Introduction
We found sharing our self-care tips and tricks with each other really helpful, especially during Covid. During the pandemic it has been even more important to think about how we are spending our time, as we’ve not been able to do our everyday ‘normal’ stuff, like socialising.
We hope that others find our thoughts and discussions around maintaining your mental health and wellbeing helpful!
The Importance of Self-Care
It has and continues to be important that you keep yourself active (however YOU define active), your mind active, and do things that you enjoy whilst staying safe. This can include any hobbies that you have like reading, drawing, listening to or making music, going out for a walk: anything at all that you think will help you.
It is also important to make sure that you are eating and drinking enough water every day as that has a massive benefit to improving your mental health and wellbeing.
Tips and Tricks
We’re all different for what we find helpful. Here are some of the activities ATLAS members use for self-care:
- Keep in touch with your friends because you don’t do much [during a pandemic].
- Call someone everyday – video call not just phone call or texting. Because if I don’t socialise for a while, I will forget how to socialise.
- Meditation and listening to music.
- Click and collect libraries.
- Making time for your hobbies
- Weighted blankets help a lot. Weight toys, weighted lap pad and weighted jacket.
- Baths and Showering.
- I have been trying to explore working with my senses. A lot of time with myself, music really helps because it is hard not hearing people’s voices. Without sound I will get tinnitus or hallucinate.
- White noises are also really good, especially with Autism I find big changes in volume different, so having noise all the time helps when people call me.
- Keeping bin by the bed.
- Using a bed desk if you can’t get out of bed so you are changing your work environment and home environment.
- I try and make sure I have a main event every day. I think it is an ADHD thing – I can’t do something when I am waiting for something planned.
- Routines!
Routines
We find that routines help to structure out our day-to-day life and activities. Here are some of the areas we use routines to help us with:
- Eat healthy meals.
- Meal plans.
- Have a timetable.
- Have a sleep routine.
- Similar sleep / wake up times.
- Light exercise.
- Having alarms / reminders.
- Post-it notes.
- Put reminders on phone.
- Write in a diary.
- Try and have different places in the house for different activities.
- Everyday, do something that you enjoy.
- Have structure in school / work.
- Have a time in the day where you step away from screens.
- Make exercise fun – put on music and dance or play a game that includes exercise like a virtual reality game (e.g. Wii Fit).
- Writing plans.
- Listen to music.
We find that routines are really helpful; they give us the information on what we want or need to be doing and when, as well as helping us to manage our time.
Importantly, routines help us to be more independent, reduce anxiety, and some of us have found it has also helped us build more confidence in ourselves!
Self-Care During Self-Care!
When developing routines, we feel it is important that you:
- Don’t pressure yourself.
- Take little breaks.
- Tell people close to you what you need, or how you feel.
Do you have any tips and tricks you would like to share? Please comment below!
ATLAS Surrey 