Putting in place the necessary elements of a healthy lifestyle is vital to reducing your risk of chronic diseases and living a long life. But even with the best intentions, it can be bewildering to try to cram so many essential self-care habits into your busy schedule.
If you're doing well in your job and taking great care of your loved ones, but your own health is suffering, these tips will help you take back control and avoid burn-out.
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Be Your Own “Health Boss”
These days, having a rewarding career often means it’s hard to prioritize your own needs, and you may even be hiding your mental health from your boss or your family. It’s natural to put work demands and family needs ahead of your own health, you have someone else depending on you. But when it comes to your own wellness goals, you have only yourself to answer to. Rather than letting your health slip, try to treat your health as a crucial aspect of your life. Make yourself accountable to yourself. Set goals, and set regular check-ins with yourself to ensure that you’re making time and space to look after your health.
Make Use of Online Healthcare Options
When you're already stressed to the max with work and family responsibilities, it can be hard to prioritise those essential health errands that demand even more time out of your busy day. Whether you’re overdue a visit to the gynecologist, or you need to drop in at the health store for your supplements, these errands are often the first to get bumped off the week’s to-do-list, if not neglected altogether. One way to ensure you’re getting the healthcare you need is to make the most of all the online health facilities available. For example, use an online pharmacy for any prescription needs, and buy your supplements online, too. You may not be aware, but nowadays you can access a range of medical services online—everything from flu medication to treatment for genital herpes—without having to make the trip to your GP’s office. Online assessments and consultations are the way forward if you don’t have time to go to the GP, or you prefer the convenience of getting things sorted on the run.
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Stay Hydrated
The key to fitting positive health rituals into your already busy schedule is scoring whatever easy wins come your way. Drinking enough water is the classic way to improve your health outcomes without spending money, time or energy. There’s no arguing with the science in the hydration department: drinking plenty of water is extremely beneficial to the body. Not only does it aid weight loss, but it also helps your body function in so many crucial ways. Remember, your body is made up primarily of water, so it's vital that you top up your hydration levels throughout the day.
But how much water should you drink every day? It's easy to get hung up on calculating the perfect quantity of water you should drink per day. This isn’t particularly helpful because we all have different bodies, and how much each of us needs depends on things like exercise, medications, and many other factors. Essentially, if you are listening to your body, it’s likely that you will end up drinking enough water. Remember, the first sign of dehydration is thirst.
But what if you spend your days so busy and distracted that you hardly notice when your body is signaling that you are dehydrated? Or you misread the “thirsty” signal and wrongly interpret it as hunger? Of course, when you first set yourself the goal of drinking more water, you may need to establish a hydration schedule of hydration that does not rely on thirst, just until drinking water regularly has become part of your normal life, and you naturally identify signs of dehydration. Start your day with a big glass of water, then fill up a large water bottle and challenge yourself to empty it several times before the end of the day. Setting times of the day to drink a glass of water can be helpful. For example, keep a glass on the basin and drink some water after washing your face, or glug a couple of glasses while you check your email in the morning. These minor but regular habits will have a major impact on your overall wellness.
Whether you’re a hard-working boss, or you spend your time and energy pleasing your boss, working hard can take its toll on your health. These tips will help you avoid burn-out by scoring some easy wins, health-wise.