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It's Self Care Week: Katie on What Self Care Means to Her

For the last two months, I’ve been working on a Tier 1 feature film shooting in Los Angeles (read: low budget, long hours). It hasn’t been the greatest, but at least there have been a lot of learning experiences. What’s more is that it’s all night shifts, which is out of my element.

A lot of people seem to think that working in the film and television industry is luxurious, fulfilling, and always exciting. Sometimes it can be some of those things, but truthfully, most of the time it is not.

In fact, it’s downright exhausting. It’s hard to work in this industry. It’s terribly demanding, competitive, it often doesn’t pay well, and it’s seldom satisfying. Be it the ever-changing landscape of the industry or the sort of self-masochism it takes to do this work, one way or another, it gets to you.

This week, we’re talking about self-care. And I can’t seem to talk about what self-care means to me unless I explain why I have a need for self-care in the first place.

I typically work 12-14 hours a day. I sit in at least an hour of traffic to and from the office. There’s usually a pile of work sitting on my desk waiting for me when I arrive and a string of emails waiting for me when I get home at the end of the day. The environment is usually tense and everything is urgent at all the time. There are at least one or two major fires that need to be put out on any given day and then there are the big ‘personalities’ and egos that need to be pleased.

The work constantly makes me question why I do it.

That’s not to say everything is awful. In fact, I do have plenty of moments where I’m blown away by how cool my job can be. It’s just that those moments have to last me through the rest of it. And it’s all in an effort to one day (hopefully) be able to tell my own stories.

I don’t think my job is special in that it requires self-care, but it is a job that can make it easy to ignore it. When your schedule is constantly jam-packed, the last thing you want to do is go run on the treadmill, but practicing self-care is literally what keeps me going. It’s what I do to regenerate after these long weeks and it’s what I do to ground myself.

To me, self-care is deliberately taking time to listen to your mind and body and then answering what it’s in need of. Sometimes I need to purposefully schedule time for it, but when I get there, I have several practices that I put into action. Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs is a fair example of how I remind myself where to start.

At the base of everything are your physiological needs: food, water, warmth, and rest. My first stop is usually rest. I never get enough sleep, which my body naturally demands a lot of in the first place. My personal necessary amount of sleep is eight hours nightly. When I consistently get eight hours, I feel like myself and I can function at my best. Anything less starts to take a toll on my energy, focus, and emotions. If I get less than eight, I have to recharge as soon as possible. If I keep going without the recharge, it’s like a continuous overdraft on my account.

I do my best to set myself up for restful sleep. I make my bed every morning so that I have a fresh bed to sleep in every night. I wash my sheets and comforters regularly, I replace my pillows when they go flat, I flip my mattress every few years, and I make sure that my bedroom is dark and quiet. Seems like the basics right? But when sleep is number one, all these things have to be in order so that I can reap the most benefits.

Food, water, warmth. It sounds simple enough. But eating well and maintaining an exercise is actually really tough. Production life can leave you with a sour stomach. There is food everywhere and it’s rarely healthy. As a result, I try to buy myself fresh groceries, cook meals at home, and plan out specific exercises for myself throughout the week. Am I successful with this? Not always and rarely consistently.

You have to motivate yourself to keep up with it and remind yourself that it is a key part of taking care of yourself. Sometimes I trick myself into it by setting up specific goals such as signing up for a 5k. I know I won’t want to show up unprepared, so I feel motivated to train in the time leading up to it (see: Megan & my recent Screenland 5K). Sometimes I buy food deliveries like Blue Apron because it takes out extra step of shopping and I know I won’t want to let the food go to waste.

Hey - if it works, it works, am I right?

Once those needs are properly met, then I can climb up the ladder of self-care. For me, this means relaxation, finding peace, and enjoyment. I am go-go-go most days. To balance it out, I remind myself that doing nothing is okay. I will watch a show, read a book, take a nap, or go for a walk. Anything to pull away from the rat race.

Sometimes that is easier said than done. I’ve mentioned before that I practice meditation and this is something that helps me reach that place. It helps me to be present in the moment and to enjoy it. Even five minutes of meditation is helpful. I also do things like yoga or taking a hot bath. Or I partake in more enjoyable activities. I’ll go to the movies, go for a nice dinner, take a trip to the beach, get a massage or a pedicure. Anything that is fun or feels like a treat for myself.

I think it’s important for everyone, no matter what your job is, to make a deliberate and conscious effort toward self-care. We only get one life and while we can’t escape certain things (having a job, paying taxes), it doesn’t mean our life has to be completely centered around it.

Here’s a short list of my favorite self-care tactics:

Maybe some of the things I’ve mentioned aren’t your preferred methods of self-care. I find that getting in touch with yourself and cultivating a greater sense of self-awareness helps you answer what self-care looks like for you.

Here are some additional resources to help you find your own way:

-Katie

From Director KatieMegan Cooperself care, meditation, care, life, indie film, indie filmmaking, mindfulness, filmmaking, film, director, directing, yoga, self awareness, production, day job, feature film1 Comment