


This routine should be tailored to your individual needs and preferences but should include activities like: Explore a reasonable self-care routineĭeveloping a reasonable self-care routine can help prevent burnout and maintain resilience to compassion fatigue. Once you build a habit, it will be easier to carve out a little more space when you need it. Maybe you could incorporate self-care after work by pausing for 5 minutes to meditate in your car before you head home.īe creative in taking back some time during your day to spend on just you.How much time do you spend on social media daily? Could you cut back that time by 5 minutes?.Consider turning the time you’re already spending into intentional self-care, like while you’re driving home from work or to pick up kids from a school activity.Is there a 5-10 minute spot you can adjust your activities to allow for self-care? Where could you possibly squeeze in time for self-care? Take a few moments right now to evaluate your average day. Setting aside time each day to engage in self-care activities can help ensure that you’re able to continue providing quality support to those you serve as an advocate without sacrificing your own wellbeing.īut if you’re like most advocates, you’re already too busy. However, self-care time is essential to helping you maintain resilience to compassion fatigue and preventing burnout. Making time for self-care can be challenging when you work with individuals who have experienced trauma. If you start feeling more exhausted than usual or have difficulty managing stress levels, it may be time to look more closely at your self-care routine and make adjustments as needed. It’s important to re-evaluate your self-care routine regularly to ensure it’s still meeting your needs. Know when it’s time to re-evaluate your self-care routine And with proper rest and care, it will become easier to say no when you need to. Proper self-care will afford you joy, a calmer approach to change, and increased flexibility at work. Taking time to rest and recharge can help prevent burnout and ensure that you can continue providing support to those in need. Self-care is important for advocates because it helps you manage the effects of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. It can manifest in physical, emotional, and psychological symptoms such as exhaustion, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and feelings of hopelessness. Identify signs of compassion fatigueĬompassion fatigue is a type of secondary traumatic stress that can occur when someone is exposed to the suffering of others for an extended period.
#Basic needs self care checklist how to
In this article, we’ll cover why self-care is important, how to evaluate your self-care needs, how to make time for it, and how to develop your own self-care routine checklist. And while self-care has been clinically proven to reduce anxiety, depression and stress, and increase happiness, flexibility and quality of relationship, most still find it difficult to fit self-care into the day. During the pandemic, depression rates have tripled. Every advocate needs a self-care routine that is robust enough to carry you through the challenges you face.
