Sneha’s Self Care Routine
I should first preface that the four self-care routines I’m about to list is by no means a hard-and-fast rule book on how to live life. As you will see, they are all heavily tailored to me and all of the ‘fun’ quirks my brain likes to throw at me at the most inconvenient of times. Nevertheless, I hope it finds you well and you can take something away from it.
Timers, Timers, Timers.
I have a weird relationship to time and time-keeping, in that my brain cannot comprehend it. What I think will take me 3 hrs to finish could easily take me 3 days. But it could also only take me a half hour. It really just depends on a lot of external factors as well as how wavering my brain is on any given day. It is a real challenge for me to get stuff done on time. And more times than not it’s not because I’m lazy or don’t care. I just struggle to discern which of the various tasks I have to complete, take priority over the other. And I get so busy trying to figure out which one takes priority that I get overwhelmed and complete none of them. Or I task-hop and only complete a portion of each task.
This is where I’ve found that timers help. Part of the problem is that I will jump from one task to the other without completing the first one. To stop myself from doing this I set timers for myself counting down from either 30 or 20 minutes. In that time, I must complete one full task so that I can move onto the next one. If I don’t get it done in time, I keep extending it until I do.
Take a break.
I have a tendency to get caught up in whatever I’m doing, so much so that I forget to eat or forget that I need to use the bathroom or forget to keep up with my friends and hang out with them (Yet another example where time has no meaning to my brain). To counteract this tendency I’ve started to incorporate 15-20 minute breaks every 4 or so resets on my task Timer. That way I can use that time to make a lap around the office or studio and talk to friends. Or I can go grab myself coffee or tea from the breakroom. And once my brain has cooled down for a bit I can settle back in and start up work again. This has helped me so much in the past couple of weeks, and has definitely helped regulate whatever frustration I might feel towards the work itself. The last thing I want to do is burn the CPU in my brain and corrupt the very few memory files I have.
Music & Games.
Sometimes I can get overwhelmed by the various events going on in my life or the many people I have to attend to or even the various sounds and lights flashing before me. My chest begins to hurt and the world starts to spin and muddle together and tears start to fall with no prompt. I’d always thought this was a normal occurrence and part of the growing pains that everyone goes through as they transition to their Adult years. The tax that must be paid in order for growth to happen.
If it wasn’t that, I convinced myself that it was because of where I live. I mean, New York City is not known for slowing down. New York City, where – for the first time in my life– my environment is sprinting just as fast as my brain is. One misstep, and I’ll fall (or that’s how my brain perceives it). This is where music comes to play. After I moved here and had one too many anxiety attacks at work or on the subway heading home, I bought myself some nice, noise canceling headphones. Works like a charm. Now, everytime I get on the subway I throw on some calming, low-fi music or a podcast with a rhythmic ABBAB banter and peacefully zone out. The music provides a loose barrier or dimmer switch for my mind and keeps the intrusive thoughts at bay until I can simmer down from the long work day. I also struggle to sit still on the subway, so having some casual, puzzle games downloaded has also helped distract me from my thoughts while keeping my fingers active.
A Method to the Madness
I am very susceptible to my physical environment. How I up-keep my home can sometimes be the make or break of how well I can manage the first three of my self-care routines (listed above). This doesn’t necessarily mean that everything has to be pristine and spotless. It just needs to be organized according to my terms. For example, my room is definitely ‘not clean’ by regular standards. In fact, on first glance, it wouldn’t look ‘clean’ at all. There’s piles of clothes stacked in various corners of the room, stacks of paper on my desk, shelves filled with little knickknacks that don’t quite fit with each other, post-its scattering the wall, my notebook filled with lists and to-dos with half finished tasks. But, for me, this is organized.
The clothes are all piled according to how often they’ve been worn and whether I can afford to wear them out again before a wash. The papers are sorted by priority from loan and health insurance information (very important) to clothing catalogs and random discounts (not that important). The knick-knacks have no methodology, but they all represent different memories from years prior. The post-its are at eye level where my desk is, so as soon as I sit down I can be reminded of tasks that are too small to put on a list, but big enough that they shouldn’t be forgotten. Everything in my room has a purpose and as long as I can keep it visually organized and tidy enough, my brain can relax and stay focused on tasks easier.
These are just a few routines that I’ve started to incorporate in my life. I’m also hoping to include more water breaks and prioritizing my meal prep into my routine, but that will happen in due time. Right now, I’m just working towards taking small, impactful steps in the right direction; it’s a journey not a race.
