10 Self-Care Ideas for Working Women to Recharge and Excel

2.1K

Self care ideas are all over the internet but what about specific self-care ideas for working women?

Working women have a lot of responsibilities and often struggle to find the time to take care of themselves. They may be running a household while working a full-time job and raising kids. Or, they may be an ultra-committed dog mom with a chaotic schedule. Stepmom, single mother, or dog mom – just the stress of work alone can take a large toll on us.

Did you know that women actually tend to feel more stressed on the job than men? This stress can translate to poor sleep, anxiety, and other issues.

That’s why we think it’s exceptionally important to have a solid self-care routine if you’re feeling like work is negatively impacting your mental health. In order to keep your life balanced, you may want to assess your priorities/where you invest your time. It’s with a solid self care practice, you can prevent burnout, and you may feel extra energized throughout the day.

Before Exploring Self-Care Ideas for Working Women, Let’s Understand Your Priorities

This won’t take too long but if you’re wondering if you should create a self-care routine or you know you’re ready, there are a few different ways to understand where you invest your time.

The goal of this exercise is to understand what you spend your time doing and who you spend your time with. One of the easiest ways to do this is by looking at your calendar. This may be a great way to understand how much of your time is spent a work v. social v. taking care of yourself.

If you don’t use a calendar regularly, we urge you to track your week. At the end of each day, make a ballpark estimate of how much time you spent on what activity.

If you want a clear idea of where you spend your time, try to review 3-4 weeks of calendar activity. Are you shocked by what you see? Do you spend most of your time working? How much of your time is spent on self-care?

If this exercise wasn’t enough to point out that you may not be spending enough time focused on yourself, let’s take a look at some research on working women.

Can Self-Care Really Help?

Did you know that 77% of people say that they have felt burnout at their current job? In today’s economy, it seems that companies are trying to do less than more. That means, you may work long hours, have a high-stress job, and you may be overworked.

The stress that work puts on us can take a toll mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. And that’s definitely worrisome because we spend 40+ hours a week at our job sometimes. Additionally, women are exploring new careers and they are exposed to hazardous materials in some cases. This new trend coupled with things like possible discrimination suggests that women may be more stressed at work than men.

That being said, a self-care routine is crucial to ensure that you’re taking care of yourself and prioritizing wellness. Not only will self care activities allow you to unwind and destress but you may also feel that work no longer stresses you out as much.

Check out more on the benefits of self care here.

We’ve created a list of after work routines to help prevent burnout and below we’ve outlined other self-care ideas for working women.

Prioritize Your Work More Strategically

Working women sometimes feel overwhelmed with their responsibilities. Hence, we may end up cramming tasks into tight schedules, leaving little time for self-care.

To break this cycle, practice better time management. Make a list of your goals for the day and prioritize them by importance. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of your tasks, take a moment to review your strategy and adjust it as necessary so that you’re set up for success.

One great way of prioritizing your work is by using a priority matrix. If something can be done another day, put it off and focus on the top-priority tasks.

Follow Schedules for Efficient Management of Time

Setting up a schedule will allow you to be intentional about your time and prioritize tasks that are most important for your well-being. To create a healthy routine, set aside some quiet time for yourself every day. This could be in the morning or evening when you can make sure to take deep breaths and relax.

One way to ensure that you never skip lunch is to set up a recurring lunch block. If you need to drop your kids off or take your dog for a walk, make sure to block this time as well if possible.

Following a clear plan tailored to your lifestyle helps to ensure that you actually utilize your free time as intended instead of wasting it away trying to figure out what needs to be done next.

When time is blocked on your calendar, people will not be encouraged to send you meetings at times that don’t work for you. Of course, there will always be a meeting that doesn’t align with your calendar once in a while but calendar management is great for scheduling self-care.

Take Regular Breaks From Work

Taking regular breaks throughout the day is essential to recharge and maintain productivity. It’s helpful to set a timer that reminds you to take a break every couple of hours.

Whether it’s a five-minute peaceful yoga session or just an opportunity to move around your living room for a few minutes, taking small steps towards self-care can help make the difference in the quality of your work. Breaks allow you to refresh your mind and make sure that you don’t overwork yourself!

This may be tough for some on a strict schedule but we want to help you make this possible. Every hour, set a timer so you can get up and stretch or walk around. Taking a few breaks of a few minutes each is not long enough to be destructive but will be beneficial for your mental health.

If you have a generous PTO plan, make sure you are taking vacations or mental health days regularly. Even if you spend time at home reading, a PTO day should never be underestimated.

Invest in Proper Self Care Habits

Investing in healthy habits is key to sustaining productivity and feeling energized. Whether it’s making sure you get good quality sleep, subscribing to meal kits for nourishing exercise, or connecting with friends and family for social support – make sure that you take the time to invest in yourself!

Creating a routine focused on self-care will help relieve stressors and keep you ready to take on any challenge that comes your way.

If you don’t know where to start, check out our list of 111 self care ideas here. These are general ideas but many of these are great self-care ideas for working women.

Create a Support System of Friends and Professional Colleagues

Having a dedicated network of people who understand your workload and what you’re going through can be extremely beneficial. Talk to family, colleagues, and friends about the needs you have and ask them for help as needed.

Creating a support system can lift the stress off your shoulders and allow you to lean on someone for advice and emotional support when times get tough.

If you can, join an affinity group at work or join a networking group. If you still have not found a group you are interested in hanging out with, try out meetup.com or join Facebook groups. You can still create meaningful relationships online if it’s tough to meet friends face to face.

Set Boundaries Around Work

This is similar to managing your calendar but we want to take this one step further. Set up a great morning routine and stick to it. Instead of waking up and rushing to work, spend time focused on yourself in the morning.

These boundaries also go for after work and weekends. Try not to think about work or look at emails after work or on the weekend. Slack may be exciting to check regularly but unless it’s a high-priority ask, it’s likely something can wait until the morning.

This may be tough in the beginning, but once you set boundaries with your co-workers, they will respect your boundaries more. Another way you may be able to set work boundaries is by not adding a work email on your phone unless absolutely needed.

Find a Hobby that Makes you Incredibly Happy

Find a hobby that makes you jump up and down that work is over. What type of hobby would light your soul on fire? Find something that you truly love and make a commitment to schedule time for this at least once a week.

Maybe it’s taking a dance class, cooking yourself a five star dinner, or reading. Don’t play it safe and just binge watch Netflix. Try something new that is exciting and challenging.

Give back

Sometimes to focus on yourself, you may want to give to others. Volunteering can make us feel connected to a community, proud, and fulfilled.

If you have a special gift or hobby, find a network that you can share it with. Even if it’s helping out at an organization once a month, volunteering can give you a sense of purpose that’s much bigger than work.

Talk to a Therapist

If you need to vent about work but you don’t feel comfortable talking to people who you work with, therapy is an excellent choice. Therapy will give you a place to feel heard. And you can speak freely without being worried about feeling judged.

Therapy is excellent for handling stress, understanding your triggers, and finding positive coping behaviors. There are tons of online resources now that allow you to seek therapy from the comfort of your home.

If you have a great benefits package, your company may include a few free therapy sessions. If not, you may be able to find affordable counseling and help through a platform like BetterHelp.

Reduce Distractions

We’ve all been there – you’re working through something that’s due soon and your phone is going off like crazy. Multi-tasking can be impossible these days and notifications don’t quit. That’s why we suggest turning off notifications while at work or sticking your phone in a drawer.

Sometimes scrolling through social media may seem like a great idea to unplug from work but this is no escape. If you are constantly being dragged back to your phone to check notifications, this will limit productivity. Try to limit the number of times you check your phone.

When it comes to distractions, notifications aren’t the only thing that can get in your way. Sometimes the person next to you at work may want to chat your ear off. Instead of sitting and chatting through something that will put you behind at work, try to prioritize social conversations during times when you have less of a workload.

If you have a deadline coming up, let your teammates know that you may be heads-down for a while or that you’ve got lots of work on your plate. You’d be surprised – they may offer to help or find a way to free up your workload if you’re on the same team.

Just remember to be mindful of how you come across. It’s extremely important to build strong connections at work and with the right message, team members will understand why you’re so focused.

Embrace Rest

Do nothing. Yes, we said it! It’s likely your calendar has you in a stronghold and you’re always on the go. Hence, you may not even know how to relax. We are here to tell you that you deserve to rest. It’s with rest that you can show up as the best version of yourself.

Resting can be difficult for some. This might be because sometimes rest is associated with laziness. Well, that’s absolutely wrong. Resting and being lazy is quite the opposite. Rest is needed after lots of work and laziness is just a state that you’re in with no work to hang your hat on.

And it’s totally fine to be lazy too but let’s make sure to not bucket rest and laziness in the same category.

Final Thoughts

Thank you so much for stopping by today and reading through this Self-Care Ideas for Working Women post. We hope that it gives you some ideas or inspiration to take control of your personal life during work hours and outside of work hours.

You should never feel guilty for taking care of yourself or prioritizing self-care. It’s with self-care that you can be the best version of yourself at work. No good ideas usually come from someone who has experienced burnout.

So what are your thoughts – should we add new ideas to this list of Self-Care Ideas for Working Women?

xx,

T&W