Sunday afternoon, I made room for fun, literally.
I cleared a spot on the dining room table by pushing aside the bills, holiday cards and wrapping paper — all signs of what a responsible adult should be doing on a day off — and started working a holiday puzzle I had just returned home with. (Clearly, I don’t have children.)
Later that night, I painted my fingernails a light metallic color. It was something I always enjoyed as a child but largely stopped doing once I started working.
I often find it difficult to make time for myself, but I decided that’s exactly why I need to focus on self-care. It seems like millions of others could benefit from some extra pampering and kindness, too.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on all of us, both in our personal and professional lives. One in four respondents have considered quitting their job, according to a recent survey. Respondents also reported that they have cut back on their hours (28%) and have taken leave (20%). The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, with funding from SAP, conducted this survey of 1,015 full-time and part-time U.S. employees in mid-September.
It’s no surprise that when listing stressors, 43% of all respondents said the pandemic is a major source of stress. That number is even higher among non-white workers: 65% of Black workers along with 43% of Hispanic workers reported it was a major source of stress compared with 39% of white workers.
One contributing factor is that in addition to working during a pandemic, many employees are also now responsible for their children’s education, or at least dealing with oft changing school and daycare arrangements. Parents with children who are unable to physically attend a school or daycare center are among those experiencing high levels of stress. Sixty eight percent of working parents reported it a significant source of stress, and 45% said it was impacting how much work they were getting done.
More than half of the schools or daycare centers attended by non-white workers’ children are closed compared with about a quarter of white workers. It’s worth noting that a majority of respondents (71%) said they were working in-person, and 68% said their job has been considered essential during the pandemic.
What’s more, the survey found the pandemic is being viewed differently by gender.
"We did find, in general, that women were more likely to say that the pandemic was a source of stress, not that they were more likely to take leave or considering quitting, but 50% of women said the pandemic was a source of stress over one-third of men," said Marjorie Connelly, senior fellow for The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, to CNN.
The survey also asked about how employers have responded to the pandemic. More than 80% of respondents had a positive outlook for how their employer has handled the pandemic. When asked further, employees rated their employer as doing a good job in protecting their physical health (54%), mental health (45%) and financial well-being (47%).
Still, there’s room for improvement. Respondents said their employer was doing a neither good nor bad job expanding paid sick leave, offering counseling or other mental health resources, and providing hazard pay for at-risk workers.
Those, and many other granular questions mentioned in the survey, can only be answered by management. In the meantime, employees can focus on what they can control: prioritizing their own health. The self-care movement has been building momentum and seems to have hit its stride in 2020.
While companies have tried to capitalize on everything from face masks to sweatpants to at-home gym equipment, many forms of self-care can be free or little cost. Maybe it’s going for a walk, watching a holiday movie, lighting a candle or even taking a nap.
I recognize that these activities may seem like a low priority or frivolous during these times. I know painting my fingernails isn’t necessary for survival. That’s why I dangled the prospect of an at-home manicure as a reward for finishing more important tasks. But I came to realize that’s the wrong way to view self-care.
2020 has been a challenging year that no one could have expected. We owe it to ourselves to reward ourselves for making it through nine months of a global pandemic and practice self-care as a way to help us endure some dark months ahead.
For me, self-care Sunday involved working on a puzzle, painting my nails, making a pizza and listening to an audiobook. It was, hands down, one of my best days in recent memory and helped Monday land more gently.
There is always work to be done, and while we should never stop trying to improve, sometimes we forget to take a pause and congratulate ourselves for making it this far in the first place. Let's start by making time for ourselves and our mental health.