Let’s be honest – if self-care was easy, we’d all be sleeping eight hours a night, drinking our water, and foam rolling like champions. But life gets messy, schedules get packed, and suddenly we’re checking work emails at midnight while eating leftover pizza.
Here’s the truth: the path to better self-care isn’t about massive overhauls or perfect execution. It’s about small, intentional choices made one moment at a time. Let’s get into how to make these changes stick, even when life gets crazy.
Be the boss of your phone notifications
That constant ping of notifications isn’t just annoying – it’s hijacking your mental peace. Each interruption pulls you out of the present moment, increases stress, and fragments your focus. Here’s what actually works:
Start with your bedtime. Turn off notifications an hour before bed. My personal favorite? If you have an iPhone, “Do Not Disturb” mode. Not ready for that? Start with 15 minutes. You’ll be amazed how much more peaceful your evening becomes when you’re not jumping at every buzz, ding or banner.
During the day, batch your checks. Instead of responding to every notification instantly, set specific times to check messages. If part of your job involves social media, schedule times during the day specifically for that purpose and stick to it. Your brain will thank you for the uninterrupted focus time and you will be surprised at how much more you can accomplish when your focus isn’t hijacked with every notification that comes through.
Sleep: The Foundation You Can’t Skip (and really, the key to everything)
We all know we should sleep more, but knowing and doing are different things. Good sleep hygiene isn’t about perfection – it’s about creating better habits one night at a time:
- Make your bedroom as dark as possible
- Keep the temperature cool
- Establish a wind-down routine
- Stick to consistent bed and wake times
- Use blue/green wave blocking glasses if you must look at a screen in the hours before bedtime.
- Avoid exercise in the 3 hours before bed.
- Restrict caffeine intake in 8-10 hours before bed.
If you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, stop saying to yourself or outloud, “I’m so tired.” Everytime you say it outloud or in your head, you are reinforcing the negativity around being tired. Instead try, “I feel great. Today will be awesome.” Sound crazy? It works. Give it a try.
Is this easy when you’ve got deadlines, family obligations, or a new show you’re binging? Nope. But that’s exactly why it’s worth doing and nobody is going to make it happen for you. It’s all you, just focus on the payoff.
Movement as Medicine
Here’s where I see many people stumble – they think mobility work needs to be a full hour of yoga or nothing at all. Wrong. Five minutes of intentional stretching is infinitely better than zero minutes of the “perfect” routine. Dr. Kelly Starrett, physiotherapist and author of “The Supple Leopard” recommends a simple practice of sitting on the floor for 20 minutes a day to improve mobility.
Keep a foam roller by your desk or TV. Do some basic stretches while your coffee brews. The key isn’t perfection – it’s consistency. Nobody is going to make you move but you.
Nutrition: One Bite at a Time
Forget complete diet overhauls. Instead, focus on single decisions:
- Choose water instead of soda for one meal
- Add one vegetable to your next plate
- Take three deep breaths before stress eating. When we stress eat, we are looking for that dopamine hit to sooth our brain. Look for something else that makes you feel good to take it’s place such as movement, reading, meditation.
Each bite is a new opportunity to make a better choice. No, you won’t always choose perfectly. That’s okay. Progress isn’t about perfection – it’s about better choices more often.
Hydration: Making Water Less Boring
We all know we should drink more water, but let’s be real – sometimes water is boring, sometimes we forget. Try:
- First thing after you wake up – drink 16 oz of water before you do anything. Have a glass in the bathroom and just get it done.
- Adding fresh fruit or herbs
- Using a marked water bottle to track intake
- Setting specific hydration breaks in your day
- Drinking a full glass before each meal
- Have refillable water bottles everywhere. In the car, at your desk, by your bed, in your living room.
The Hard Truth
Here’s what nobody tells you about self-care: it’s work. Real work. It’s choosing to do the slightly harder thing now for a better outcome later. And the science tells us that the more we make ourselves do the hard things, the better we get at doing hard things. Yup, that’s right, there is a place in our brain specifically geared toward grit and perseverance and the more we challenge ourselves to do hard things that we don’t want to do, that place in our brain grows…think of how when we do more reps and sets in the gym, muscle grows. That’s exactly how we grow our brain…get the reps in and do hard things. Here are some hacks that work for me:
- Move your body with stretching and foam rolling after that first cup of coffee.
- Setting up your coffee, prep your lunch and set out both workout clothes and work clothes the night before
- Prepping healthy snacks when you’d rather watch TV
- Going to bed on time when everyone else is still up
- Turning off your phone when the notifications are tempting
The easy way is rarely the best way. But here’s the good news: every tiny choice matters. Every small victory counts. You don’t have to transform your entire life overnight.
Start with one thing. Make it small. Make it doable. Once that becomes habit, add another. Before you know it, these small changes add up to significant improvements in how you feel, move, and live.
Remember: The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is progress. And progress happens one choice at a time. Was it Yoda that said, “The journey is the destination.” If anyone knows who said that, please comment 🙂
Ready to start? Pick one small change from this post. Just one. Commit to it for a week. See what happens. Then come tell us about it – we’re here to support your journey, one small step at a time.
PS OUR 6 WEEK NEW YEAR FITNESS CHALLENGE STARTS 1/6.
INCLUDES:
Unlimited Professional Coach led strength and conditioning workouts
Nutritional Guidance
Pre/Post InBody Body composition analysis
1/2 Off your first visit to Renegade Movement and Performance with Dr Kyle Brunelle (in house too)
BOGO at DEXAFIT Nashua. Get one Dexa scan (the gold standard in body composition analysis) and get one free