Calgary’s Fall Self-Care Giveaway: Why You Should Be on Your Own To-Do List 🍂

There is something about fall in Calgary that makes life feel like it is picking up speed again. The long summer days start getting shorter, the mornings get cooler, kids are back to school, routines are back in full swing and calendars start filling up quickly. After a summer that may have included vacations, weekends away, family time and a slightly slower pace, September can feel like hitting the reset button.

For many Calgary women, that reset also means a long list of things that need to get done. There are appointments to book, errands to run, work commitments to keep up with, family schedules to coordinate and all of those little personal tasks that somehow seem to multiply overnight. Before you know it, your calendar is full and your mind is full too.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, you can easily find yourself putting your own needs at the bottom of the list.

Why Self-Care Gets Pushed to the Bottom of the List

I think a lot of us are guilty of doing this. We tell ourselves that we will make time for ourselves once everything else is taken care of. Once the house is organized. Once work settles down. Once the kids are taken care of. Once the errands are finished. Once we get through this particularly busy week.

The problem is that there is almost always another thing waiting.

There will always be another email to answer, another appointment to schedule, another load of laundry to fold, another grocery trip to make or another item that needs your attention. If you continually wait until everything else is done before taking time for yourself, you may never actually get around to it.

That is one of the reasons I think fall is such a good time to check in with yourself and ask a simple question: Where do I fit into my own schedule?

What Does Self-Care Really Look Like?

Self-care doesn't have to mean booking an expensive vacation or spending an entire day at a spa. It can be something incredibly simple. It could be going for a walk along the Calgary pathways, meeting a friend for coffee, reading a book without feeling guilty about it, taking an hour to yourself or finally booking that massage you've been saying you need.

Sometimes, though, the best form of self-care isn't adding something else to your schedule. It is taking something off of it.

This is something I see regularly through my work as a personal assistant in Calgary. People aren't necessarily overwhelmed by one huge task. It is often the accumulation of dozens of small things that need to be remembered, scheduled, researched, picked up, returned, organized or taken care of.

It might be booking a dental appointment, arranging a vehicle service, picking up contact lenses, researching a trip, returning an online purchase, dropping off donations or coordinating an appointment for an aging parent. None of these things seem particularly complicated, but when you have a demanding career, family responsibilities and an already full calendar, they can become one more thing taking up space in your head.

Reducing Your Mental Load Can Be Self-Care Too

That mental load matters.

Sometimes having someone else take care of the everyday tasks gives you something much more valuable than a completed to-do list. It gives you back time and mental space.

That is a big part of why I started Better Than A Bot. I wanted to provide personal support to busy people in Calgary who don't necessarily need more advice about how to organize their lives. They need someone they can actually hand things to and say, "Can you take care of this?"

Because life doesn't stop being busy just because you need a break.

And while I love helping clients get things done, I also believe there is something important about reminding people to make time for themselves along the way.

A Fall Giveaway Focused on Self-Care in Calgary

That is exactly why I am so excited about Better Than A Bot's fall giveaway.

This fall, Better Than A Bot is partnering with Apex Massage Therapy and Women’s Research Hub Calgary to give one lucky Calgary woman the opportunity to take some time for herself. One winner will receive a 90-minute cupping massage courtesy of Apex Massage.

I love that this giveaway is centred around something so simple: taking a break.

For the woman who is constantly taking care of everyone else, the person who has been saying she needs to book a massage but hasn't gotten around to it, or the Calgary woman who simply deserves a little time to relax and recharge, this is a chance to press pause for a little while.

Of course, a giveaway isn't going to magically make your to-do list disappear. But maybe it can serve as a reminder that you deserve to be somewhere on that list.

Enter Calgary’s Fall Self-Care Giveaway

What Can You Take Off Your Plate This Fall?

As we head into fall in Calgary, I think it is worth looking at everything we have going on and asking ourselves what we can take off our plates. Is there an errand someone else could handle? An appointment that could be delegated? A task that doesn't actually need to be done by you? Something you've been holding onto simply because you're used to doing everything yourself?

Asking for help doesn't mean you can't handle it. Sometimes it means you recognize that your time is valuable and that you don't need to spend it doing everything.

At Better Than A Bot, that is what personal support is really about. It is not about luxury or having someone do everything for you. It is about having practical support when life gets busy and knowing that some of the everyday responsibilities can be handled by someone else.

For me, one of the most rewarding parts of being a personal assistant in Calgary is seeing what happens when a client gets some of that time back. Maybe they finally have an afternoon to themselves. Maybe they can spend more time with their family. Maybe they can go to an appointment they had been putting off. Maybe they simply have one less thing running through their mind.

Sometimes those little things make a bigger difference than we realize.

Make Yourself Part of Your Fall To-Do List

So as you create your fall to-do list this year, whether you're in Calgary or one of the surrounding communities, I hope you remember to put yourself on it.

Book the appointment. Take the walk. Meet the friend for coffee. Take the afternoon off when you can. Ask for help when you need it. And if there are things on your list that someone else can take care of, let them.

You don't have to do everything yourself.

And if you are a Calgary woman, don't forget to enter the Better Than A Bot fall giveaway for your chance to win a 90-minute cupping massage from Apex Massage. Maybe this is your sign to make a little more time for yourself this fall.

Because your to-do list should include you, too.

If you’re a Calgary woman and you’re on Instagram, don’t forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win a 90-minute cupping massage from Apex Massage Therapy.