Looking after number one; putting your own well-being at the top of your priority list

Here at Monahans we want to promote the good health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. While we encourage everyone to look out for other people’s wellbeing, it is vital that they take care of themselves first.

Self-care is important to staying healthy both physically and mentally. A few ideas of how you can take care of yourself are:

• Ensure you block out some ‘me time’. It only takes a few minutes each day to practice self-care. Simply reflecting on how you feel or spending a few minutes each day – perhaps a dedicated hour or two at the weekend – doing something that you really enjoy is guaranteed to improve your mood.
• Try and have a well-balanced diet, with plenty of good proteins, fruit, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. Drink plenty of water throughout the day and limit the number of units of alcohol you drink per week.
• Be strict with yourself in taking rest breaks during the day and getting away from your desk. Maybe get a coffee and have a chat with a colleague in the kitchen.
• Set yourself clear personal goals for what you want to achieve and acknowledge your own achievements when you reach them, maybe by treating yourself to something new.
• Take steps to reduce stress such as planning ahead, sharing concerns, asking for help, mindfulness, exercise and good sleep.
• Allow yourself a bit of pampering time, even if it’s just a hot bath, a good film, a long country walk or anything that makes you happy and relaxes you.
• Keep talking. Talking is crucial to stay connected with people, share ideas, improve motivation, and feel valued, wanted and engaged.
• If you’re feeling a little lost, why not take up a new hobby where you might gain new skills, meet new people, improve self-esteem, reduce stress and benefit your mental well-being.
• Smile. It has proven health benefits, even when you are feeling down. Smiling relaxes your body and mind, makes you feel calmer and helps you accept the reality of stressful situations. You may even improve someone else’s day!

Resilience
Self-care is about protecting one’s own wellbeing and happiness, especially during periods of stress. During challenging times, building resilience can also be a good way of protecting our wellbeing.

Resilience can be defined as the ability to recover or bounce back in the face of adverse conditions, change or pressure.

As well as diet, exercise, counselling and medication, other good coping skills include meditation and relaxation techniques. These can help to reduce stress and induce relaxation, so you are then better able to cope when challenges come about.

This ‘How resilient are you?’ quiz could help you to identify how to build resilience. The idea is to complete the activity now and then again in a couple of months’ time, to help you see where you have built your resilience.

Juliet Mellues