Let’s Go Apple Picking!

I learned a very important lesson during my psychiatric/mental health rotation in school: we need to enjoy life. There is more to life than studying and working. This applies to all careers, not just nursing. Nursing is my life but it isn’t everything. As a student, it was. You had to study, go to clinicals, careplan, write papers, take tests, and learn new ideas and concepts everyday.

My mental health lecturer taught me the importance of taking care of myself. She called it “filling your basket with apples.” With that, it just means doing something that makes you happy, that provides you peace, and gives you time to rest and recharge. It can literally be anything. She would usually ask us individually to say out loud to the class what our apple was after lecture. Mine would be going to Starbucks, getting a venti java chip frappe, and walking around Target. My classmates said a variety of things like, “going to the beach after class, binge watching a Netflix show, skateboarding, taking a fat nap, playing with their dog, getting drunk, cooking a homemade meal.” She encouraged us to always give ourselves a break and that’s what I want to pass on as well.

We are so prone to burnouts, especially in nursing. In the last couple of years, nurses have gotten the brunt of it since COVID came around. 

Why is it so important to fill your basket with apples? If you don’t fill your basket, how can you share your apples? How can you take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself? I’m not going to lie, I actually have trouble filling my basket to this day. It’s a learning process. I’m very used to just moving at 120 miles per hour. Now that I finished my travel assignment and have a 2 week vacation, it’s weird. I went from working 5 days a week with 12 hour shifts to 2 days a week. It’s sad to say that I actually feel bad enjoying myself and doing nothing. I feel like I should ask to go to work to be productive. But I need to remind myself that it’s okay to rest. 

Everyday doesn’t have to be a step forward in life. It is okay to just take a breather and do nothing for a day. 

We all know the phrase “work hard, play hard.” I want everyone to follow that. Not just nurses and students. Everyone deserves a break from time to time. When you’re feeling stressed or freaking out, give yourself a minute and think about what you can do right now to fill your basket. The simplest thing can be your apple. Just remember it’s about balance. I had days dedicated to working, studying, lectures, and clinicals, but I also had dedicated days where I would do whatever I wanted. I would go out with friends, go on dates with my boyfriend at the time, sleep in, or watch YouTube all day. There were some series of weeks where I didn’t have a whole day for myself so I had to schedule time for myself. It would range from 30 minutes to a few hours distributed throughout the day to just be me. 

Fill up your basket with apples, water yourself, feed your soul. Always remember that self care is not selfless and can come in any form. You come first before anyone and it may be hard at first to follow, but everything in life is a work in progress. You got this!

<3 mags

thanks best fraaann!