Put your own mask on first

We all talk about wellbeing. And yet, the people who seem to need it most are often the ones who wave it away with the same phrase: “I just don’t have time for it.”

There’s something quietly ironic about that. The moments when life feels most hectic — when the diary is packed, the to-do list is endless, and you’re running on fumes — those are precisely the moments when looking after yourself matters most.

It makes me think of the safety announcement on aeroplanes. Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. Sensible advice. Logical, even. And yet — I’ll be honest — when I picture that scenario with my own kids beside me, my instinct is still to reach for theirs first.

We can’t pour from an empty cup. And we definitely can’t help anyone else if we’ve passed out.

“People push through relentlessly — hitting deadlines, sitting through back-to-back meetings, making themselves available to everyone around them — and somewhere in all of that, they forget about themselves entirely.”

Wellbeing doesn’t have to mean big, dramatic changes. You don’t need to overhaul your entire routine. It’s often the small, sustainable shifts that make the most difference — and what works looks different for everyone.

Here are a few things that have genuinely helped me:

Filling a large water bottle at the start of the day instead of just a glass — I drink so much more without even thinking about it.

Leaving 15 minutes early for the school run and doing a lap round the block — a small pocket of movement built into something I’m doing anyway.

Putting my laptop away in a cupboard when I finish work — out of sight means I’m much less tempted to “just check one thing” in the evening.

None of these are revolutionary. But done consistently, small things add up. That’s the whole point.

In our Wellbeing 101 workshop, we dig into what wellbeing actually means across different areas of our lives — physical, social, and psychosocial — and look at the warning signs that can tell us when we, or someone around us, might be struggling. We also talk about what self-care really looks like in practice: not the Instagram version, but the real, everyday version that actually fits into your life.