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Organising myself for self-care

One of our Young Champions talks about how being organised is a method of self-care for her. 


As someone who very easily gets overwhelmed and then often gives up, writing lists and getting myself organised is essential. Since I decided to just have a piece of paper or a notebook on which to write down what I need to do I have found myself being far more productive and calmer.

It is easy to think about all the things one must do and to get very, very anxious about completing these or stressed about remembering to do all of them. Physically writing down these tasks removes them from your mind and removes the stress of having to remember what to do. In addition to this the action of crossing off a task is very satisfying.

I think that having a weekly plan has helped me a lot. It has stopped me from feeling overwhelmed and therefore not completing what I want to achieve. It helps to realise that there is in fact time for me to successfully complete what I want to do. It also helps to remember that there are 12 hours in a day, or more, where I can get done what I want to. Planners which show you a week by week spread can be printed easily for free or even completed on a phone or laptop. Personally, having a physical plan helps me more but having an online list or plan may be just as good for others.

As a young person I feel there is often a lot of pressure to do well or perform to someone’s expectations other than our own. This alone is very pressurised and so writing what I want to do down – just the action of completion – and not worrying about how well I do in each thing makes looking towards the future and what is coming up a lot less intimidating. I especially recommend this to those who are facing exams or difficult periods of work.

Often people may be too afraid to write down what they must do and face it and maybe think the list will mount up. However, I strongly believe lists and organisation have been key to helping me and I recommend at least trying this. Lists are such a good way to give your mind a break.

On My Mind is a website that aims to empower young people to make informed choices about their mental health and wellbeing. The pages were co-produced by young people to help other young people. The website includes a self-care page that has 89 self-care strategies.