Practising mindfulness, which includes paying close attention to what you eat, can help improve mental wellbeing. (Envato Elements pic) PETALING JAYA: For many Malaysians, life is a constant balancing act. Between work deadlines, school runs, family commitments and endless notifications, taking time for yourself often feels like the first thing to fall off the to-do list.
According to clinical psychologist and lecturer Akif Farhan, that's exactly why self-care deserves more attention, especially on International Self-Care Day. "I think in this day and age, we prioritise a lot of things other than ourselves - our work, our children, our family," he told FMT Lifestyle. "We tend to put ourselves last." The irony, he added, is that neglecting ourselves eventually makes it harder to fulfil those very responsibilities.
"For us to be able to maintain performing our responsibilities over a longer period of time, I think we need to prioritise self-care. And that doesn't mean that we're being selfish." One of the biggest barriers to self-care today isn't necessarily a lack of time, but technology. Akif describes the phenomenon as "techno-stress", where work and personal life increasingly blur because we're always connected.
"The first thing we do is look at our screens, and the last thing we do before we go to sleep is also look at our screens," he pointed out. Research, he noted, shows that simply avoiding screens for 30 minutes before bedtime can improve sleep quality, which in turn contributes to better emotional wellbeing the next day. Without clear boundaries, emails, WhatsApp messages and work notifications quietly creep into every corner of the day, leaving little room for genuine rest.
Akif Farhan says self-care should be a regular habit rather than something you turn to only when you feel overwhelmed. (Akif Farhan pic) Rather than viewing self-care as an occasional indulgence, Akif likens it to maintaining a car. "We use our car, and our car needs servicing.
We don't only send it for servicing every few months - we also take care of it regularly so it maintains its quality," he said. "It's the same with us." You may be able to keep pushing through deadlines and responsibilities without slowing down, but eventually the question becomes: "How long can we keep hustling before we start taking care of ourselves?" The good news is that meaningful self-care doesn't…
Summary from source