As a student, I’ve definitely maxed out my sanity at times. There have been weeks where I’ve had an immense amount of homework, what feels like non-stop meetings, and personal issues going on. I end up under-rested, malnourished, stressed, and sad, which just makes me not want to do any of the tasks that I have to get done.

I think most people have weeks, months, and maybe even years like this. And what do we typically do during these rough patches? We keep working, stop sleeping, and continue going until we can’t go any longer.

Many of us idealize this lifestyle. Oh, you think your week was bad? Listen to how bad my week was! Then, we even tend to brag about our late nights, hours spent on homework, and how much caffeine we’ve needed to get through the week.

When you finally stop to think about it, isn’t it kind of weird how normal this has become in our society? We should be focusing more on our self-care and doing what we need to do in order to keep ourselves mentally healthy.

When I became an RA, the importance of self-care was hugely stressed during training. We were told how we should remind our residents to take of themselves, but we were informed that we should be taking care of ourselves, too. However, taking time for myself and my mental sanity was a weird concept to me because it felt like I was being weak.

At this point, I realized that I had a misconception about self-care. As important as it is to take care of yourself physically, it’s just as important to take care of yourself mentally. Our bodies need time to recover/heal, and they need to be treated well in order for us to be more efficient.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been focusing on my self-care more. I’ve been trying to eat better, get 7-8 hours of sleep each night, finish my homework early, and relax at night. By taking time for myself, I’ve reduced my stress immensely.

Sometimes, I even play meditation music and just lay down for a half-hour or so. This gives me some time to reflect and relax during the middle of the day. For anyone who hasn’t tried mediation before, I highly recommend it.

Even if it feels a bit silly at first, meditation really is a great way to make sure you have some you-time. I’ve been incorporating into my life for the past couple of years, and it’s one of my favorite self-care methods.

I’ve also learned talking about my problems and struggles helps with my self-care, and I try to remind my residents that it’s okay for them to talk to someone whether it’s me or another resource. For me, talking about my daily struggles can be uncomfortable, but I learned that self-care is a process. Some days will be easier to talk about things than other days will be, and that’s completely okay.

Overall, I’ve learned that self-care is extremely important. I feel so much more comfortable recommending that my residents take time for themselves since I personally know how much of a difference it can make.