What my startup taught me about self-care
I started Care Package Co. with the goal of supporting people with their self-care, especially those experiencing or recovering from an illness. A series unfortunate life experiences severely impacted my mental and physical health, so origin of the idea had deeply personal roots.
I’ve realised that there is a very niche sort of hypocrisy involved in running a wellness startup and not focusing on your own self-care, so last year I made it my mission to do just that. I’ve learnt a huge amount about how to be a founder and how to actually self care, and as today is World Mental Health Day, I wanted to share 3 learnings that have really shaped my approach.
1. You are in control of your phone
For the last 22 months I have lived a notification free life, and I haven’t looked back.
I am a freelance copywriter, a social media enthusiast, and a long distance girlfriend. I love my phone because it enables me to be all of those things. That being said, I don’t love the impulse to constantly check emails, or the anxiety I feel when I’m pressuring myself to always be switched on. So I’m simply not. I turned off all my notifications (apart from phonecalls) and it has massively helped my sense of calm. Have I missed any life changing news? No. Has it made me less productive? No. Have I lost followers, leads and missed important meetings? No.
The same applies to social media — you control who you follow, and what you see. I love Instagram — it’s the social media platform I spend the most amount of time on. I’ve made a concious effort to make it a positive place for me, so my feed is full of body positive, racially diverse, travel loving, entrepreneurial, hard working, twenty somethings. I follow people who are open about their struggles and aspirations, as well as their brunch spots and squad goals. If you don’t actually like it, don’t hit the like button. If seeing something makes you unhappy or anxious, hit unfollow. This one is such a no brainer to me — you control your phone, your phone doesn’t control you.
2. Explore the root cause of why you can’t sleep
I have struggled with insomnia on and off for the last decade. This is mostly due to the anxious thoughts that swirl around in my mind when the lights go out. The thing is, cutting caffeine, regulating sugar, yoga poses and lavender scented pillow sprays are never going to turn me into a peaceful sleeper. That is because none of those things tackle the root cause of my sleep issues.
Earlier this year though, a friend reccommened me Sleep Stories by Calm, and this has been absolutely amazing for me. Calm is a mindfulness app that allows you to tailor your meditation to your goals. If, like me, your goal is better sleep, Calm has a feature called Sleep Stories that gives you a selection of relaxing bedtime stories. Lisening to these takes my mind off daily stresses and refocus my anxious thoughts. I now listen to a bedtime story every night, and it’s really helped reshape my attitude to sleep. If you want to try bedtime stories for yourself, I would really recommend Calm, as well as the Modern Love podcast & The Moth Radio Hour.
3. Create the self-care support system that works for you
There are so many different ways to self-care, and what’s important is that you don’t get swept away in what you feel like you should do. For example, many extol the virtues of adult colouring books, but my inability to colour within the lines only makes me more stressed. Journalling on the other hand, is something that really works for me — I write to process, to remember and to recover. Exercise is also something that really works for me — especially high energy, intensive exercise that gets nerves & anxiety out of my system. You may prefer yoga, or a salsa class. We’re all different when it comes to what works.
I think what it universal though, is that bottling up anxious thoughts can be really bad for us. It’s important to process those thoughts, and working through them often helps us find ways to cope. When I first started the business, the thing I constantly worried about was money, and looking back through my journal, I was able to clearly see that pattern. It’s helped me make a concious choice to go freelance and de-risk myself financially, and that in turn has helped with my anxiety.
Build the support system that works for you, that helps you process and work through your own stuff — whether that’s reading, writing, running, or talking. It’s differnt for everyone and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be!
Self care is at the end of it all, about the self. Do what works for you, just make sure you do! Every day is a good day to start building your self-care rituals, but today especially so. If you’re struggling with your mental health and are in the startup space, I strongly reccommend you check out Sanctus. For more resrouces, check out Mind or to talk to someone, you can find the Samaritans info here.
