We face stress every day of our lives and finding employment can intensify the way we feel and respond to these pressures. Whether you are navigating the civilian jobs market, writing job applications, or climbing the employment ladder. When we are feeling stressed, it can be easy not to prioritise ourselves, but it is essential to practise self-care to give yourself the best chance of finding and securing fulfilling employment.
What is self-care?
Self-care is taking time out of your day to focus on yourself. It could be used to do an activity that you enjoy, or to do nothing at all. It is your time to use, however you choose to use it.
How can self-care help me?
Taking time to focus on yourself and do an activity that you enjoy, will boost your mood and help make you feel relaxed, which in turn combats stress. A relaxed and positive mood can help you focus more clearly on your career goals and make it easier to prioritise your tasks.
To maintain a healthy lifestyle, it’s important to look after both your physical and mental health. Self-care will help you to prioritise your mental health and wellbeing by giving you the time to check-in with your emotions.
What does self-care look like?
Self-care looks different to everyone. Some people practice self-care by being active, such as going to the gym or taking part in a sport. Others use it as an opportunity to have some quiet, reflective time. Sometimes self-care might even be taking a nap in the middle of the day.
How can I practice self-care?
There’s no limit to how often you should practice self-care. It may look different to you on different days, so don’t limit yourself to only one activity. It’s good to have a mixture of active self-care acts, such as going out for a walk, which motivate you to move your body and enjoy some fresh air, as well as quieter acts of self-care, such as having a bath or reflecting.
How often should I practice self-care?
Self-care should be woven into your everyday life. It doesn’t necessarily have to take up a lot of your time, it could be 5 minutes or 5 hours, depending on what you have going on that day. Just make sure that you do make time to focus on yourself.
How can I start practicing self-care?
You can start practicing self-care right now. There is no preparation or warm-up that you need to do to begin practicing self-care, just think about something small that you would enjoy doing and do it.
Self-care looks different to everyone; however, some popular forms of self-care include:
• Going to the gym
• Taking a walk
• Having a bath
• Practicing mindfulness
• Listening to music
Taking these steps to practising self-care should place you in the best possible position to find and secure your next job. For tailored, life-long, life-changing employment support and guidance, register with the Forces Employment Charity today.
