It’s National Self-Care Month, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for me!
When we started house-hunting early this spring, I knew it was probably going to be a busy summer of packing up and moving. It had only been three years since we moved to Indianapolis, and I wasn’t ready to move again. But I was ready for something more permanent than our apartment. So I did my best to prepare for and execute another family move.
With our past move still very fresh on my mind, I knew I’d need to arrange my schedule so I didn’t have any travel in the midst of our move. I tried to work ahead on as many deadlines as possible. I refreshed my OneNote project plan from the previous move to keep all of the details organized. At the same time, my team was working hard on a major website refresh and our new online training center.
What I wasn’t counting on was managing multiple, urgent family situations that came up during the move. Before I knew it, my self-care reserves were running dangerously low.
Over the past six years, I’ve had numerous life events that reinforced the importance of focused self-care. I’ve shared some of these stories before. I usually do a much better job with self-care now than I used to. I make sure to work self-care into my normal weekly schedule, which helps tremendously. But when multiple things go sideways at the same time, it’s still a struggle!
The cumulative stress of buying a house, packing to move, moving, unpacking, working, launching a new website, and managing the personal situations caught up with me in August. I had to take a break. I asked my husband for encouragement and support in holding me accountable for various self-care activities (naps, doing nothing, errands, etc.). I enlisted my sisters and their kids to help get me out of my office and out of the house during the day. And I tried to be patient with and kind to myself, instead of beating myself up for not being as productive as I thought I should be. Sometimes, that’s the best self-care you can give yourself!
As admins, we are really good at taking care of other people – our executives, colleagues, and family members. But we aren’t always so great at giving our own needs the same level of attention. Starting this week, we’ll be giving you some tips on how you can take better care of yourself – whether you’re at the office or at home. Our feature article shows you four concrete ways you can reduce stress, and our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages are filled with information that will help you make self-care a priority.
I’m delighted that September is National Self Care Month. It’s a perfect time for all of us to hit reset on our routines, and create some better self-care habits to support our sanity and success!
Supporting your administrative success,
Julie Perrine
P.S. Since we’re talking about self-care this month, now is a great time to introduce our newest AdminPro Training Series session, Develop Your Plan for Focused Self-Care. Are you ready to keep your tank on “full,” and take better care of yourself personally and professionally? Click here for a free preview!
