The Importance of Planning As A Self-care Regime
Compassion Fatigue and the Importance of Planning For A Happy Fulfilled Life
I was listening to Dr Cierce West-Olatunji speaking on the Traumatic Effects of Disasters earlier today - which sounds kind of heavy, but it brought to mind the impact that both large events and a quantity of small incidences can have on people. It got me thinking about my own self-care, and how I used to have a written down timetable, or annual schedule, that incorporated things like planning days for my writing and workshops, holiday breaks and special family times. I also had a list of places I wanted to go to and the people I wanted to make sure I caught up with in the year. Those lists were really helpful in the annual action plan.
For many years, particularly when I was running Albury Hypnotherapy Clinic full-time, I created and followed my plan quite diligently. These annual plans helped ensure that my life, my work and my mental, physical and emotional health were taken care of as a matter of course. The talk by Dr Cierce prompted me to reflect on how I’m travelling right now, and how I might improve on my own self-care in the coming year. Compassion fatigue, or burnout as it is sometimes referred to, is a serious issue for all of us, and can seriously impact on our health and well-being, as well as the quality of our interactions with family, friends and work colleagues.
Because I know from past experience how great a process it is, Ive decided to implement this strategy again, and genuinely encourage you to get pen and paper out, and make a plan for yourself. Why shouldn’t we all thrive and be as well as we can be? Why wouldn’t you look at the year before you and consider where you might place rest days and regular periods in each day to revitalize, ground and balance yourself?
Like me, you may need to actually schedule time in to your diary to;·
Prep food for the week ahead so that you can nourish your body with healthy food quickly and easily so that you actually do have lunch, and eat well after a long day of work·
Meditate before or after work·
Do some physical exercise to keep your energy levels up
·Socialise with friends·
Learn something new that has nothing to do with work·
Spend quality time with the people you love
Learn something new or get a hobby, because everyone needs a hobby and a group of people that are not associated with work or family - it broadens your life and the values of that are immeasurable.
If you get creative and plan ahead you can link things up, like attending a workshop in a different city and having a little holiday before or after. Maybe you’ll do a tour of the Sydney Opera House and climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge or fly to Perth to attend a special concert or sporting event so you can go from there to visit friends who live in the vicinity, and that way you can tick all of your own boxes on what is genuinely important for you. You can really make things work well for you and your loved ones when you plan ahead.
If you find this is too big a thing for you to work through on your own, or you just want to flesh this out with some help, let me know. I’m always happy to help.