I work a tough day job as a child welfare supervisor. Specifically, I am a supervisor for foster care, a position which I’ve held for less than a year at this point. Prior to that I was a front-line foster care worker. I can honestly say that I love my job and enjoy it 90% of the time. The people I work with are the biggest reason that I’ve been able to push past the burnout and maintain in a career that has such a high rate of turn over.

Another huge reason that I’m able to fend off burnout and emotional exhaustion is that I make self-care a top priority always. With that being said, I readily admit that I’m not always *successful* at keeping it my main priority but I do make sure that its right up there at the top. It takes work though and it takes deliberate planning.

Self-care looks different for everyone. For me, self-care involves feeding my mind, body, and spirit. I developed a self-care plan that includes planned time for exercise, getting outdoors, reading and other hobbies I enjoy, and spending time with my husband and family. For me, self-care is less about pampering and more about restoration.

With that being said, I fully believe there is a place for pampering oneself! If that’s what it takes for you to find your center and your focus, go for it! Have a pedicure, get a massage, go for a haircut, soak in a hot bath, whatever pampering looks like for you. The key is that you MAKE time for self-care because, otherwise, self-care will always play second fiddle to your life.

A few years ago, I decided that I was tired of the unpredictability of my day job sabotaging my exercise time. Every day that I planned to go to the gym after work, something came up and I would work late, often to the point of exhaustion, and would skip the gym in favor of going home to rest. To change this, I had to deliberately PLAN to include time at the gym in my day.

The only way I could reliably do this was to plan for gym time early in the morning BEFORE my normal work hours. Now, I hate waking up early as much as anyone, but I was willing to make the sacrifice of an extra hour of sleep to make certain that I made it to the gym. When I decided and planned to do this, I committed to making this a regular part of my self-care routine.

Within no time at all I went from going to the gym maybe 1 time a week, to making it between 4-6 days a week. One unexpected side effect was how amazing I felt during the day when I started off with a workout of some kind. This one small change, one tiny commitment, had a huge impact on my day to day life.

I encourage anyone in a stressful or demanding job to make self-care a priority and take the time to do some deliberate planning surrounding their own self-care. If you need some suggestions, this website is a good place to start: Self-Care: 12 Ways to Take Better Care of Yourself

You may also be interested in some of the resources available for self-care planning on Pinterest!