You DO Have Time for Self-Care: 5 Mindset Shifts that Prove It

This post is a companion to Episode 20 of the Radical Redirection Podcast: “24/7 Self Care: How to Always Have Time For It.” If you want to go deeper, listen to the full episode below or wherever you get your podcasts.

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“No, I REally Don’t Have Time For Self Care…”

There was a time when the words self care made my blood boil.

Annoyed, angry, frustrated, I felt like self care was a made-up concept used by Instagram influencers, and something only millionaires could afford.

You can imagine, at the time that I believed this, I was burning out. I was overworked. I didn't know how to stop working. So of course, self care seemed like a myth.

But… I craved it. I'd scroll through reels of people with their sensual self-care routines and feel this deep, resentful longing. I want that. Why can't I have that? My body was screaming at me. More sleep. More rest. More fun. More me.

But I just didn't have the time.

Sound familiar?

Here's what I've come to understand: this isn't a time problem. It's a mindset problem.

And before you get mad at me for saying this — stick around. Let me prove it to you.

Let’s shift how you see self care. How you see yourself. Today I want to walk you through five mindset shifts — five ways of seeing self-care that can make it a natural, constant part of your life.

Not someday when you have the time… Now.

1 ~ Self-Care Is Not Complicated

Let's start with a definition, because I think we've been overcomplicating this.

Self-care, at its most basic, is simply taking care of your needs as they arise. That's it. Thirsty? Drink water. Stiff? Stretch your shoulders. Tired? Close your eyes for a moment. You're already doing a version of this every day.

It doesn't have to be an hour-long ritual. It doesn't have to be a checklist. It doesn't have to earn an Instagram caption. The rituals are lovely — truly, I'm not against them — but when time is short, all you have to do is tune into what your body, your mind, and your emotions are telling you, and respond.

That response can take as little as thirty seconds.

It can be that simple. And when we let it be that simple, suddenly we have time for it.

2 ~ Self-Care Begins in the Mind

Here's where it gets a little deeper.

Life gets in the way, I know. You can't always leave a meeting because you're hungry. You can't always get some peace and quiet when your mind is buzzing. And that's okay. What's not okay is ignoring those signals entirely.

When your body tells you it needs something and you just push past it — don't acknowledge it, don't even pause — you break self-trust. Your nervous system learns that no matter what it signals, it won't be heard.

But when you take two seconds — literally two seconds — to say to yourself, I hear you. I'm hungry right now and I'll eat as soon as I can. Something shifts. Your body exhales. It learns that you are listening, that you care, that you will show up for it.

Think about it this way. When you're going through something hard and someone looks at you and says, that sounds really difficult — nothing gets solved, right? The problem is still there. But you feel better. You breathe a little easier because someone sees you.

You can do that for yourself. That's self-love in its most basic form. You seeing you.

3 ~ Self-Care Is About the Moment

You don't need to carve out a two-hour block in your calendar. I mean, you can — and I hope you do — but if you absolutely can't, please know: self-care can happen right now, exactly where you are.

Three deep breaths. A forward fold. A glass of water. Closing your eyes for sixty seconds. A splash of cool water on your face. These things don't take long. They take a pause, and a pause is something you always have.

I was talking to a friend recently — a mom to a toddler, running her own business — who was frustrated because she hadn't been able to get to the gym. That was her favorite form of self-care, the thing that made her feel like herself. And she could feel the restlessness building in her body, the pent-up energy with nowhere to go.

Here's what I told her: the underlying need isn't going to the gym. The underlying need is challenging physical activity. (She agreed.) And that? That can be ten pushups, ten squats, ten burpees. That can be putting on her favorite song and dancing until she sweats. Five minutes, maybe less.

She tried it, and it changed how she felt on a daily basis, helped her feel strong in her body again, helped her feel like she has agency over her health, and gave her some of her confidence back. Game changer. Just those 5-10 minutes, several times a day — whenever she felt like it.

The invitation here is to identify the real need underneath the thing you're missing, and then ask yourself: how can I meet that need differently? In a smaller way. In a way you can actually do today.

You'd be surprised what's possible in five minutes.

4 ~ Self-Care Is Productive

This one is for those of us — and I am raising my hand here — who spent years believing that self-care was the opposite of productive. That it was indulgent. That it was a reward you hadn't earned yet.

That belief doesn't come from nowhere. For many of us, it's a survival mechanism. Work equals safety. Productivity equals worth. Everything else gets pushed to the bottom of the list until there's nothing left.

But here's the reframe I want to offer you: your body, your mind, your spirit — these are your most important resources. You can always make more money. You can always solve problems. But you only get one of you. And if you don't take care of that — really, truly care for it — nothing else actually matters.

Self-care is not the cherry on top. It is the foundation.

Start telling yourself that: my self care is non-negotiable. Practice moving through your day with the question: what does my body need right now? What would honor me today? Not as an afterthought, but as the first priority — before chores, before work, before anything else.

It takes practice, of course. It doesn't happen overnight. But the more you see self-care as a non-negotiable — as the most productive thing you can do — the more your choices (and your life) start to reflect that.

5 ~ You Always Have a Choice

When I was in the thick of it — running on fumes, imprisoned by my to-do list — I genuinely believed I had no choice. I had to finish everything, I had to keep going. There was no off switch.

But… You always have a choice. Always.

The to-do list will never be finished. Be honest with me — have you ever finished everything on it? I didn't think so. So if the condition for rest is finishing everything, rest will never come.

You can choose to stop. You can choose to pause. And I know what you're thinking — but I really can't. So let me ask you this: do you have fifteen seconds? Because fifteen seconds is enough for two deep breaths with your eyes closed. That is a choice available to you right now.

And once you see that choice, you start to see more of them.

I have the choice to skip the laundry tonight. I have the choice to leave the dishes. I have the choice to make a cup of tea and sit with my coloring book for twenty minutes. I have the choice to not worry about the thing I can't control right now.

We go through our days on autopilot, making the same choices because they're familiar and they feel efficient. But a different choice is always there. Waiting. Yours to take.

You always have the choice to listen to your body. To pause. To ask what it needs. And to answer.

A Way of Life

Here's what 24/7 self-care actually means. It's not a spa day (though that sounds wonderful). It means being so in tune with yourself that taking care of your needs becomes second nature. Automatic. Something you do because you've built a real, honest relationship with your own body.

When you practice these five shifts, self-care stops being something unattainable — something for people with more time, more money, more ease than you. It becomes something available to you in any moment, anywhere, no matter what your schedule looks like.

And don't be surprised if, one day, you suddenly do have time for that hour-long ritual you've been dreaming about. Because it feels like a top priority now. Because you feel like a top priority now.

That's the eventual goal.

But for now — starting with these five shifts is enough.

You give everything you have to your work, your family, the people you love. I hope you'll start giving some of that devotion back to yourself. Not because you've earned it — you don't have to earn it. Because you deserve it, need it, and because you are the one person who can give yourself the kind of love no one else can.

Start today. Let me know how it goes! I'd love to hear from you.

—Love, Kat

If you're ready to take these shifts from concept to action, check out my Substack article titled 1–10 Minute Self-Care Ideas — practical things you can do for your body, mind, and emotions when time is short.

If you’re craving a gentle life reset, where you ease the stress & pressure in your life, get your energy back, and actually find time and space for you, I invite you to do a 90-minute call with me. Self care meets strategy meets ease. Let’s do it!

You Do Have Time for Self-Care: 5 Mindset Shifts that Prove It