Self-care is a great tool to manage stress, strengthen coping skills and increase your overall well-being. And it can be difficult to know where to start. So, we’ve put together a list of self-care recommendations to help ensure you are prioritizing your well-being.

A little bit of self-compassion can go a long way, and it can have a positive effect on those around you. By taking care of yourself, you can better support your loved ones, especially in times of uncertainty.

Throughout the unique and challenging circumstances we’re experiencing, please take a minute to check in with yourself.

Self-Care Recommendations

• Get adequate sleep.
• Eat healthy meals.
• Stay hydrated.
• Exercise.
• Limit time watching the news. Consider setting a certain number of hours per day, or a couple of times each day, to watch the news. Then, if you want to watch TV, spend time watching other shows that elicit less stressful emotions like sitcoms, romantic comedy movies, etc.
• Turn off the TV. Spend time doing other activities besides watching TV. For example, play a board game, read a book, journal, do word searches, put a puzzle together, cook, exercise or revisit a hobby. Try to prioritize and engage in activities that enhance personal well-being.
• Limit social isolation while adhering to physical distancing recommendations. It is such an important time to remain in contact with friends, loved ones, colleagues and others with shared interests and values, especially while we are urged to stay at home as much as possible. So, we encourage using the phrase “physical distancing” versus “social distancing.” The goal is to maintain physical distance from people so we prevent the virus from spreading, while staying connected socially with family, friends and professionals.
• Utilize myStrength. myStrength is a free web and mobile resource full of personalized tools to improve your mood and help with stress, depression, anxiety, substance use and more. Click here to sign up, and use the access code Thrive to set up a free account.
• Complete The Science of Well-Being course. Yale University offers this 10-week course for free. It is designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. You’ll learn the misconceptions about happiness and features of the mind that cause us to think the way we do. You’ll also see the data behind what can help us change. Click here to sign up.