It can feel easy to push our own needs to the side, especially when we have a lot on our plates. Use this worksheet to help you better understand why making time for yourself is essential to your overall well being, and what is holding you back from taking care of yourself.
Prioritizing Self-Care
What are some things that would make you feel better, but you cannot seem to do?
Write down anything that comes to mind when you think about thoughts and expectations that might be preventing you from taking care of yourself, whether these thoughts or expectations are true or not.
Examples of thoughts might be:
- “I don’t have the time.”
- “My needs don’t really matter.”
Examples of expectations might be:
- “I should be better at ________.”
- “I would do _______ if it helped me.”
Pick one thought or expectation to focus on.
- Where does this thought or expectation come from and who sets it?
- How does it affect the way I take care of myself?
- Now, rewrite the thought or expectation so that it supports you and your self-care needs.
Examples:
- “If I do _______ I may feel better.”
- “It’s okay to take time for myself and my needs.”
You can use this process to regularly reevaluate how your negative thoughts and expectations prevent you from taking care of yourself. While this only worked on one thought, this process can be applied to others as well by following the same steps.
