7 Self-Care Habits that will Improve Your Health, Happiness and Productivity

Have you ever watched a client have a breakthrough and realize that they need to take better care of themselves? If you haven’t had this realization yet yourself, you should. Self-care can make you a better coach and a better person. It’s also a great way to stay more connected to your whole self. Here are seven habits you can adopt to show yourself some love.

1) Say No Every Once in Awhile

As a coach, it can be hard to say no because you want to help everyone. As a business owner, it’s hard to say no to opportunity and clients (or potential clients) because it feels like you are losing out on income. Yet, you—just like your clients and everyone else in the world—should practice work/life balance. If you are feeling overwhelmed, say “no” to at least one request every week. It may be difficult to do in the moment, but you’ll begin to feel more refreshed with every day that passes.

Need more convincing? Consider billionaire Warren Buffett’s wise words: “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

2) Tidy Your Workspace

Is your creativity and productivity stifled? Declutter and reorganize your workspace. The very act of having completed this task will make you feel accomplished and recharged. Having less visual clutter can relieve stress and anxiety that you may not even have been aware of, and you may find information or items that you previously thought you had lost or misplaced. Plus, a cleaner, reorganized space could create the illusion of a new environment in your mind, which can help get your creative juices flowing.

3) Keep Positive Visual Reminders

It can be hard to think positively when our minds are stuck in a negative space. Keep positive visual affirmations around you, so that you can begin to move more quickly into a better frame of mind. Decorate your office (or anywhere, really) with positive notes to yourself and notes from others. I enjoy surrounding my workspace with motivational quotes that I’ve clipped from magazines, printed from the computer or written by hand on Post-It notes. Even the simple act of collecting and displaying quotes puts me in a better mood almost instantly.

4) Build a Self-Care Kit (and Use It)

A self-care kit is a great way to keep items that make you feel good in one place. Then, you can go to it and pull out whatever item will help or comfort you most in a moment of need. Here is a list to help you get started building your own:

• A stuffed animal
• Coloring books and crayons/colored pencils/markers (whatever you prefer)
• Essential oils and other aromatherapy supplies
• Yoga mat
• Photos that make you smile

5) Go Outside

“There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature,” said Henry David Thoreau. Go outside, take a walk, connect with nature. It’s been well documented that doing so can lower your stress, anxiety and depression while improving your mood, productivity, creativity and overall well-being.

6) Take a Break from Social Media

It’s a well-known fact that social media can be bad for self-esteem and mental health. (Facebook has recently changed its newsfeed algorithm to support more positivity.) Take regular breaks from looking at social media—even if it’s just for 30 minutes each day. During these breaks, do something that makes you feel good, whether it’s exercising, watching Netflix or doing one of the other activities on this list. In addition to your mind, your eyes will appreciate the break as well.

7) Practice Gratitude

Some days can be very long and may seem like nothing in your life is going right. Take time each evening to reflect on what may be going right for you and what you are grateful for. Come up with at least three and write them down somewhere.

Instead of a journal, my friend has a gratitude jar, where she writes down at least one thing she is grateful for each day of the year and drops the piece of paper into a jar. She pulls notes out of the jar when she is having an especially tough day to remind her of all that is good in her life. She also reviews the 365 (or more) messages at the end of each year. Since she started doing this two years ago, she has become a healthier, more positive person.

What are your self-care practices? Share in the comments below.