On the first day
I was able to take some time off and go to a calm portion of a recreational park a few kilometers from my home. After I had settled, I closed my eyes and began to consider my attitude toward job tasks. I was able to recognize that I had been approaching directions incorrectly at work. However, I vowed to adopt a good attitude toward my job roles.
On the second day
I did yoga movements in the backyard in the evening. For around 30 minutes, I was able to stretch my arms and bend my back repeatedly. The exercises helped me feel rejuvenated and refreshed.
On the third day
I nurtured my emotions and meditated on the areas where I have underperforming. I realized that I have a problem in interpersonal communication and I was a poor listener. I resolved to work on my communication skills for work and personal reasons.
Various obstacles hinder social workers from exercising self-care on themselves. The first hurdle includes fatigue and lack of energy to carry out the exercise. The work-related tasks are involving, and they make a person too exhausted to engage in self-care exercise. The unfinished work-related tasks do not give the social worker an opportunity to meditate during self-care. Besides, some social workers consider self-care as an exercise for the weak. Thus due to fear of appearing weak, some workers do not consider taking self-care exercise. Another aspect is the lack of proper understanding of the benefits associated with self-care. Therefore, social workers should be educated on the effect of conducting self-care on work performance and personal health.
Reflective Summary
Self-care is essential for social workers to ensure competency and endurance in work. Much of the social work involves doing activities to ensure the well-being of others. It is a good practice for social workers to take time and attend to their personal needs. Some of the needs are physical while others are either psychological or emotional. Neglecting own needs may lead to accumulation of stress hence deterioration of the worker’s health. Social work is involving and can make a person burnout and lose the morale to continue executing work responsibilities. The self-care exercise has helped me attend to my emotional and spiritual needs. I have been able to evaluate my attitude towards my duties as a social worker. Through meditation, I have been able to identify the source of the negative reaction I have towards specific groups of people. Self-care gave me the opportunity of recreating my goals and changing my view from negative to positive. Besides, I have understood the limits of my body and the most optimal way to work without getting fatigued. It has been a significant exercise that will enable me to resume my work with much zeal and having changed attitude towards responsibilities. Further, I will be able to work without straining my body as I have understood the limits of my will and body. Self-care has helped me to refine my thoughts and come up with ways in which I can keep my imaginations within limits. I will be able to concentrate on efficiently executing work-related tasks. Due to self-care exercise, I will be able to improve my work performance targets. The physical activities made me feel rejuvenated and having the zeal to remain a committed social worker.
