No matter what your routine looks like, there’s one broad category of activities that should rank high on your priority list—those that fall under self-care! You may think of self-care as getting a facial or going on a luxurious vacation, but it’s so much more than that. It encompasses all the little AND big things we do for ourselves. We shouldn’t reduce it to the lavish treats we give ourselves a few times a year. Instead, we should aim to make it a daily practice that comes in numerous shapes and sizes. There are physical, mental, emotional, etc. forms of self-care, and under each of those umbrellas, there are countless specific examples.
In this post, we’re going to explore some that are most easily overlooked. Often times, those are the most important!
1- Down time is self-care.
The average person leads a busy, hectic life regardless of what they have going on. Carving out time for relaxation is not only healthy but necessary to recharge. While it’s natural to want to be productive as often as possible, our down time can actually help us be more productive during our “go” time.
The way you fill that down time is up to you, but I find that sometimes there’s nothing better than watching a good show or movie. It’s a great way to get lost in another world for a few hours. That way, when you’re back to your real world, you feel refreshed with a new perspective! Other ways of achieving this include reading a book, listening to a podcast, listening to music, consuming feel-good social media content, etc. Anything that inspires you, boosts your confidence, entertains you, makes you laugh (it’s true that laughter is the best medicine), and/or brightens your mood is worth your time!
2- Socialization with the right people for you is self-care.
Emphasis on “the right people for you” (lol). Some people drain your energy, and you leave interactions with them feeling depleted. Other people, however, energize you and make you feel good. These are the people who deserve time slots in your schedule. While people’s schedules vary, making it tricky to coordinate at times, all it may take is the occasional gathering (or heck, even video chat) to make a world of difference. We could all benefit from having positive human interaction that fuels us!
3- Honoring your need for balance is self-care.
As per my blog post 5 Tips for Living a Balanced Life, life doesn’t need to be (and probably shouldn’t be) all-or-nothing. You can create healthy eating habits without depriving yourself of the foods you love. You can create responsible spending habits without depriving yourself of the things you want. To sum it up, acting recklessly is NOT self-care, and denying your desires at every turn is also NOT self-care. Seeing the whole picture and caring for yourself from all angles is just about as thoughtful as self-care can get!
4- Organizing / decluttering is self-care.
If you haven’t read my posts 3 Simple Ways to Stay Organized, Starting with Your Mind and Decluttering Tips + 6 Things to Declutter in Your Spring Cleaning, go check them out, as they explain these topics in greater depth. In a nutshell, though, tidying up your external spaces will naturally tidy up your mind. We often neglect to realize how much mental clutter has been weighing us down until we do something about it. All of a sudden, we feel ten pounds lighter!
5- Getting things done in advance is self-care.
On some level, this ties into organization, because staying on top of our responsibilities is a large part of staying organized. There’s something incredible about enjoying your free time with a clear head. For instance, if you’re in school and have an assignment due a week from today, it’s not too early to start working on it now. Better to do it when it’s not urgent than have it take over your weekend, right? If you struggle with procrastination, one of my very first blog posts 5 Reasons Why We Procrastinate + How to Overcome Each One might just help you out. This form of self-care is all about being considerate of your future self!
6- Setting boundaries and standards—and maintaining them—is self-care.
It can be easy to go through the motions in a relationship (of any kind) without stopping to reflect on if it really matches what we want. However, it’s up to us to filter out anything that doesn’t meet our needs/desires. If we don’t do it for ourselves, who will? Sure, your support system might encourage you to leave that relationship that just isn’t fulfilling you, but they can’t break up with your partner for you. (And let’s be honest, I doubt you would want them to anyway (lol)). When you become your own biggest advocate, stand up for yourself, and go for what you want, that’s self-care at its finest!
7- Bettering yourself is self-care.
One of my favorite quotes from a past blog post of mine is, “Self-improvement is one of the greatest manifestations of self-love”. This quote comes from my post Self-Love vs. Confidence: What’s the Difference?. I’m going to extend that quote even further by saying that self-improvement is one of the greatest forms of self-care! The key is to go about it from a caring, loving place for yourself. Otherwise, it defeats the purpose of self-care/self-love! Be kind and patient with yourself, and watch what’s possible!
The bottom line…
And that wraps up your self-care guide! Hopefully these examples showed you how simple it can be to insert acts of self-care into your everyday. It doesn’t need to be super time-consuming, costly, or anything of the sort. All it asks of us is to lovingly show up for ourselves!