5 Things to Look For in Your Self-Care Activities

Do you want to start feeling healthier and more balanced? Self-care is a great way to achieve that goal! Life can be overwhelming at times, but when you take the time for yourself and prioritize activities that nurture your body and mind, it’s amazing what positive results can come from it.

People often get overwhelmed when it comes to adding self-care activities to their life, but all you are doing is choosing simple activities that are going to help improve your physical and mental wellbeing. These can be things you do alone or with other people, as long as they help to improve your life and happiness.

Here are 5 things to look for when choosing self-care activities so you can maximize their impact.

As you decide on self care activities that will work best for you, I want you to think about adding some kind of exercise to keep your body moving. I know it isn’t easy to commit to a hard core workout and I am not asking you to do that. Even a walk a few days a week can help keep your body moving!

But you also may want to look into creative self care activities for your mental well being. It can be very relaxing.

It Can Be Done with Little Effort

You want the activities in your self-care routine to be done with little effort. This means it can be done quickly and easily, without needing to spend a lot of money or having to “set up” in an elaborate way.

If it feels like your self-care activities take a long time to set up, are elaborate, or you dread getting it done, it is probably a little too demanding for something that is meant to be relaxing.

If you feel like it is hard to keep up with or you dread doing it, you probably won’t stick with it. I know that I wouldn’t – been there, done that!

It is Something You Thoroughly Enjoy

Another thing to look for in your self-care activity is something you actually enjoy. It is really important that you find a self-care activity that makes you excited and happy. Remember self-care is for you, don’t try to make yourself do activities you don’t enjoy. Even activities that your friends enjoy immensely, might not be the right fit for you.

Journaling is great for some people, but other people feel like it’s a chore. Others like listening to music and practicing mindfulness as their self-care, while their best friend or sister might hate it.

We are all different with different interests. You can try new things but don’t make yourself do them everyday if you don’t enjoy it. It is not self-care if you don’t like it.

It is Something You Look Forward to

Do you look forward to your daily self-care routine, or is it something you feel like you are forcing yourself to do? This is a good indication when figuring out if you chose the right self-care activity or not. Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings before you get started with the self-care activity, and whether you are really excited for it, or you are trying to put it off.

I used to put exercising off everyday or at least dread it. I had these high hopes of doing aerobics and running or going to the gym. Truth was I gave myself an excuse as to why I “couldn’t” do it. Yeah I wasn’t really into it!

BUT I do love yoga and brisk walks so now that I changed my exercise routine, I look forward to it every day! Everyday I wake up, have my coffee (I have priorities) and hang with the dogs for a bit. Then I do some yoga before sitting at the computer.

Once it is break time from the screen I grab my headphones and head out for a brisk walk. I always feel refreshed and ready to get on with the next part of my day on the computer. I look forward to my walk everyday (as long as the weather permits me.) It’s me time to just walk and get lost in the music – hopefully I don’t dance too much with my steps or people will have a good laugh haha!

It Fits in With Your Schedule

Your self-care routine should fit in nicely with your schedule. In some cases, you do need to make a little room for it, but it shouldn’t come in the way of any of your responsibilities and priorities. It is to help you feel better, not stress you out!

I know we all have busy schedules, I do too! You may like how to fit self care into your busy schedule if you need help with adding it.

How you choose to fit it in will depend on your schedule and what works best for you. If you use a type of block schedule where you like to see what you are doing during each block during the day, then you can schedule a 15-30 minute block for your self-care. In other cases, adding it to your nighttime routine might work better.

It Brings You Peace

Lastly, your self-care activity should bring you peace of mind and relaxation, not stress. Practice mindfulness and really focus on how you feel before, during, and after your self-care routine. If it relaxes you and reduces anxiety, it’s working great for you.

You should feel better after adding a self-care routine to your day. It may take a few days or even a couple weeks to really get into the groove. If you are finding it to be too stressful to keep up, try changing up your activities.

But always remember that this is for you so adjust your routine as needed so you feel great about it.

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