Have you ever driven a car? If so, you know cars need one key thing to run - gas.
Ever seen that gas symbol light up on the dashboard? If so, you know the car needs that one key ingredient to continue to run - gas.

Having this same feeling internally is one of the worst feelings you can experience. Feeling completely empty, drained, and burned out is not healthy and leaves you with nothing left to give. So we know this, yet we tend to view self-care as selfish and unnecessary. However, I think we also tend to misunderstand what exactly self-care is.

In school, professors used to preach about self-care and almost every class included some type of assignment about what we, as student social workers, do to take care of ourselves. Nobody denied the importance of self-care, but nobody truly grasped it either. It was an abstract idea that usually included things like vacations, extravagant travels, and a full day of pampering.

But let's be real: ain't nobody got time (or money) for that.

Thankfully, I have good news for you! Self-care is not all about vacations and spa days. Here's a list of four things you can do to take care of yourself every day to keep your "gas tank" from getting empty.

1. Eat all three meals (or 5 smaller meals). It is absolutely essential to your body to eat and maintain your metabolism. Even better, eat your meals away from your desk. If you are in college, try not to eat your meals sitting on your dorm room bed. That way you can be fully present and intentional about what you eat and how much you eat.

2. Stand up for at least one minute every hour. Your brain needs a break every now and then to re-energize itself. Even if you are working on something that requires your full attention, get up and get a drink of water or go to the bathroom. You will be much more focused if you let your brain work the way it needs to.

3. Sleep. This is as essential as food. Your body needs sleep to mend itself and rest up for the energy you will need the next day. Attention college students: all nighters don't really work. At least sleep for one full REM cycle (90 minutes) before cranking out the rest of your paper. If I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, I would always find typos and grammatically incorrect sentences the next morning. This is because your brain needs energy, much like a car needing gas.

4. Stay hydrated. About 60 percent of your body is made up of water. With the energy you burn just by being awake and moving around, it needs replenishing. The first sign that you are getting dehydrated is being thirsty. Keep your favorite cup/bottle of water nearby and fill it up throughout the day!

These are only a few suggestions. Get to know yourself and your body to discover what works best for you. Because nobody wants to run on empty.