is self-care? Self-care are the actions you do to look after your health and wellbeing. This includes your basic actions like eating well and drinking enough water. Or it could be making time for your hobbies and celebrating your achievements. Why is self-care important? Self-care supports our overall wellbeing with our day-to-day actions supporting our wellbeing in a holistic way. The different aspects of self-care are Physical, Emotional, Professional, Social, Financial and Psychological. Managing these areas may help reduce stress, improve resilience and energy levels. Having an emergency self-care plan can be preventative. It may help to improve your resilience and ability to cope when times get tough. Only you know how intense your stress levels can be and what helps you. Jot that down so you can refer to it when you need to. Take the time to complete these two worksheets to build your self-care plans. It doesn’t have to be anything drastic, even small actions can make us feel good and build towards living well. To get you started here’s some suggestions while you’re going through the worksheets! • • • • • • • • • •
Go for a walk after work or at lunch. Organise your wardrobe. Learn a new skill. Join the gym. Get in touch with an old friend. Have a coffee without your phone. Drink an extra glass of water. Shop around for a new deal on your bills. Go to bed an hour earlier. Have a crafty afternoon.
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Clear out your kitchen cupboards. Do a yoga video online. Limit screen time before bed. Cook something new. Make your bed each morning. Listen to a new band. Set financial goals. Write letters to a friend or family member. Create a classic movies list.
Your self-care plan is a guide. It’s meant to be changeable and adaptable as you learn more about yourself and what you need to cope. It’s your unique roadmap and there to be tailored to YOUR needs. You can fill out a new one anytime you want by asking your manager or HR for a copy, or going online here. You can also access RecogniseMe to find the Wellbeing Hub for more Wellbeing Resources. You can also find additional resources here: The Red Cross’s Self Kindness Toolkit. MindWell’s Selfcare for bad days and daily self-care for everyday maintenance also offers additional suggestions.
Building your daily self-care routines It’s important to identify what are your current daily self-care practices and look at areas to actively develop more in. Below is a worksheet for looking at your daily self-care needs. Self-care area Physical Physical self-care involves looking after your body’s health. i.e. eating healthily, staying active, drinking enough water, attending doctor or dentist appointments when required, sleeping enough
Emotional Emotional self-care involves identifying your feelings and channelling these in a way to benefit your wellbeing. i.e. acknowledging achievements, communicating emotions healthily, setting boundaries, reflective practice
Professional Self-care also extends to work and your working environment. i.e. maintaining work life balance, time management skills, setting goals
Social Generally, we’re happier and healthier when connected to others. Social self-care involves maintaining healthy connections. i.e. spending quality time with friends and family, joining a local sporting club
Financial Taking control of your finances may reduce stress and help you plan for your future. Financial selfcare is important to look at as well. i.e. creating a budget, working out a debt plan
Psychological This area of self-care is about keeping your mind healthy and building a positive mindset. i.e. taking time to recharge, learning new skills, accessing counselling support if needed, keep a journal
What I’m doing now
Practices I could try
Emergency self-care plan When faced with a crisis, sudden change to your circumstances or had a difficult experience having your emergency self-care strategy may help you cope. Taking the time to develop this plan in advance means you can lean on it when you need to. Self-care area What can I do to relax and find comfort? i.e. choose your favourite slippers, put on your dressing gown and make a place safe and comfortable in your home, have a hot meal, practice some mindfulness.
What makes me feel good? i.e. baking brownies, getting lost in a favourite book, going for a walk, listening to music, watching a comforting movie. Choosing an activity that makes you feel good for when you get home can help you recharge.
What are my positive thoughts? It’s important to avoid negative self-talk like “I can’t handle this” or “I deserve this”. Helpful self-talk could look like “I can do this” or “I am safe and ok”. Choose some key phrases to say to yourself that are positive.
Where can I seek support? i.e. who can you call if you’re feeling anxious, or lonely, who will listen, who will remind you to follow your self-care plan. Based on what you’re experiencing there may be different people who are best for you to seek support from.
What should I avoid? i.e. keeping the blinds closed, drinking alcohol, staying in bed all day, listening to sad music. Sometimes we need to sit in our feelings to process them. But it’s important to know when to start avoiding actions that can make it worse.
What will help me tomorrow? Putting small actions in place to help you cope the following day is important. i.e. talking to your manager, utilising some breathing exercises, using a positive mantra
What is going to help me