How Modern Technology Can Make Self-Care Easier

Presented by BetterHelp.

Practicing good self-care is likely one of the most important parts of maintaining your mental and physical wellness. Self-care generally refers to health-promoting behaviors that contribute to your overall well-being. Modern technology can likely help you increase self-care behaviors and adopt proactive, healthy routines. 

Self-care basics

Many forms of self-care exist, but a few are especially important. Self-care tends to be cumulative; effort put into basic self-care activities typically makes it easier to access more advanced forms of self-care. While there are several types of basic self-care, many experts believe three are especially important: sleep, diet, and exercise. Ensuring you have good sleep, diet, and exercise routines will likely make it easier to achieve other goals. It is likely that technology can help with basic self-care. 

Sleep

It is important for you to get enough sleep so that you feel rested upon waking. Most experts recommend 7 to 8 hours for adults, but evidence suggests that the ideal amount of sleep can vary from person to person. Some technological solutions may be helpful if you’re finding maintaining a good sleep schedule challenging. 

Several apps and wearable solutions have evidence supporting their effectiveness in improving sleep quality, such as sleep diaries, which allow you to track your sleep quality night by night. Some apps also include progressive alarm functions to wake you slowly or work in conjunction with smart lighting to gradually increase the brightness of your sleeping area. Wearable technology can also be used to analyze sleep cycles. In some cases, wearables like smartwatches can be used to collect data for physicians and therapists when sleep disturbances are severe. 

Diet

A healthy, well-balanced diet gives your body and mind the energy it needs to maintain an adequate self-care routine and achieve goals beyond self-care. There are many apps available that can help you plan meals, evaluate nutrition, and keep track of calorie intake. Many people don’t pay close attention to their diet and may not be aware that merely taking note of what foods are consumed – and how much – can lead to significant improvements in health and well-being. 

Exercise

There may be no better self-care activity than regular exercise. Evidence suggests that exercise has both long and short-term benefits. Short-term benefits, like an elevated mood, often appear immediately following a workout. When workouts are sustained over time, exercise can lead to long-term boosts in mental strength and resiliency. There are many apps and websites you can use to bolster your workout routine. You can set a workout schedule that coordinates with your calendar, learn how to safely complete certain exercises, or devise a long-term plan to help you achieve mental and physical wellness goals. 

Tackling advanced self-care goals with technology

Maintaining the self-care essentials, diet, sleep, and exercise, is probably the best first step anyone can take towards improving their self-care overall, and many technological solutions can help. Once you have a solid foundation, technology might also be able to help you enhance your self-care with advanced techniques. 

Mindfulness training

Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present in a situation, to be aware of ourselves and our surroundings, and to regulate our reaction to the circumstances surrounding us. One of the best ways to practice mindfulness is through meditation. Meditation can take many forms, and many apps and services are available to help you find out what kind of meditation is right for you. Many apps will guide you through a meditative process, removing some uncertainty for new meditators. 

Habit forming

Forming good habits requires consistency and dedication. Although it may seem that many habits are developed through brute willpower, evidence suggests that sheer willpower is one of the least effective ways to form good habits. It is often helpful to scaffold the habit, moving from smaller habits and goals to larger ones. Apps are available that can help you keep track of your habit-based goals and take more intentional steps toward achieving them. 

Teletherapy

There is a common misconception that therapy is only for those with severe problems or who have been unable to address their concerns independently. In fact, therapy is often most effective when a person accesses a therapist early on before problems become overwhelming. Many people seek therapy for help with self-care, and modern technology has made it easy to see a therapist from your own home using teletherapy. Teletherapy allows you and a therapist to meet remotely and engage in the same therapeutic process you might have expected from in-person therapy. Check out this article from BetterHelp describing some potential benefits of teletherapy. 

While technology won’t do the work for you, it is likely that apps, websites, and other tools can significantly lessen the burden of adopting good self-care routines. You may need to try a few different services before you land on one that’s right for you. Despite many options, not everyone will benefit equally from the same solution. It is important to try different approaches offered by different services to find the one that works best for you.