This is the time of year when our to-do lists tend to be longer, our expenses are higher and our days (and nights) are busier. This is the perfect recipe to make us feel more stress instead of joy. Making sure to place You at the top of your to-do list is essential to help you promote more joy and less stress in your life. This is important every day, but for many it is especially important around busier times such as the holidays.

Self-Care benefits our emotional, physical, social and spiritual well-being. When we are not meeting our needs emotionally, we may experience anger, sadness and worry more intensely. Physically, we may feel more tired than usual and more prone to illness. Socially, we may want to withdraw from spending time with others and experience more tension or conflicts in our relationships. Spiritually, we may lose our ability to focus on the practices we follow that help us meet our unique needs for this connection. Many people struggle with taking care of themselves viewing this as time-consuming, taking away your time to meet others’ needs, and who wants to add what can feel like another thing to their to-do list? The answer: We all should want to when we consider the benefits.

When we are tuning into our needs and meeting them emotionally, we experience more peace, and patience to help us manage challenging emotions when they arise. Physically, we experience more energy, focus and better health. Socially, we feel more present and focused with others and experience more joy while spending time with them. Spiritually, we can ensure we are taking the time to nurture and build our unique sense of spiritual connection. Practicing self-care will fuel you, so you have the energy to take on to-do lists more efficiently, focus on budgeting to manage expenses, experience less stress and more joy. You will notice the benefits, and others will too.

Self-Care: Are Your Needs on Your To-Do List?

Celebrating the New Year

Relationship Skills: Stop the Four Horsemen (Gottman Institute, Inc.)