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The demands placed on your life can make you think that you will NEVER EVER have time for yourself, but there are little things that you can do to treat yourself. Despite being an octopus, steal-away moments DO exist. Here are a few things you can do to show love to yourself!
Self Care Ideas to Pick From
- Meditate for 5-10 minutes a day
- Write down three things you are grateful for
- Do at least 25 jumping jacks
- Sit down at the table for breakfast every morning
- Read for 15 minutes before bed each night
- Light incense or a candle when you get home
- Write a letter to someone every day
- Write down one thing each day you love about yourself
- Watch 30 minutes of that show you have wanted to catch up on
- Make the bed each morning first thing
- Cook a meal for yourself each day
- Take a walk– rain or shine
- Get up 20 minutes earlier than your regular time
- Spend 15 minutes each day organizing a space in your home
- Give yourself a daily facial
- Go on a short bike ride
- Drink half your body weight in oz of water
- Random act of kindness
- Complete a Crossword or Sudoku Puzzle
- Morning affirmations
- Use lotion on your hands
- Watch How-To Videos on something you have always wanted to learn
- Solo Dance Parties
- 15 minutes of listening to your favorite music
- Text a friend and let them know why they matter to you
- Set a reminder every few hours to check in on yourself
- Clean something in your house
- Remove added sugar from your diet each day
- Stop drinking any caffeine after Noon
- Create a list of books you want to read, movies you want to see, etc.
- Journal your ideas and add to them daily
- Add to your visualization board
- Ask a new person each day what makes them happier
- Take a bubble bath
- Watch funny YouTube videos
- Watch sunset or sunrise
- Take a photo of something that makes you happy
- Write down one thing that made you laugh
- Spend 10 minutes painting, drawing, coloring, or doodling
- Write down a quote or something powerful you heard each day
- Make tea before bed
- Write yourself a note for the next day
- Donate one thing from your home
- Knit or crochet
- Give yourself a hand and foot massage
- Watch a TED Talk
- Stretch or try Yoga
- Learn a new word
- Eat meals without your phone or TV
- Take a power nap
While these seem super simple, have you ever noticed that you do some of these things already? The problem is that you do not always see them as self-care. You see them as things that you do as a part of the norm.
How to Implement Self Care
“These are GREAT ideas, but HOW do I implement them?” I am glad you asked! Start by choosing ten of these and see how they work for you. If you take one away, replace it with another one. The key is establishing a regimen of your own.
Look at these things and be intentional in doing each one! Think, “This is something that I am doing for myself, and I need to take advantage of it to the fullest!” There is room in your day for YOU and what YOU want to do, so let us get into how to work with those ten things.
Write your ten on popsicle sticks and put them in a pretty jar or cup. Each day, pull one popsicle stick from the cup and do what is there. Once you have done all of them, you can either put those sticks back in and start drawing again or choose ten more to do—it is up to you!
Or you can take a self-care night where you do all ten in a row. I know that may sound like a dream, but it is possible and doable—you only must let your family know that you need that time. Order pizza, lock yourself in a room in the house or even in your car, and have that time!
You Deserve It
You deserve it, and they know you do, but it will not matter to them until it starts to matter to you. No one can read your mind, so you need to say what you need and how you need it. It will take some time to get acclimated to your self-care regimen, but once you start glowing and growing more, that regimen will not be so much of an issue.
Who knows? Maybe they will even start doing things for themselves because they know that your self-care activity time is coming. Should that happen, do not stand there gazing! Strike while the iron’s hot and get your time in before they realize what they have done.
Not having a self-care regimen can lead to what is being dubbed “Mommy Overload Syndrome.” That happens when Mom gives too much of her time to her family and ends up snapping. That will only end in tears, so take this list to heart and make yourself a priority, too! You matter, too.
Make Yourself Smile
Just as you do things that you know bring smiles to their faces, do something that brings just as big of a smile to your face! Once you do, it will soon become second nature to you, and you will wonder why you did not start a self-care regimen sooner.
There is no time like the present, so take the 50 ideas here, choose your ten, do them, and then journal about how you feel afterward. Feel free to share this article and self-care list with another Mom who may need to make a list of her own. I know that you know someone who needs to put herself first, too!
