When daily demands start piling up, and the task list goes double-digit, does your self-care go directly to the bottom of the pile?

Most of us believe we’re meeting our needs by getting stuff done – achieving, pushing, doing, driving. And in some ways, these accomplishments feel fabulous – look at how I just scorched that to-do list! But damn if that insane “not-so merry”-go-round is waiting there for us at 3 a.m. when we wake up in a panic over the thing we forgot, or the email we didn’t send, or how in the world we’ll get through today’s to-do’s.

So, we hop on that crazy ride, get stuff done, achieve, push, do, drive, and at the end of the day, we’re too exhausted to even consider that maybe our bodies and minds had needs, too. It doesn’t help that most of us battle with the belief that if we’re not producing or accomplishing, then we are not whole. But the merry-go-round isn’t pointed toward fulfillment, it’s just rinse and repeat of the same craziness.

Do you ever feel that nagging need for ease – the knowing that self and soul need something else?

A couple things that have helped me slow down include:

1. Read a thought-provoking or inspirational book. My latest favorite is “Leadership and Self-Deception” by the Arbinger Institute.
2. Meditate. If I’m caught in a productivity loop, I will dismiss meditation with an “I’m too busy.” But even if I close my eyes for one minute and count my in-breaths and out-breaths, it’s one minute that I slowed down my flying monkey mind.
3. Sit outside and look at the water. For whatever reason, this works for me. Maybe it’s raising my perspective, knowing there’s something greater than me out there, I don’t know.
4. Schedule self-care time on my calendar (good for those of us who won’t do it if it’s not on the schedule).

How do you reboot? I’d love to hear what works for you.