Self-care sounds so simple… take a break, drink some water, get enough sleep, eat healthily… but if it really was that easy, we’d all be doing it without any problems, and everyone would be happy and well, and that’s not the case. Instead, self-care often feels like just another thing on the long to-do list, and it’s something that usually gets pushed to the bottom because there’s so much else to get done. So just why is self-care so hard? Read on for some of the answers. 

We’re Too Busy Taking Care Of Everything Else

Life, work, family, relationships, errands, emails, social plans, unexpected problems… it just never stops, does it? And somewhere in the middle of all that you’re still supposed to do some self-care? It’s no wonder that it can feel like a luxury and not a necessity. 

You tell yourself you’ll do it once everything else is done, but the problem is that everything is never actually done – it’s ongoing, and that’s what adulthood is all about. There’s always something else demanding your time and energy, and before you know it, you’ve gone days, weeks, or even months without doing anything just for you. If that sounds familiar, it’s worth taking stock and changing things around. 

Guilt Creeps In 

Even when we do try to prioritise self-care, there’s something inside that says we really should be doing something else – taking a break can therefore feel lazy and unproductive, saying no to invitations can feel selfish, and spending time on yourself rather than others can feel selfish (they’re none of those things, but the voice in our heads doesn’t think so). 

The truth is that burnout isn’t productive and running on empty doesn’t make you more useful or helpful to other people – it makes things harder for everyone. And if you don’t practice self-care, burnout is what you’ll end up with. Now perhaps it’s easier to ignore that annoying little voice and just do what you know you have to do (which might be nothing at all). 

You Struggle With Executive Dysfunction 

For some people, self-care isn’t just hard – it’s basically overwhelming and impossible. If you’ve ever thought that you know what you need to do but you just can’t seem to do it, you’re not alone. 

This feeling is called executive dysfunction, and it’s particularly common for people with ADHD, where things like remembering to eat, shower, or even just starting basic tasks can feel totally impossible. That’s why getting the right support, starting with an ADHD assessment, can be life-changing in the best possible way. The fact is that when you understand how your brain works better, you can come up with some self-care ideas that make a difference and that you can do. 

We Treat It Like It’s All Or Nothing 

We tend to think of self-care as a big, dramatic kind of thing that needs a whole day at the spa or a long morning routine to get right. However, real self-care can be very small things, as long as you do them consistently. 

Some ideas to show what we mean include drinking a glass of water before you have your morning coffee, getting as close to eight hours of sleep as you can, taking a moment to do some breathing exercises when you’re feeling stressed, and so on. These tiny habits really do matter because they add up, and they’re much more realistic than the big self-care ideas you might have thought you had to do. 

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