How to Make Self-Care a Part of Your Routine
Updated on January 12, 2023 by Kelsey Simpson and Team ShineSheets
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With everyday tasks and responsibilities, we often don’t think about self-care. As we do all that we can to progress in our careers, run a home, take care of family members, and maintain a social life, we end up exhausting ourselves. We find ourselves feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and even anxious at times because we feel as if we can’t catch a break. However, what if these feelings and emotions could be avoided with minimal effort? What if a simple change in your daily routine could make your life happier and easier?
Making self-care part of your daily routine may be the solution.
4 Self-Care Tips to Add to Your Daily Routine
Self-care can improve the overall quality of your life. Taking some time for yourself every day can help you feel happier, more relaxed, and even more organized. Self-care can mean a variety of different things and is an important thing to be practiced by people of all ages. In fact, an expert from a company that deals with in-home care for seniors pointed out that people young and old should pay more attention to the way that they care for themselves.
If you are seeking more ways to incorporate self-care into your life, this post will briefly detail 4 ways to add self-care into your daily routine.
1. Get Active
Living an active lifestyle is an outstanding way to practice self-care. Staying active has copious physical benefits, and will make you feel healthier and more accomplished as you go about your everyday life. Staying active doesn’t have to be challenging or unenjoyable. Many people associate staying active with vigorous and intense exercise, and though that may be a way to stay active for some people, it doesn’t have to be the only way to get up and move. Some other ways to stay active and incorporate activity into your daily routine include:
- Going on walks with your dog, neighbors, or friends
- Joining a gym
- Hiking
- Bike riding
- Enrolling in workout classes such as yoga, Zumba, weight lifting
It will be worth your while to try to stay active with friends and family as this will make this new part of your self-care routine more enjoyable and something to look forward to.
2. Plan Ahead
Planning ahead is a simple form of self-care that most people don’t think about. Planning ahead will allow you to be more organized and help you be more prepared in life; thus helping you feel more relaxed and put together. Some ways to plan ahead every day include:
- Meal prep; your food will be made for the week and you won’t have to worry about what to eat after a long day at work
- Layout your work clothes the night before
- Schedule doctor appointments/other appointments weeks in advance and set reminders on your phone
- Make lists of daily/weekly goals so that you can delegate your time accordingly
- Don’t wait until you are completely out of food, or other household products to go to the store; buy what you need when you see you are running low
- Buy a calendar or planner and hand-write what you have to do; when you physically see it written out you will be more organized and will be able to plan the rest of your week or month accordingly
Planning ahead only takes a few extra minutes a day but will have an incredible impact on your mental and emotional wellbeing because you will feel immensely more organized.
3. Make it a Point to Be Cleaner
Keeping your home, office, bedroom, and car clean is another simple form of self-care that will make your life easier and will make you feel better. Make it a point to be cleaner in all that you do so you don’t have to deep-clean your space every so often. Simply spend an extra 5 minutes cleaning up your kitchen after each meal, or straighten up your bedroom before you go to bed every night. Small efforts to be cleaner will prevent messes and clutter from piling up and becoming an extra stressor in your life.
Another way to incorporate cleanliness into your self-care routine is to try to not hold onto clutter. Be proactive and get rid of things that you no longer need or want. When you get rid of small amounts of clutter every day, it will never become overwhelming and an entire project that you will have to find time to take care of.
4. Set Some Time Aside to Do Something You Enjoy
This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of self-care to add to your daily routine. It’s important to make time for things that make you feel happy. Try setting an hour aside each day to do something for yourself. Whether you set an hour aside before work, or an hour right before bed, you will be improving your mental and emotional health. You will find yourself looking forward to your time, especially on the days you find yourself stressed with work or your home-life.
Some ideas for things to do in your “you time” include:
- Start a new book
- Learn a new skill such as how to play an instrument or how to make a craft
- Blog
- Write
- Call friends or family members
- Walk your dog
- Do a puzzle
- Bake
- Take a bath
- Read a magazine
- Start a new TV show
Practice Self Care Now For a Happier You Later
Small everyday efforts in your daily routine will ultimately impact your future self. As you think of ways to improve your overall health and happiness, keep these tips in mind, you won’t be disappointed.
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Kelsey Simpson enjoys writing about things that can help others. She lives in South Jersey and is the proud companion to two German Shepherds and spends her free time volunteering in dog shelters.
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