Something that tends to hold people off from starting down a path of self-care is that they don’t feel as though they have enough time to make that kind of a commitment. They assume that it’ll be hours out of their day that they currently need for other tasks, and they don’t want to cut back that much just to feel a bit better.
But in reality, you don’t need to take a ton of time out of your day in order to get a self-care routine going. Just a mere 10 minutes a day will do. Self-care doesn’t have to take up a lot of time.
If you have the time to dedicate an hour to physical health and an hour to mental health, that’s great. However, this amount of time is not a requirement at all – it’s only if you can do it.
Just 10 Little Minutes
As little as 10 minutes a day is enough to help you improve your life significantly. Now, there are a few options you can take in regards to self care considerations. First, you can spend that 10 minutes a day focusing on one specific thing – primarily either mental health or physical health.
You can alternate days so that you cover both bases, and have a full 10 minutes to dedicate to each one. You can spend time each day doing 10 minutes of quick cardio or a quick workout, which can mean the world for someone in terms of improving their physical health.
Some 10 minute physical routines:
Take a brisk walk, maybe with the dog
Play 3 of your favorite songs and dance to them
Spend 10 minutes stretching out your tight muscles
Pull some weeds out of the flower garden or clean up around the yard
It may seem insufficient, but if you really push yourself for those 10 minutes, you can do a lot more than you’d think.
Similarly, those 10 minutes can be spent on improving your mental health.
Some 10 minute mental routines:
Do a crossword puzzle or play solitaire
Read part of a favorite book or look through a magazine
Call a friend and catch up
Write in your journal
You can also do this by getting in a quick meditation session or any other equivalent helpful stress relief strategy. It can be done anywhere, and as long as you’re giving yourself around 10 minutes, you’re going to do just fine.
Five Minutes Each
Another option would be splitting it up each day. You can even do five minutes each, mental health and physical health, if that’s what you’d prefer. If you feel as though it works better for you, then you can do that.
This doesn’t give you as much time, of course, for each part, but you’ll be able to do it more often, which might be what’s best for your situation at that time. There are many experts that say even a small amount of self care goes a long way.
It’s certainly better than completely neglecting yourself on a routine basis. Find small time-saving strategies like deep breathing or a quick, brisk walk, and engage on them consistently throughout to week to see how your body and mind respond.