08 Aug Self-Care for Geeks: Seven Steps to Creating Your Perfect Routine
Stress, anxiety, and overwhelm are things that everyone struggles with from time to time. These feelings are not exclusive to us geeks, but talking about some strategies of self-care for geeks is important. There are various ways to deal with stress and many techniques to quell the anxious feelings that often send us into a downward spiral of decreased self-worth, imposter feelings, and sometimes even depression. Self care includes ways of taking care of our mental and emotional health as part of a normal routine. The methods you find online are generally one-size-fits-all. But not all self-care is equal, and what works for most does not always work for most geeks. So if you’re here, I think you could benefit from a more geeky self-care routine.
I recently wrote a post about creating a geeky weekend morning routine, and that is definitely part of self care. If you find this post to be kind of heavy and want to start with that, read it here.
Defining self-care
But first, we should define self-care so that we’re all on the same page.
There is the official clinical definition of self-care for health purposes; but I’m going to sum it up for the purposes of this post:
(*first, a disclaimer: I am not a medical professional so please don’t take this definition as an official medical or mental health diagnosis or treatment plan. I encourage you to talk to a specialist – therapist or medical professional – if you need help creating a health plan for yourself. This blog is meant to give you ideas that you can take to a professional if you wish – but it is really just a jumping off point and not intended as any form of medical treatment of any kind.)
What is self-care?
Self care is taking the time to check in with yourself and to intentionally engage in activities that invigorate and re-energize your soul, your spirit, and your physical well-being, as well as foster positive mental health so that you can reduce stress and live happier.
- Self-care is important
- Self-care is self-love
- Self-care is unique
Self care is different for everyone – it is an individual routine created by you, sometimes with the help of a professional, to help you feel your best so that you can better engage with the world around you. Creating a personal self-care routine requires self-discovery and intention – taking the time to fit something small into your routine and figuring out the positive or negative effects of the chosen activity. For geeks, this means that the activities we choose are centered around our passions and our fandoms.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. But be patient with yourself as you figure it all out.
What self-care isn’t
- Self-care is not selfish
- Self-care is not an indulgence
- Self-care is not a waste of time
- Self-care is not one size fits all
Seven areas of self-care to focus on:
- physical self-care
- mental and emotional self-care
- environmental self-care
- financial self-care
- social self-care
- recreational self-care
- spiritual self-care
Being able to define self-care is fine, but in order to banish any misconceptions out of our minds regarding what self care actually is and what it isn’t requires a bit more info. I have compiled a geeky self-care guide that includes more detail on what self care actually is, a geeky self-care activities cheat sheet, and geeky self-care planner pages to track your journey to creating your own geeky self-care routine. You’ll learn a bit more about the importance of self-care before diving into your own self-care plan. Included in this guide is more detail on what self care is not, what it is, and seven areas to focus on when planning your self-care routine. Sign up to my very geeky and not at all spammy newsletter, and I’ll send the guide right over to you!
How to start a geeky self-care routine
As I said in a post about having a geeky weekend morning routine, this blog is for those of us who live in a state of constant geek. Our whole premise is ‘live your geek’, so yes, I will geekify as many things as I can. Because this is who we are. In my experience, geeks just often see the world a bit differently. This is often misunderstood, which is why having a geeky community is so important. But also, and often, the basic life advice doesn’t always apply to us.
Self-care for geeks is really just a self-care routine. But a geeky self care routine involves activities that only a geek would appreciate, and that can enrich a geeky person’s life experience. As a result, this makes for a much more fulfilling self-care experience.
This post will share seven steps to creating and starting a geeky self care routine. Although this is a bit different from the usual topics on this blog, I felt it was important and I hope you get something from it. As a supplement to this post, I have also created a supplemental Geeky Self-Care Guide as a free printable that will list some geeky things you can do to help you create your own geeky self-care routine. It’s yours when you sign up below!
Seven steps to creating your perfect geeky self-care routine
- Identify your stressors
- Identify the things that bring you joy
- Find a time you can dedicate to self-care
- Choose an activity
- Reflect on how you feel afterwards
- Add it as part of your regular routine
- Tweak and repeat
Identify your stressors
This means that you need to know what events or situations create a sense of anxiety for you. What increases your blood pressure or brings on feelings of anger, sadness, or panic?
For me, as for many of us, it was work. It got so bad that I had panic attacks in the restroom, and when I came home my energy was drained and I was sad, angry, and resentful. Not all of us can get out of a bad work situation right away – this is why self-care is so vital to our well-being.
You may not have that issue, but you should identify anything that causes you stress or negative feelings. Is it talking on the phone to a family member? Or being around someone? Whatever it is, try to sit down with your feelings and identify the stressor.
Identify things that bring you joy.
What do you absolutely love to do? What is that one thing that you can’t wait to get back to and that you can’t stop thinking about? Is it your favorite video game? Are you excited to finish a new costume for a cosplay? Are you really into a new anime, manga, or fantasy book series? Maybe you can’t wait to open the newest addition to your collection and organize it all on your shelf? There may be only one thing, or there may be several.
I was a late-gaming-bloomer, which means that I did not discover the awesomeness of video gaming until I was well into marriage. Hubs is an avid gamer and he showed me how amazing gaming is. I also practiced and got better and better at it. So when I discovered Grow, Song of the Evertree, I was ecstatic at being able to build towns and create beautiful places using alchemy.
Find a time to dedicate to your geeky self-care routine.
Schedule time for your self-care. When do you have time in your schedule to dedicate to your self-care? Once a week? Thirty minutes a day? Twice a month? Whatever time you can give to start, schedule your self-care into that time slot so it becomes a priority.
I found that when I came home from another rough day in the office and I was too drained and uninspired to come up with original art, that sitting down and playing Grow made me feel so much better. I actually started smiling after work. Picking up the controller and taking a few minutes to sit on the couch and plant some trees gave me time to breathe before jumping into the next task.
It was such a little thing with such a huge impact. I have played that game for hundreds of hours, nonstop. Until I recently discovered Dreamlight Valley. O. M. G.!!!
Self-care for geeks means choosing geeky activities for mindfulness.
Choose a thing, do the thing consistently, and make a note of how you feel. Then think about a second thing to add to it and try that. If you can find something like that – a thing that you intentionally pick up or sit down to do when you feel the need for some self-care, then you will find that your outlook on life will improve greatly. Even if it’s just one thing – start there.
Reflect on how you feel afterwards.
Do you find yourself smiling when you’ve completed your geeky self-care activity? Are you less stressed? That’s great! You’ve found something you can do when you need some self-care. It’s important to take time to reflect on how the things you do make you feel afterwards. Discovering your personal geeky self-care routine is a journey and you should ease into it. Self-care is wellness and not meant to become a source of stress or strain. Don’t push it – it should be a natural feeling of joy and relief.
Remember when I said that creating a self-care routine would take time and intention? You will probably not be able to create a full and perfect routine in one sitting. You may find that an activity you thought you liked becomes an actual stressor once you start doing it consistently. If that’s the case, this is not a source of self-care and you should move on to the next activity and see how it makes you feel. I know I’ve said this already, but be patient with yourself.
Add it as part of your regular routine.
Once you’ve found your sweet self-care spot, schedule it in and make it part of your regular geeky self-care routine. If you have to put a timer on so you don’t get carried away, then do that.
For me, when I came home, before interacting with hubs and potentially passing my negative energy on to him, I would sit down on the couch and play an in-game day of Grow. I didn’t need to play it all night – we had to eat, after all, – but I would tell myself that depending on how hard the day had been, 30 minutes to an hour of play time would be just what I needed to find my happy place. Then I felt good enough to chat with him without snapping at or unloading onto him. Pretty soon, it became a habit and even he knew that when I came home he should give me time to unwind before asking me about my day. And I do the same for him.
The people in your life need to know that when you have scheduled time for yourself, you need that time for yourself. Uninterrupted. If they care about you and your well-being, they will understand and let you be.
Tweak and repeat.
Once you’ve become comfortable with one thing, you may be ready to add another activity to your routine. Or you might want to take something away. This is your routine, tweak it however you see fit, try something else, and keep doing this until you’ve created a geeky self-care routine that makes you happy.
Ways to practice your geeky self-care routine
If you need some help deciding on some geeky things you can do that will help you create your own geeky self-care routine, I have compiled a list for you in the Geeky Self-Care Guide. As part of the free guide, I have also arranged the steps outlined in this post in a self-care tracker template that you can use in your geeky bullet journal or planner. Track your progress for a month or two to see how you feel.
Don’t forget to be patient with yourself as you figure it all out. Self-care is a journey that should be intentional and you should enjoy it.
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