We’re dogsitting this week for a neighbor’s dog. Her name is Lexi. She is — and I have told her this about 10,000 times already — a very, very good girl.
This happens to be a particularly good week for us to be taking care of a 10-pound ball of fluff who basically only wants to chase a tiny Chewbacca toy around the house. She does not care what happened last week with the election. She does not care about any sort of stress in my life. She wants to play fetch, and she wants to have her belly rubbed, and she wants to nap.
Just having her around the house these past few days has made me feel so much better. I love having routines and sticking to routines — but in a week like this, it’s been nice to break my routine so I can adjust to Lexi’s schedule. She wants to be walked early in the morning and late at night, and getting out at odd hours has given me lots of time to think. It’s been really wonderful.
Most weeks, I write about work and productivity on this blog. I don’t usually write about self-care. But self-care does matter. If you’re going to do great work, you need to find ways to take care of yourself.
I’m far from an expert on self-care — but luckily, my co-workers on the BuzzFeed News team can help. I wanted to share a few things they’ve written in the last 10 days that might help you, too:
• 17 Resources For Anyone Who Isn’t OK Right Now
• 8 Ways To Challenge Your Anxious Thoughts And Actually Feel Better
• 10 Tips From Psychologists About Coping With Your Anger Right Now
And if you’re looking to do something for others today: 27 Productive Things You Can Do If You’re Upset About The Election.
There will be more days to do the work. But this weekend, take care of yourself, OK? You owe it to yourself.
———
That’s a photo of Lexi the dog. (Good girl! You’re such a good girl!)