And why you need one
Pixabay — NRThaele
Have you ever had those days that were just ho-hum? You’re not quite sure why, but lately you’re having more and more of those low energy days. Things are off. You’ve been making lots of little mistakes or maybe everyone’s super annoying lately. Life isn’t always fun and exciting. But you know the difference between having an off day vs. having an off week, or month.
Life is tricky. One minute you’re going about your business, juggling your work life and home life. Wham! Your dad gets cancer, your partner has an accident, you get laid off — life can turn on a dime. Ho-hum can turn into mega stress with no warning.
Stress has a quirky effect on us.
Too much stress makes us anxious, depressed, angry, foggy-headed, fearful, and prone to sickness. Too little of it has its side effects too: boredom, lack of motivation, feeling stuck, and apathy.
We’re often taught that stress is bad and to avoid it. But stress is neither good nor bad, it’s a part of life that nobody escapes. Working out is stressful, giving a speech is stressful, Christmas is stressful… stress is not bad. Stress helps us grow by building resilience which boosts our confidence.
It’s chronic stress that has harmful effects on our mental and physical health. Chronic stress is the same stress that gets us through the moments in life that we grow from. Only instead of getting us through an event, chronic stress lasts for extended periods (months or years) of time with little or no relief.
Having a self-admin checklist helps you nurture your self-awareness. Developing your self-awareness helps you manage stress, keeping chronic stress at bay.
Becoming more self-aware has a ripple effect.
Not only do you reap the benefits of self-awareness through improved personal health and well-being, but those benefits extend to the people in your life.
When you’re more self-aware you can get clear about what your needs are, you can take care of yourself with competence, and you can give yourself grace when necessary. When you can do these things for yourself, you become more adept at doing these things for others.
When you hone your self-awareness skills you can build healthy boundaries and regulate your emotions. You start living life with more intention and authenticity.
Creating a self-admin checklist helps you cultivate self-awareness. Having a self-admin checklist can help you manage vague emotions, low energy days, and keep stress from overwhelming you. A self-admin checklist can help you decipher which of your needs aren’t being met. This empowers you to take action, take a break, call a friend, or self-reflect.
Below is my self-admin checklist. As I grow and change so does my checklist. But the top four things will always be the top four things. If you don’t know where to start, I’d recommend starting with the top 4 things.
My Self-Admin Checklist:
1. Sleep is number one for a reason – Without enough sleep everything gets confused.
Without enough sleep our our hormones get thrown out of whack. We don’t eat right, our decision-making process becomes more flawed, and our interactions with others predictably suffers (unless you meant to chew that person out for no reason).
To avoid confusion, sleep enough to feel rested. For me that’s at least 7hrs. Creating a sleep routine is one of the best things I do for myself.
Since I need at least 7hrs of sleep and I get up at 6am that means I better be snoring by 11pm. If my eyes have to slam shut by 11pm that means I have to be in bed by 10:30; start dimming the lights, floss & brush my teeth, wash & moisturize my face by 9:30pm. And just to make sure the next morning runs smoothly, I start meal prepping and laying out my clothes and supplements for the next day between 8:30-9pm.
My thinking capacity in the morning is pretty low, so doing these things the night before is a big help and reduces my stress considerably.
2. Nutrition is number two for a reason – You have to give your body the proper building blocks.
I enjoy eating almost as much as… I like eating a lot. But food is also fuel for the body. You need the right nutrients for your body to stay healthy.
Ingesting the right amount of macros (carbohydrates, fats, protein, and water) and micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals) for your age, sex, and lifestyle is one important way you give yourself an advantage in life.
For me that means eating enough protein from both animal and plant sources; fiber from vegetables, whole grains, beans, and legumes; and eating clean healthy fats (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and avocados). I typically drink at least 2 liters of water per day and I also take supplements to ensure I’m getting enough micronutrients.
Is my diet perfect? No. Do I have an occasional cookie, piece of cake, or slice of pizza? Yes. But if my moods are all over the place or my energy level tanks, and I’ve gotten enough sleep, reviewing my nutritional intake often helps point me in the right direction.
3. Exercise is number three for a reason – We are built to move.
Do anything that moves your body and breaks up the amount of time spent sitting or driving. My preferred exercises right now are weight training and nature walks.
Before I had a regular exercise routine I had trouble with insomnia, anxiety, and depression. I was considering taking drugs to fix my problems, but then I thought I’d try fixing my diet and exercising regularly first.
Exercise helps to ensure that I have good energy throughout the day and that I get tired at night. Now I consistently get 7–9hrs of sleep and my depression and anxiety are no longer chronic.
4. Mindfulness is in my top four for a reason – In today’s world our nervous system is over taxed.
We’ve never had so many demands for our attention in the history of mankind. There are notifications for emails, texts, and every app. We make ourselves available on-demand and feed ourselves a never-ending stream of audio/visual stimuli from our smartphones, computers, and televisions.
We tend to think that these things are no big deal, but these things add up to several hours in our limited day. And to our body these conveniences and entertainments take a lot of energy to filter and process. Before we know it and without realizing it, we develop chronic stress.
Taking mindfulness breaks smooths the nervous system’s frayed edges. It ensures we don’t become chronically stressed and helps us regain focus for the things we actually want to pay attention to.
There are many ways to be mindful. For me mindfulness means concentrating on relaxed breathing, letting my thoughts wander without judgement, noticing where I’m holding tension in my body, and then releasing that tension. I currently like to take mindfulness breaks for 10–30 minutes between projects and tasks. I find these breaks give me renewed energy and focus for what’s next.
Numbers 5-11 are interchangeable. You have to find the right balance for you and your lifestyle.
5. Setting and working toward goals – Taking charge of my future gives me hope and optimism.
Turns out I’m not alone in this, it’s important to be productive. Productivity and a vision for your future helps you perceive the world through a growth mindset. Setting and working toward your goals builds confidence and resilience to get through life’s challenges.
6. Journaling – It’s relaxing and handy for a multitude of reasons.
Life can feel like a hamster wheel. Journaling has helped me to identify patterns in my life, see how far I’ve come, process my thoughts and feelings, cement what I’ve learned, and remember my lucky breaks and blessings.
7. Play/Novelty – Both keep life zesty.
Life can be a bit serious and monotonous at times. I’m a huge fan of routines, but every now and then a break from routine can be just what we need to keep life interesting. Playing is both stimulating and rejuvenating. Whether it’s drawing or playing a team sport, play offers your brain the ability to reset.
The same is true for novelty. Try new things. Dare to shop on the other side of the city. Or take a day trip to a town in your state that you’ve never been to. Learn something new like a language or expand your skillset.
Play and novelty help build new neural pathways to keep you light on your feet while sharpening your mind.
8. Sun exposure – Vitamin D is necessary for health and sun exposure is the best way to get your dose.
I’ve noticed that I become lackadaisical, apathetic, and flat-out depressed when there are too many cloudy days consecutively. So, when it’s sunny I don’t care what the temperature is, I’m getting outside to soak up some photons and get my jolt of vitamin D. Also, I’ll omit sunscreen and sunglasses if I know I’m going to spend less than 30 minutes outside (no, I’m not afraid that I’ll get skin cancer on a 20min walk).
9. Balancing 1–2–3 time – I learned this term from my aunt and uncle who are great examples of living a happy, healthy, stable, adventurous life.
1 stands for getting enough time to yourself.
2 stands for spending quality, intimate, one-on-one time with a friend or romantic partner.
And 3 means connecting with groups of friends or family. Everyone has their own unique balance.
10. Take care of responsibilities – Try not to get behind on the mundane things in life.
Hygiene, chores, errands, bills, responding back to those that reached out (phone calls, texts, and emails), all of these things are important to keep up with on the daily. Otherwise, stuff builds up and little tasks turn into big projects.
11. Financial planning – Money is a necessary component to life.
As I mentioned before, life can turn on a dime, having a little nest egg can give you peace of mind.
Create your own checklist and find your balance
At first glance it may seem like a lot. But I don’t do all 11 things every day. Depending on my schedule, I might fit play in on a weekend day. I might try something new once a month. But these things make life worth living and I notice a downshift in my energy if I don’t make time and schedule things to look forward to. Dealing with money is stressful for me, but not as stressful as not having enough when I need it, so I mark off a day once a month to make sure I’m on track financially.
Other items can be combined. I can go for a walk on a sunny day with a friend taking care of #s 3, 8, and 9 in one activity. I can also set my goals and note my progress in my journal which is part of #s 5 and 6.
My checklist works for me but you may have different needs. That’s ok, add a couple of your own items and chuck what doesn’t apply to you.
There will be days that you tick off multiple boxes and you still feel low or bite someone’s head off. That’s just life, sometimes you have to say you’re sorry and ride out an awful mood. We all have off days. Having a self-admin checklist has helped me have fewer off days and maybe it can help you too.
I didn’t always have a self-admin checklist. Allan, a dear friend of mine who is hyper productive and takes really great care of himself brought this idea to me when I was depressed. It wasn’t an instant fix, but it helped me identify areas in my life that needed more TLC. And it didn’t take long before I was in a better place. Thank you Allan😊
Thanks for reading. Do you have a self-admin checklist? What do you do to manage your stress?
© Cherie Fournier 2023