22. Beyond Multitasking: How to Maximize Your Self-Care with Personalization

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In this episode of The Nurses' Breakroom, I share practical, quick, and simple self-care strategies for nurses, doctors,  social workers, home health aides, medical assistants, and others in the healthcare field who face high levels of stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout. Many of us in healthcare give so much of ourselves that we feel there’s no time left for self-care. But what if taking better care of yourself didn’t require a lot of time? In this episode, we explore effective ways to recharge even on a tight schedule, like tapping into activities that sparked joy when we were younger and combining self-care practices to target multiple needs—physical, mental, and emotional—all at once.

Learn how to identify what truly energizes you and simple methods for incorporating personalized self-care into a busy routine, so you can reduce stress and avoid burnout. Whether you’re a healthcare worker struggling with constant stress, a family caregiver, or anyone in need of relief from overwhelming demands, this episode will help you prioritize yourself. I also discuss practical self-care strategies like solo activities that allow you to recharge quickly, ways to leverage nature to boost your mood, and building meaningful interactions into your day to feel less alone in your journey.

By the end, you’ll have concrete ideas for creating a realistic self-care plan tailored to your life, so you can continue to make a positive impact without sacrificing your well-being.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Episode Transcript

Jenny (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Nurses'
Break Room with Jenny Lytle RN.
This week we're going to betalking about oOnly you.
What will maximize your impact?
Last week we focused onconfidence and the things that
light you up, and this weekwe're going to take that a step
further, looking at the ways youcan really make a difference to

(00:22):
your stress levels and yourself-care in a short amount of
time, by personalizing yourself-care plan, for instance.
When I was young, I loved toplay things like hospital and
school and bank.
I enjoyed the work, part ofthose things, but what I really
enjoyed was the people and theway they interacted with each
other.
So a friend and I would taketurns being the banker or the

(00:45):
customer, or sometimes both ofus would be working at the bank
and there would be an imaginarycustomer and I remember we had,
for whatever reason, a customernamed Roger, and Roger was
sometimes a little bitinappropriate and we had to keep
him in line and it was just oneof those things where our
imaginations were able to runwild, and we can do that when

(01:08):
we're younger, but then, as weget older, it doesn't always
continue that way, but it was afun outlet.
It was a way to enjoy eachother's company and to just get
our minds thinking in ways thatthey wouldn't normally be
thinking.
So, thinking back, it may bevery different things that you

(01:29):
like to do when you were growingup, but just look back at the
things that you did enjoy whenyou were younger, when you were
free of all the responsibilitiesthat you likely have now, and
then figure out how to get someof that back, that feeling of
joy and lack of worry overwhether or not you're doing
things the right way, orcomparing yourselves to others

(01:51):
or worrying about what you'regoing to look like, just doing
the things that you like.
For me, that's been doing somecreative things that before I
had not really been thatcomfortable with.
Like, I am not incrediblyartistic and I thought that
meant that I wasn't creative,but those are two different
things.
I really can't paint well, butI've done some Bob Ross classes

(02:16):
that have been fun and theyhaven't turned out awful and
I've really enjoyed the processof it and stepping into
something new, something that isuncomfortable for me
no-transcript and I am somebodythat likes to do things well.

(02:36):
I'm an achiever, and so doingsomething knowing that it's not
going to be perfect is a bit ofa challenge, but it's also a
great exercise for me and Ifound that the more that I do
things like that, the more thatI do something and just enjoy
the process and know that it'snot something that I'm probably

(02:57):
going to be a superstar at.
It makes it easier to continueto do that and to not worry so
much about is this doneperfectly.
So that's just a little sidenote there, but I do enjoy
writing and doing thingscreatively in that way and

(03:17):
figuring out how to best reachout to people and connect with
them.
So it's looking at our ownunique gifts and talents and
pulling those things togetherand being able to combine them
in a way that allows you to hitmultiple areas and do that in a
short time and with as littleeffort as possible areas, and do
that in a short time and withas little effort as possible For

(03:38):
me.
I know that I like to be innature and take pictures and I
enjoy walking with others andsharing things with others.
So sometimes I do those thingstogether and maybe I'll go for a
walk with a friend who knowsthat my walks aren't just
nonstop walks most of the time,and I'll stop and take pictures
when something catches my eye.
So, doing this, I'm able tohave conversation and talk
through the things that I'mthinking about and seeing and

(04:01):
I'm getting some exercise, I'mout in nature, I'm taking some
fun pictures and I'm fillingmultiple buckets and what I'm
doing is really grouping thoseactivities.
Now, sometimes, absolutely it'sfine to just do one thing and
do that calmly and peacefully.
And I'm not saying that youneed to be constantly

(04:22):
multitasking, even when it comesto your self-care, and we know
that multitasking really doesn'tdo a whole lot.
Actually it slows us down.
But these are areas that,because they're different and
they're using different parts ofour mind and body, that pulling
all of that together is a bitof multitasking that actually

(04:42):
can be effective, becausesometimes when we're out moving,
that really gets some of thosethings that are stuck in our
heads unstuck.
I have even done some coachingcalls where both of us are
walking and moving throughthings and we're on the phone
and able to do some coachingsessions that way, where we're

(05:07):
not in person, we're not on zoom, we're not able to see each
other, but just talking witheach other, and coaching that
way is something that can beeffective because it allows
things to get unstuck.
So back to the multitasking.
It's more combining andoverlapping and just maximizing

(05:28):
the impact than it is truemultitasking.
Now, when you're thinking aboutthese things, figure out what is
it that you need.
Do you need some time foryourself, and if so, what does
that look like for you?
What is something that wouldreally make you think, oh, that
felt great.
And that may be sitting andreading a book or taking a

(05:49):
bubble bath.
It also could be that it's justgoing for a drive by yourself
or going out to eat by yourself,or maybe it's that you could
use some interaction, and if so,then figuring out ways to
incorporate that.
Now, especially if you're havinga tough time, it's easy for the

(06:10):
people in our circle to be inthat same headspace or to be
really supportive of us in a waythat we bleed our emotions onto
each other, and so it's greatto be able to vent and get
things out, but make sure thatyou're trying to keep that open

(06:35):
and honest, but also somewhatfocused on keeping things
positive and directed towardimproving some of the outcomes
that we can.
Now I know some situations arejust really crappy situations
and there's not a way to put apretty bow on it.
I'm not talking about thosetype of things, but it's just

(06:58):
easy to get to A place wherewe're venting and venting and
then we just keep coming up withnegative things.
So I know I just came back froma girls weekend and we had a
nice combo of the twoCelebrating things, griping
about some things that we'recomfortable sharing with each
other and it's important to havethat but then bringing it back
to the things that are goingreally well in our lives and

(07:21):
some of the things that we coulddo to make the other things go
a little better.
There's some things that wecan't change in our lives and
some of the things that we coulddo to make the other things go
a little better.
There's some things that wecan't change in our lives, some
circumstances that we can'tchange, but we can maybe change
our approach to it or the levelof time and effort that we put
into that.
Just being cognizant of thosethings, just being cognizant of

(07:44):
those things.
So next week we are going to befocusing on meaning and what
would make life feel meaningful.
So I hope that you will tuneback in then and make sure, if
you haven't checked out my bookyet check it out.
It's Self-Care Isn't Selfishthe Compassionate Nurse's
Step-by-Step Guide toPersonalized Stress Relief, and

(08:05):
it's available in Kindlepaperback and a large print
hardcover on Amazon.
And soon there's going to be anaudiobook and also a companion
guide, a kind of workbook slashjournal in the works.
So until next time, rememberself-care isn't selfish.
It's essential if we want tocontinue to care for others and

(08:26):
live our best lives.