5 Self Care Activities You Should Be Doing As Often As Possible

Is it just me, or has everyone been feeling extra tired lately? Sometimes, a good night’s sleep isn’t enough to re-energize our mind and body.

Feelings of fatigue, stress, and even burnout make self-care important now more than ever. If you’ve been looking for ways to combat those daily blues, stick around as we share our favorite, tried-and-tested tips and self-care activities you should be doing as often as you can.

What is Self-Care?

Self-care is defined as “a multidimensional, multifaceted process of purposeful engagement in strategies that promote healthy functioning and enhance well-being.” 

That means seeking out activities, communities, and environments that are beneficial for you. Self-care is also multidimensional, meaning it should be holistic and cover your mind, body, and spirit. Similarly, taking care of one area of your life can be beneficial for other areas. An example is exercising, which keeps both your mind and body happy.

It can be easy to write off self-care as selfish or self-indulgent, but that’s not true! Taking care of yourself is beneficial for both you and your community. Imagine if our essential workers never got the amount of rest they needed – not great, huh? Likewise, if we never took the time to treat ourselves, we’d probably all be walking zombies instead of functional members of society.

In actuality, self-care as a concept has been around since Egyptian rule, where essential oils were used to improve moods and fight illnesses. 

What Are Daily Self-Care Activities?

Now, the notion of self-care is a lot more fleshed out than that and has plenty of research to back it up. For instance, many studies show that relaxation techniques like meditation can improve focus, boost self-esteem, and foster kindness.

Further, it’s also believed that having a self-care plan – like a daily or nightly routine – has a lot of the same benefits. With that, let’s take a look at 5 activities you can do daily in the name of self-care.

What Are 5 Things You Can Do For Self-Care Daily?

1. Get Your Beauty Sleep

Beauty sleep isn’t a myth. Studies show that sleep might be the closest thing you have to a “fountain of youth” – a good night’s sleep prevents wrinkles, fine lines, and brighter eyes.

Sleep is also vital to your mental well-being. REM sleep facilitates your mind’s processing of emotional content, and it’s especially helpful in forming positive emotions. So if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, chances are you didn’t get enough shut-eye! 

2. Balance Social Life and Alone Time

Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, balancing alone time and social occasions is vital to your mental and emotional well-being. 

When you’re feeling anxious or lonely, try to spend time with loved ones. Plan a family movie night or go to the beach together. Maintaining healthy connections with the people around you can significantly decrease stress levels and also help you bond.

Likewise, having time alone should also be part of your regular, if not daily routine. Going too far on one end of the spectrum can make you feel burdened. That’s why maintaining balance is a good way to reduce stress and improve your current mood. Go for a walk, breathe in some fresh air, or write in your journal – any of these things done regularly can help keep your mental health intact.

3. Move Your Body

Part of practicing self-care is moving your body. We’re not saying go and join a gym, but find which physical activity you enjoy most and do it when you’re feeling down in the dumps! 

Maybe you like learning new TikTok dances or you absolutely can’t go a day without biking. Whatever your go-to may be, moving your body can help release happy chemicals – great news for both your mental well-being and physical health.

4. Build a Nighttime Routine

As we mentioned earlier, having a routine each night is important. Try to do relaxing activities before you go to bed and ensure you have a good night’s rest. 

One tip is to turn off notifications an hour before you hit the sack – that way, you’ll have the night to yourself without any distractions. Meditating, watching your favorite series, or journaling are just some of the things you can do during this peaceful time.

Having a nighttime skincare routine is also part of practicing self-care. For me, I can’t really go to bed without it, and it signals my brain to go into hibernation mode for the night.

5. Lessen Screen Time

In line with our previous tip, try to lessen screen time throughout the day. iPhones have built-in screen time trackers that you can check out. Many Android apps also offer the same features.

Think about all the things you can do besides mindlessly scrolling for an hour through social media. You could use that hour to spend time with your pets, cook a meal for a family member, learn a new language, or even catch up on your beauty sleep!

How To Create Your Own Self Care Plan

Much like anything else, self-care is a commitment. But creating a self-care routine shouldn’t be difficult! Here are a few tips and self-care ideas to get you started on building your own self-care plan:

• Observe your current habits. Which areas of your life can you improve?
• List down all your self-care ideas and identify which ones are most important to you or which ones you enjoy doing the most.
• Commit to at least 10 minutes each day of doing one of these activities.
• Prioritize consistency over speed.
• Share your plans with people you trust and encourage each other to stay committed.

What are the 8 Areas of Self-Care?

Did you know that there are eight areas of self-care? Here’s what you can do to improve in each area.

Mental Self-Care

Mental stress can accumulate if we’re not careful. Here are a few tips to combat psychological fatigue:

1. Get rid of unhelpful mental chatter! Speaking positive things about yourself can boost self-confidence and self-image. 
2. Take breaks during work – your mental health will thank you for it!
3. Take a warm shower or bubble bath and unwind at the end of each day – a calm body can lead to a calm mind.
4. Learn a new skill or read a book – anything from fiction to local history works.
5. Get creative! Making art can actually reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
6. List down things you’re grateful for and read them so you’re reminded of the good stuff in life.

Physical Self-Care

Taking care of your physical health is another important aspect of holistic care for your body. Some things you can do are:

1. Go for a bike ride.
2. Go for a walk.
3. Sign up for a membership at your local gym.
4. Get a massage or body scrub regularly.
5. Snuggle up in bed with a cozy blanket to stimulate your senses and promote comfort.
6. Get rid of your bathroom scale. Self-love isn’t about numbers, and you’re worthy of it no matter what the scale says.

Spiritual Self-Care

Deep breathing and meditation can help lower blood pressure and also relax our brains. Some self-care ideas to improve your spiritual well-being are:

1. Practice mindfulness by staying in the present moment. 
2. In addition to our first tip, deep breathing can help you find your center and stay in the present moment, whether you’re in a public space or by yourself.
3. Make spending time in meditation a habit.

Social Self-Care

Earlier, we mentioned that it’s important to maintain a balance when it comes to our social life. Here are a few self-care ideas for your social well-being:

1. Stay in supportive relationships.
2. Contact an old friend you’ve lost touch with.
3. Manage unresolved conflict with your loved ones instead of ignoring it.
4. Build close relationships with people who bring out the best in you.
5. Attend a support group meeting and listen or share.
6. Connect with a friend or family member to do simple activities. It can be something as simple as grabbing lunch or gathering once a week to try a new board game.
7. Prioritize genuine conversation with your loved ones.
8. Offer a kind smile to strangers or a younger person who may need cheering up.

Emotional Self-Care

If you feel overwhelmed constantly, you might be in need of a little emotional check-in. The following are a few ways you can improve your emotional wellbeing:

1. Label emotions and express what you’re feeling in a constructive way. For example, instead of sulking because you feel frustrated, vocalize your feelings.
2. Destress by watching a couple episodes of a heartwarming movie or going to a comedy club.
3. Write absolutely anything you’re feeling and don’t filter your emotions.

Personal and Professional Commitments 

Did you know that self-care extends to our work ethic? With work from home becoming the norm over the past year, it can be hard to set boundaries between our professional and personal lives. Here are a few things you can do to practice professional self-care:

1. Take regular breaks and eat nourishing food in between.
2. Know how to negotiate your needs at work. 
3. Have clear professional limits.
4. Set strict working hours if you’re working from home.
5. Try to accomplish your to-do list regularly.
6. Attend upskilling classes or online tutorials related to skills in your chosen field.

Environmental Self-Care

Another great way to practice self-care is through keeping a peaceful environment that is conducive to relaxation. A few ways to achieve this are:

1. Regularly clean up and declutter your living space.
2. Set up decorative pieces like a painting or a framed photo of friends and family. You can even browse an antique shop for vintage finds.
3. Separate your working space from your resting space.
4. Create a relaxing ambience by placing scented candles around your room.

Financial Self-Care

Money – or lack thereof – is a huge factor that affects our mental wellbeing. Studies show that financial worries are linked to mental health problems like depression and anxiety. 

Here are a few ways you can combat financial worries and make your current situation work for you:

1. Budgeting on a needs-first basis is important, but make room for your wants, too. 
2. Intentionally schedule your budget planning. If your paycheck arrives the same time each month or week, then don’t wait until that day arrives to create a plan. Instead, make budgeting a part of your to-do list prior.
3. Track your expenses.
4. Avoid overbuying.

Final Note

Inspirational quotes aside, you’re worthy of the highest form of care possible – and only you can give it to yourself. We hope these new ideas have inspired you to make spending time doing self-care activities a priority in your daily life.

Have you got any self-care ideas? Share them down below!

Joey Baldonado

Joey is an AB Psychology graduate of the University of St. La Salle – Bacolod. Her life’s passions include writing, film, and spending hours on end binge-watching fashion vloggers on Youtube.