Here we are in an age where we’ve never been able to do so much with so little time. But in all of us doing so many things, I pose the question, when was the last time you REALLY did something for your own well-being? Now before you naively answer, think about what self-care time means for you. Now think about the circumstance in which you had a self-care day. Finally, remember the feelings prior to and after such precious time was devoted solely to your well-being. As you think of these things, a guaranteed thought that you have or should have is that time for self-care is almost a reactionary occurrence rather than a proactive event. We can do the mud masks, the causal hangouts or the hair days, but, do we do it at the height of our powers or when we feel we have been drained by the accumulation of tasks time has forced us to endure? Now I’m not against having a devoted set of time to self-care in response to the trials of life, but I do challenge you all to have self-care time every moment you get free. Such as the time we take to do any task is draining on the mind, soul, and body, the moments we take time out to ground ourselves serve a greater importance. When your self-care time is up, you want to feel confident that you can determine when it’s time for you to care about yourself.

Scheduled self-care times have been a trend in the today’s society. This is great. But don’t let it be like other trends: being a very popular movement until everyone does it and it dies out. Don’t let this just be some day out the week when you wear a face mask to flex on social media. Let this actually become a part of your life. Some could argue that self-care should be a lifestyle, and not just a time period in your week of tasks. Always care for yourself. Make it a habit, even if that means stopping at Jamba Juice after work to get you a lil’ smoothie – why? – because you deserve it king/queen. Yes – I said Jamba Juice.

The event of self-care doesn’t have to be monumental. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It can truly be as simple as breaking the daily routine. Take a different route to school or work. Sleep on the other side of your bed. Brush your teeth with your least-dominant hand. Do whatever requires you to focus less on your task list and more on the “self-full” task at hand.

Remember this: self care isn’t something you resort to when life gets hard, it’s something you do everyday because you love you.