“I haven’t got time” is what I often hear when I talk to people about self-care. Life is busy, and it’s the busy-ness of modern day life that I think makes self-care even more essential. Self-care doesn’t need to take masses of time but I do think it takes planning. And I think this is the key – make an appointment with yourself.

We book appointments all the time; with the dentist, with work colleagues, the hairdresser, with friends and the majority of the time we stick to these appointments; we don’t cancel them. So why not make an appointment with yourself? I think this is a really effective way of ensuring self-care features in your daily routine.

When I say make an appointment with yourself, I mean physically write it in your diary, add it to your calendar, make it ping up on your phone. Take that 20, 30, 60 minute appointment seriously and stick to it. Everyone’s lives are different, in the same way that everyone’s idea of self-care is different.  I am a planner (probably getting more so as I get older actually!) For me the week starts by taking a look at my diary and seeing where I can book time for myself. I literally write in my diary the time I am allocating for me; be it a run, a yoga class, a 10 minute meditation, a cut and stick session.

Whatever floats your boat in terms of self-care, write it down, make the appointment and try not to cancel it. Sometime life happens, and you really can’t take that time, if that happens don’t beat yourself up. Just try again tomorrow.

I’m keen to know if you schedule self-care time, or if you just do it as and when, or if you haven’t thought about booking time in your diary whether you think this could work for you. As always let me know your thoughts I’m always keen to get you all involved!

Thanks for reading x