There’s nothing wrong with putting your career first. But things can quickly get out of hand if your success at work comes at the expense of your mental, emotional, and physical health.

Finding time for self-care can be difficult. Yet, it all comes down to how to organize your schedule between work and personal time.

So, if you’re struggling to find that perfect balance where you can find your job more rewarding than it is overwhelming, you’ve come to the right place. Below are five self-care tips to help you do just that!

1.      Take Control of Your Time

Time is the one thing we can control. You can decide how to schedule your work planner and personal schedule.

A great way to schedule some breaks during the work day is to work in 30 minutes of free time twice a day. This way, you can squeeze in time to grab lunch outside, resolve an urgent issue, or just take a few minutes to yourself during a particularly tiring day.

Emails and social media are two things that consume most of our waking hours. So, if you want to regain control over how you spend your time and make the most of your day, you have to set certain times to check your emails and social media accounts.

It could be early in the morning before you start work. If you find something that needs immediate attention, attend to it. If not, you can get a headstart on your work without constantly having to worry about what you may have missed out on overnight.

Also, set specific times during the day to check for new messages and posts. In the meantime, you can forget about them and focus on your work.

2.      Say ‘No’ without Feeling Guilty

Your number one defense against burnout and fatigue from a demanding workplace is saying ‘no.’ So, why do we feel so guilty about it?

Because humans are innately tuned to be warm and hospitable, and we enjoy helping people out. Yet, if it comes at the expense of your mental health, then it’s certainly not worth it.

All you have to do is politely explain the reason why you’re declining and you’ll find that people will generally understand where you’re coming from.

Many times, employees are afraid to say ‘no’ to their boss about staying a couple of more hours after work or attending a two-day seminar at the last minute. But, truth be told, if you have valid reasons for declining, then your boss won’t think any less of you. They may even respect you for speaking up.

3.      Build a Strong Support System

Part of being successful at work means having a strong support system of family and friends. If you focus your energy on work all the time, you’ll be on a one-way track to burnout.

The best thing about scheduling time with friends and family doesn’t mean you have to host fancy dinner parties or elaborate getaways. It just means catching up over some coffee one day during the week or getting together for an impromptu barbecue one Sunday afternoon.

That should be enough to recharge, unwind, and reconnect with the people who matter most.

4.      Learn to Live with Uncertainty

As much as many of us hate uncertainty, we have to learn how to accept it. All we can do is focus on what matters most, like our career development and personal goals. But, at some point, we have to make peace with the fact that there’s only so much we can control.

This is when you need to adapt your self-care routine accordingly when there’s a patch of uncertainty in your life. It doesn’t mean you completely take your hands off the wheel, it just means that you can quickly adjust and recalibrate whenever something unexpected comes your way.

5.      Set Aside Time for Yourself

Many of us have been programmed to put the needs of others before ourselves. But, it’s been proven that we all need some downtime to relax and unwind without feeling guilty about it. It helps us stay sane when our work schedule gets too much to handle.

The most effective way to do that is to create a routine that works for you. For example, you can set regular times to sleep and wake up.

Another idea is to set a time to work out, read, do a hobby, and do whatever else you can think of to relax. Make the most of this time to take your mind off work meetings, emails, or project deadlines.