Self-Care for the Selfless Supporter: 4 Tips for Preventing Burnout

The overwhelming sense of indulgence in doing things for your own sake may feel like a waste of time but it makes you so much better in the other areas of your life that you owe it to everyone you perform your best for to do it.

We have been witnessing an extreme amount of caring for others and self-less ness over the last half of the year that could warm any heart. It's wonderful to know our loved ones have our back and are doing everything possible to stay positive and support us during the odd and difficult times.

But something that is for certain is that the selfless supporters can't go on indefinitely without checking in to how they are also doing. While some may have a good routine for this, more often than not, it is the most selfless of us that need the practices of self-care the most.

We have been seeing incidences of burn out increase over the last several years and the burden of COVID-19 is only like to exacerbate that problem.

When our bodies are in sympathetic overdrive for too long without giving the proper chances to rest, we start to shut down and crash. This can lead to compromised immune systems and illness or even the need for hospitalization when things get too far out of hand.

So let's talk about some of the ways that you or your selfless loved ones can practice self-care and give some of that love back into the system to keep on going much longer term.

Take Regular Pauses Throughout the Day

Most of us just jump from one task to the next without giving ourselves the chance to pause and re-engage.

There’s a big difference in how you will feel when you allow yourself even a minute or two to close your eyes or even just let your gaze soften between tasks or at the top of every hour.

We get stressed when we keep pushing hard without resetting and often it is eye fatigue from constantly staring at our work that drives this limiting factor in our bodies. Allowing the eyes the chance to rest can dramatically change how you feel throughout the whole day and into the evening as you transition from work to home life.

Fuel Good. Don't Just Feel Good.

We often reach for the most tantalizing of foods when we are feeling stressed or worn out because we get a lovely hit of dopamine in anticipation of and from the act of eating these foods. But think about how you feel after the fact. Probably not very good, and often you feel even worse because these junk foods are not refuelling your body the right way.

It’s undoubtedly a challenge to change our eating habits but knowing that it can make a huge difference for how good we feel and how well we can care for our loved ones when we are caring for ourselves first.

Move Your Body

Our bodies are meant to move. And often a lot more than we allow ourselves to. It’s important when caring for yourself and for others to stay physically active and healthy.

This doesn’t look like hard work, it looks like consistent work. A 30-minute walk each day or two fifteen-minute walks is enough to make a difference.

Give Yourself More Time To Fully Escape

As selfless caregivers, we have others on our minds at all times. It’s what we do but to continue going on in that way long-term requires that we keep our selves in mind as well.

The way that we best take care of ourselves will vary from one person to the next but it’s important that in addition to the micro-breaks that you take throughout the day you give yourself a deeper chance to reset on whatever frequency you feel you need.

For some individuals, this may mean an hour alone twice a week to do something you love like read a book quietly or go for a treatment at the spa.

It doesn’t really matter what activities you take part in as long as it resonates with you like something you get a lot of joy from.

Do what you need to if it requires you to plan in advance because it’s crucial to your long-term well-being and ability to care for others.

Once you start to implement this time into your schedule regularly, it will become a natural part of how you approach things and you will see the dramatic differences in how much more of yourself you have to give to those who need you most.