The biggest gift you can ever give yourself is time: time to listen, time to learn, time to let go, time to love and time to take care of yourself.

But your life is busy and you don’t even have time to think of taking care of yourself, right?

I mean, your children’s needs are important, so are your parents’, your partner’s, your boss’ and your girlfriends’.

Your needs, however, can be pushed aside for a little while longer. And longer. And longer.

Until catastrophe hits and your crazy little world falls apart.

It doesn’t have to come to this point though.

There are a few things you can do in order to carve out some time for your self-care practice.

1. Remember why self-care is important. 

It’s important because you’re important.

It’s important because you’re worthy.

It’s important because it relaxes you and is therefor good for your health and the prevention of chronic stress.

It’s important because it improves your emotional health. Having a well-cared-for body and mind will make you feel good about yourself and your life, and conveys to others that you value yourself. This can contribute to long-term feelings of wellbeing.

It’s important because it helps you take a mental vacation from all the stress in your life and will make you a happier and more balanced person.

It’s important because not doing it can lead to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment and inexplicable grief.

2. Face your fears of being seen as selfish

Loving and accepting ourselves are the ultimate acts of courage. In a society that says, “Put yourself last”, self-love and self-acceptance are almost revolutionary. ~ Brene Brown

Yes, it’s true that it is still often seen as weird, selfish and “abnormal” to take time for yourself and say no to others. However, loving yourself and taking care of yourself is the opposite of being selfish. It’s necessary to live fully, love fully and give fully. And if you are burned out, nobody benefits, right?

So, put yourself first more often and let others see how much they benefit from it.

3. Don’t wait for others to give you the permission to take care of yourself.

They won’t.

It’s not their responsibility to watch out for what you need. No, it’s yours. So, watch out for yourself.

4. Revisit your priorities.

Can you take things off your schedule?

While giving and being of service is amazing, important and honorable, you don’t have to give to others all the time. If you derive your self-worth from giving, then it’s time to work on that.

5. Plan ahead.

Put your self-care practice on your calendar (for example. Yoga from 8 to 9 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, daily meditation from 7 to 7.10 pm, daily journaling and reflecting before bed) and stick to it.

6. Make self-care a sacred ritual.

Self-care does not equal doing something you loathe like torturing your body in the gym or starving yourself to fit into society’s destructive beauty ideal. No, self-care is the opposite of that.

Self-care is a group of things you do that feel good to you, that recharge your body, heart and soul.

Self-care is fun, soothing, comforting and relaxing – and what’s better than that?

7. Get up earlier.

I see you rolling your eyes, but even 10 minutes make a huge difference.

8. Declutter your life.

Sometimes just getting rid of “stuff” – yes, physical stuff – will help to save time and energy. So, take a look around your home and get rid of all the clutter you don’t use, don’t need and maybe even don’t want. Be ruthless. With every object you let go, you have one less thing to worry about.

9. Learn to say no.

This is a big one and probably deserves its own post, but the more you say no the better it is for your overall life. You don’t have to be rude, but you can do it respectfully and gracefully. Remember that you are your biggest asset and saying no to someone else means saying yes to yourself.

10. Appreciate the little moments.

There are so many little moments in our lives that go wasted without us realizing it.

A while ago, I noticed that I was always surrounding myself with some kind of noise. I was always listening to podcasts or music – while I was grocery shopping, on the subway, during lunch, etc. I felt unable to be just with myself and the result was a stressed out and frantic me.

So, I made it a point to take out my earplugs and just sit or walk in silence. Within a few short days, I was less stressed and my mind seemed more focused, clear and calm.

That is easy and efficient self-care, my friends.

Yes, we’re all busy and self-care can seem like adding just one more thing onto our already packed schedules. However, if you want to be happy, balanced and healthy, self-care is the one thing you just can’t do without. 

So, don’t make it a bigger deal than it is and give yourself that time you deserve so very much.

On to you: how do you make time for your self-care practice? Share your tips and tricks with us!