One way to make a difference is to give more time and attention to the tenets of self-care. Abigail, a recently graduated nurse in New York, shared that the lack of self-care among healthcare clinicians is so widespread that it is ironic that these professionals provide our care as patients striving to return to flourishing health and wellness.

First, consider the concept of self-care in a different light. Restorative self-care is attention we give ourselves on a daily, or nearly as often, frequency that is about restoring our mind, body and spirit. This includes our emotional energy and soundness.

As a way of checking your success in seeing to your needs, take a moment to create a list of ways you practice restorative self-care. Give yourself a time limit to create your list by setting a stopwatch for the activity. In the event you choose to brainstorm this list with another person, I recommend two minutes. Should you prefer to create this list yourself, give yourself five minutes to compile the list.

Once you complete your list within the self-allotted time, create four columns on a separate piece of paper with the following headings across the top: Mind, Body, Spirit, Emotional Energy. Then write a sentence or two describing how each restorative self-care action contributes to the topic heading of each column. Then choose someone with whom you feel comfortable discussing your results. Determine by the end of your conversation whether or not you feel you are restoratively self-caring for yourself. The goal is to achieve satisfaction and confidence that you are effectively addressing your restorative health in order to face the pressures of your profession.

You may find it surprising what new insights present themselves to you by the end of this process. Should you discover deficits in accomplishing restorative self-care, click the button below and book a strategy session with me to determine what you can do as a leader to protect yourself from burnout.