When you put yourself first, it enables you to feel more rested, calm, stress-free, and fulfilled. It’s not selfish to take care of yourself… it’s survival and it’s totally healthy. Plus, it’s one of the best roads to self-improvement!

Think about using some of these methods to build time into your lifestyle for taking care of yourself:

1. Make time for yourself by scheduling it in on your daily planner. As you plan each day’s schedule and action items, include time chunks for yourself along with all of your other important tasks. Then, make darn sure you stick to the appointment you made with yourself!

2. Give yourself 15 minutes of recoup and rejuvenation time when you get home from work. Even if you have to lock yourself away from the things that stress you out or even those you love… for just this few minutes, then that’s what you have to do! This quiet time enables you to make the transition from your work time to your home time. Be sure to explain this plan to your family so that they understand why you need it and don’t feel abandoned or hurt. Effective ways to spend this time could be taking a bath, doing some yoga or relaxation exercises or taking a meditation break.

3. Use your lunch break to do something just for you. Don’t just work through your lunch break at your desk, or even spend it with co-workers (in all likelihood, talking shop or complaining about work). Instead, use your lunch hour to do what you makes you feel happy and relaxed. After you eat (a healthy lunch), go for a walk, listen to soothing, energizing or inspiring music, or even get in a bit of shopping if that’s what relaxes you. It’s really up to you… just make it fun!

4. Go to sleep earlier, so you can get up earlier in the morning. If you set your bedtime earlier so that you can still get a full-night’s sleep, you’ll be able to get up before the rest of the family or if you live alone, before you have to get ready for work, so that you can enjoy some morning time just for yourself. Just think how enjoyable it would be to sip your cup of coffee or orange juice in the morning without having to look at your watch or take care of others.

5. Take a mental health day now and then. Take a day off from work once in a while just to just relax and do whatever you feel like. You don’t have to take a trip to take a vacation! Time spent on your favorite hobbies will also rejuvenate you. When you return to work, your renewed energy may just surprise you!

At first glance, these tips may seem like they’d be difficult to incorporate into your busy lifestyle, but any efforts you make to do so will be well worth it, believe me. A good way to get started with them is to focus on doing just one at a time. That way, you and your family only have to adjust to one small change. As you become accustomed to that one thing, you can add another, and then another, until one day you’ll find that making time for yourself is easy as pie.

Once you learn to make time for you, you’ll have more energy and time to enjoy the good things life has to offer.