How Much Self-Care Is Too Much Self-Care?

Self-care is an essential part of your everyday schedule. Whether you are sleeping in on the weekends or days off, going to therapy, writing, reflecting, taking bubble baths, having a mental health day, or making time for your hobbies, prioritizing self-care helps you to stay grounded and connected with yourself. But, are there moments where you are having “too much” self-care? How do you decide your self-care limits? In what ways can you balance between enough, too much, or too little self-care?

Self-Care: A Necessity, Distraction, or Excuse

What is self-care and how do you measure its relevance and importance?

Self-care is the agreement you make with yourself to prioritize, preserve, and improve your wellbeing and health. The blurred line in stamping the phrase “self-care” as a motive for your actions is understanding what self-care means to you. When do you need self-care? When are you using it as an excuse? When is it a distraction? Despite the significance of self-care, just like other activities not done with balance and mindfulness can become excessive.   

Here are some reflection questions that can help you to navigate your definition of self-care:

• How do you feel?
  • Do you feel stressed, worried, anxious, overwhelmed, or out of control?
  • Are you burned out?
• Is your environment linked to your emotions?
• How is your motivation?
• Are you achieving what you want to achieve today?
• Are you reaching the goals you set for yourself?
• Do you need a break or are you avoiding your responsibilities?
• Have you been procrastinating?
• When was the last time you talked to someone about your mental, physical, or emotional health?
• Do you need a mental health day?
• Are you prioritizing yourself in ways that you need?
• What are your needs?
• Are you scheduling time during the day for yourself? How much time are you setting aside? 

Balance

Balancing whether you are using self-care as a necessity, excuse, or distraction is based on your level of self-awareness and priorities. How do you want your days to look? What tasks, responsibilities, or goals do you want to accomplish by the end of each day? Do you feel good or satisfied with yourself when the day is over? A sense of balance, satisfaction, and contentment is what helps you to decide when an action or motive is excessive, needs moderation, or has room for improvement.  

Defining Self-Care 

Self-care is a personal experience and can only be defined by your needs. Awareness of those needs will guide the path to making decisions that are best for you depending on what each day brings. Some days will require more self-care than others and that’s okay. What’s most important is doing what’s best for you.

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What does self-care look like for you? How do you decide your self-care limit?

Nina is a Latina from Brooklyn, NY who struggles with depression and anxiety.  She finds refuge and healing through her writing since she graduated from college in 2016.  Nina writes to spread awareness and hope to those who struggle with their mental health silently. She also strives to motivate and encourage self-acceptance.  She enjoys creating creative and uplifting content on her blog SparklyWarTanks.com where she shares her experiences, notes, poems, quotes, and articles

You can find her on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.