Balancing Achievement and Well-Being: How to Thrive in All Areas of Life Without Sacrificing Self-Care 

In today’s busy world, we often prioritize professional and social achievement over our mental health and well-being. The emphasis to grow a career, maintain relationships, and foster personal interests can lead to a life that feels full but is exhausting. The concept of self-care is now promoted to offset our busy lives and allow us to stay productive without getting too drained. The question is: How is it possible to prioritize self-care among all the other responsibilities in our lives?

Finding the balance between achievement and well-being is critical and may not be as hard as you think. 

Expanding Our Understanding of Self-Care 

Self-care is often thought about as indulging in an activity to improve your mood. While going to a workout class or getting nails done can be forms of self-care, these activities are only a small component. Self-care at its core is a consistent practice that you integrate into your daily life. Psychologists explain, “[Self-care] should not be considered as something ‘extra’ or ‘nice to do if you have the time’ but as an essential part of our professional identities.” Here are some ideas for building self-care into your professional identity without taking more time away from your daily responsibilities. 

Stick to the Basics of Well-Being

When it comes to prioritizing self-care, we first want to prioritize the basics—sleep and diet. If you are only sleeping five hours a night and skipping meals throughout the day, no other form of self-care is going to make a difference on your energy and well-being. 

Experts recommend that adults get at least seven hours of quality sleep a night. However, individual differences might mean that you need more sleep. Check in with your energy levels throughout the day and experiment with moving up your bedtime or building a nap into your schedule. A critical component of sleep hygiene is creating a routine to help your body wind down at the end of the day. This can include dimming lights, washing your face, lighting a candle, and stopping screen time 30 minutes before bed. These steps will help you fall asleep quickly and improve the quality of your rest as well. 

Regarding diet, of course we want to prioritize eating healthier foods when possible. However, first and foremost, make sure you even have time to eat true meals throughout the day. This can often fall by the wayside for high-achievers with busy schedules. Committing to a grocery shop and meal plan throughout the week is an important part of self-care. Bring a grab-and-go breakfast with you to the office, block 30 minutes on your work calendar for lunch, and set a nightly timer for dinner. Bonus points for using Sunday to meal prep for the week! Ultimately, keep it simple—the suggestion is not to prioritize elaborate meals throughout the day, but rather to aim for consistency in satiating and nourishing meals to keep mood and energy stable. 

Protect your Social Battery

A critical part of integrating self-care into your daily life is protecting your social battery. Social battery explains the amount of energy one has for socializing and considers the different factors that fuel or drain that energy: the people with whom you socialize, group size, type of interaction, and length of time, to name a few. From a self-care standpoint, it is important to reflect on the components that influence your own social battery. Some questions to ask yourself include: Who energizes you and who drains you? In which settings do you feel most at peace? What activities do you like? How long do you like to socialize for? The answers to these questions might change each week, but they can help you tailor social interactions to keep your battery charged. 

Take a Mindful Moment

Self-care does not need to be time consuming. In reality, small moments of peace throughout the day are key to well-being. For instance, pause for a minute to take a few deep breaths while you’re at work, put down your phone during meals to give your mind a rest, step outside for five minutes to observe nature, or consciously take a break to drink water. These mindful moments are critical for regulation. 

Conclusion

While self-care is an important part of maintaining our health and well-being, the concept has been misconstrued to include activities that are time-consuming and expensive. The answer to prioritizing self-care among all our other responsibilities lies in integrating self-care throughout the day alongside the activities that we are already doing. This means prioritizing sleep and nutrition, being mindful of your energy levels and navigating plans accordingly, and finding mindful moments throughout the day to experience calm. 

References

Barnett, J. E. & Cooper, N. (2009, February 17). Creating a culture of self-care. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 16(1), 16–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2850.2009.01138.x

Sloan, M. (2023, October 30). How much sleep do you actually need? Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-sleep-do-you-actually-need-202310302986

Villines, Z. (2023, February 13). What is a social battery? Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/social-battery