How to create a self-care plan that actually matters to you (no candles required)

Plus a shout-out to my favourite sticker set and numerous mentions of chocolate. Channeling my inner tween!

Hello and welcome to Academia Made Easier. I am so glad that you are here. 

The phrase “self-care” can bring out a lot of eye-rolling, heavy sighs, and annoyance. And those are just my own reactions. My attitude towards self-care is best captured in one of my favourite planner stickers: 

For me, the phrase “self-care” brings to mind images of bathtubs, rose petals, and candles. Who actually has time for that? Much less the clean bathtub? (Fun fact: When I take baths, my cats perch on the edge of the tub, judging me for choosing to spend my time laying in water. It is not relaxing.) Or worse still, self-care makes me think of massages, pedicures, or leisurely lunches with friends, all of which require time, money, advance planning, and interacting with other humans, a skill I lost roughly two years ago.

If these things are your idea of bliss, that is truly awesome and I am happy for you. But for my introverted self,  self-care of this variety feels like yet another thing on my to-do list, and I am not looking for more things to do, thanks. 

But a few months ago I read about a different way to think of self-care. It resonated with me, and I am sharing it here in hopes that you might also find it helpful.

One Small Thing to Try Immediately: Determine Your Personal Self-Care Hierarchy

In No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness, Dr. Michelle Segar argues everyone has a unique self-care hierarchy. In reflecting on her own and her husband’s self-care needs (see image), she writes, “our foundational self-care makes or breaks our day. … Understanding the very real consequences on feeling and functioning makes our self-care nonnegotiable.”

Image: No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness, Dr. Michelle Segar, 2015.

Seeing her diagrams, I immediately wanted one of my own. After approximately 30 seconds of reflection, and another 30 seconds in PowerPoint, I came up with this:

Now this is a self-care plan I can get behind! Adding these things to my daily list makes me smile. My internal “judge” goes into high alert just looking at it (chocolate: what kind of self-indulgent 12 year old am I?!?), which I take as a sign that these are things that truly nourish my spirit.

For a few months now, I have aimed to build my own personal understanding of self-care into my life. I am prioritizing a decent bedtime and have even taken a few naps.  I am reading books on my Libby app at lunch and listening to audiobooks over Libby while I drive. I have added walking meetings to my workdays. And I am enjoying chocolate with less guilt. (It is not an indulgence! It is self-care!!!)

Today’s small thing to try immediately challenge: take 5 minutes to decide your own personal self-care hierarchy. Put it in writing (or in PowerPoint). If you are tempted to load it with virtuous shoulds (e.g., “My self-care is family time, intense cardio, and doing laundry!”), consider if those are truly the things that replenish you. If they are, great. If not, revise until you get to a hierarchy that feels decadent. 

And then once you are done, please let me know what you came up with. You can post it on Twitter and tag me (@loleen_berdahl), or hit the comment button and share it below. I would love to hear from you!

Chipping Away: What I Have Been Up To

A quick update on some of my own activities since my last newsletter, since I have your attention:

• In my most recent Skills Agenda column, I explain how to use an After Term Review to make future course planning easier. The basic idea is to use a structured approach to capture your thoughts on what went well (and not so well) with your courses - before it all fades from memory. If you were teaching recently, be sure to check it out.

• I wrote a short piece for CareerWise on the importance of basic social science research literacy for professionals. This article accompanies a free three-part CERIC webinar series that I am leading for career development professionals. If you know people working in the career development field, be it in or outside higher education, please share this with them!

• Finally, a reminder: in June I am co-facilitating the Centre for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD) program, Heads and Chairs: Leading Academic Departments. If you are (or are soon to be) a department head or chair, or an associate or assistant dean, please take a look and see if the program might be of interest to you.

Until next time…

Do you find Academia Made Easier useful and/or moderately entertaining? If so, please help me grow its audience by sharing this newsletter with a colleague, friend, or your social media following. I would love to connect more broadly and your assistance is appreciated.

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S. A completely random update that I am sharing in case it helps someone else. When I was dogsitting next door earlier this year, I saw a dishwasher magnet at my neighbours’ house and thought “that might be a good idea.” Turns out it is, for my family at least! When my family members see the “clean” designation, they are emptying the dishwasher; when they see “dirty”, they are putting items inside it rather than in the sink; and when they see “running”, they don’t open it and get water on the floor. A well-spent $15!

Want to help support my chocolate habit? You are very sweet. Buy me a coffee is a site that allows readers to show their appreciation for the unpaid labour of writers, artists, and other creatives. Check it out!

If you are interested in having me lead faculty success and/or graduate student success workshops at your campus, please ask your university to contact me!

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Loleen Berdahl, Ph.D.: I am a twin mother, wife, runner, cat lover, and chocolate enthusiast. I spend far too much time on Twitter and binge-watching television, and my house could be a lot cleaner. During the work hours, I am the Executive Director of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy I am the author of the University Affairs Skills Agenda column and my most recent books are Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD and Explorations: Conducting Empirical Research in Canadian Political Science. 

Full disclosure: some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links, which means that if you use the link and then make a purchase, I may make a small commission that I will use to support my chocolate and book-buying habits. The cost is to the corporation and not to you, but you don’t want to use the link, no problem: just search up the item again without using the link provided. Better still: support a local business and source the item(s) that way!