What’s your favorite way to do self-care? I think for most people it’s mani/pedi, facials, massages, etc. I don’t think people usually classify activities such as de-cluttering their space, planning their day, doing breathing exercises, or managing their budget as self-care activities, but they can be. If it helps relieve stress, anxiety, and gets your life in order, then you’ve engaged in some form of self-care. My self-care blog post has mostly been centered around those activities and my hope is that I’ve been able to expand your concept around what self-care can look like. Self-care is not just meant to make you feel relaxed and beautiful, it should also mean getting your life in order and taking care of your mental health and well-being.
My favorite way to self-care is a mixture of everything mentioned above but mostly it’s giving my body want it wants, when I need it. For example, some days self-care for me is calling it a night early, that can mean taking a shower and laying around right after work instead of cooking dinner and working on a blog post. In some cases my self-care can look like working on my budget for the week or it can be doing a mindfulness practice or not being available via text or a call when someone reaches out. The point is, I don’t restrict myself to just one aspect of self-care, it can mean many things and we should all start to look at self-care this way. Doing so will mean that when it’s time for you to re-do your budget, or clean out the closet, it won’t be viewed as a cumbersome chore that you wish you could put off. It will be an opportunity for you to de-clutter so you can make space in your life for other things, and it will help you view your budget as a means to working towards being more financially healthy. I’ve said many times on my social media platform, financial health is a form of self-care because when our finances are not in order, it can bring about a great deal of stress.
Sunday–BUY AND START READING A MOTIVATIONAL BOOK or if you have one already like I do, finish it lol. I’ve been trying to read When You’re Falling, Dive by Mark Matousek for probably almost a year. It’s a pretty good book but for a while now, I haven’t been doing a very good job of following through with my reading. My goal has always been to try and read a chapter or two each night of any book that I start but for the past few years, I’ve only been reading a chapter or two every few months, and in some cases I get half way through a book and stop. I really want to get back into reading consistently and that’s a big part of the reason why I chose this challenge for today. If you’re in the same boat as me when it comes to reading, put reading on your to do list each day so we can both work on becoming more consistent with our reading.
Monday–ACCOMPLISH A SMALL GOAL there’s no better feeling than setting a goal and accomplishing it. I’ve used this challenge a few times already in the past and since implementing these challenges I’ve accomplished several goals. Some of which includes; scheduling doctor’s appointments that I kept putting off, paying off a credit card, and starting an emergency funds account. Because of my personal accomplishments, I will likely continue to occasionally add this as a challenge. So today, think of a goal that you’d like to get done. It can be big or small. I encourage you to set a deadline to help keep you accountable.
Tuesday–DO A BRAIN DUMP if you are anything like me, then you probably have a million things running through your head all the time. ALL THE TIME. For me it’s usually things that I need or want to get done. It can be overwhelming, because it feels like your mind never gets a rest. A brain dump means writing everything down that comes to your mind. If it helps, you can structure it like a to do list and break it up into categories. For example, my to do list usually consist of my work life, personal life, and blog life. Defining the various categories made it so much easier to organize my thoughts and it also helped with making sure that I was covering everything that I wanted to get done for each category.
Wednesday–SET ASIDE TIME AND PLAN THE NEXT DAY today’s challenge will probably be perfect for those of you who are very busy or is always on the run. If this is not already a part of your routine, then set aside some time to plan out the things you want to get accomplished tomorrow. You’ll be surprised at how much time this might save you and, at how much you will get done in a day.
Thursday–DO A COFFEE/TEA DATE WITH A FRIEND (YOU CAN ZOOM OR FACETIME) I think this will be really fun. I can’t wait to do this. I usually communicate with my friends via text so a face time over coffee or tea will take it to the next level for me. I encourage you to try this with a best friend, a family member or better yet, a friend whom you haven’t been in touch with for a while because they aren’t local. This is a great opportunity to catch up and connect on a semi-intimate level if you can’t meet in person.
Friday–RE-VAMP YOUR DIET as I get older I’ve been thinking a lot more about adopting a much healthier diet on a consistent basis. To be honest, I’ve been thinking about adopting an 80/20 diet. 80% vegetarian/vegan and 20% meat but I keep putting it off. If you’re in the same boat, do some research today to find out which lifestyle will be best for you if you’re interested in switching. You can also take this time to evaluate what your current diet is like. It will help you determine if you’re in a good place or if you need to make some changes for health reasons.
Saturday–DO A SHOWER MEDITATION I know what you’re probably thinking lol but a shower mediation is not just standing in the shower with your eyes close in silence lol. A shower meditation is “a practice of using the water as a mechanism to wash away the stress, tension, and anxiety within your body.” Read more about it here. I have never tried this before so I’m really excited about it. This self-care activity is perfect for today because the work week has just ended for most of us, use your Saturday morning shower to get rid of all the stress that you’ve dealt with throughout the week.
This announcement has become my favorite part of writing my sunday blogs, it’s mainly because I love creating these infographics. If you’ve been following my blogs then this will be the same ole show tune lol but if you’re new, welcome and let me introduce and explain my Self-Care on the Go infographics. They are essentially bite size versions of my self-care challenges. It’s open to anyone but its’ specifically created for moms and other working women who may not have time to participate in all (or any) of the challenges above, because of their mommy duties or busy work schedule. You can access the infographic HERE. I encourage you to print, save, or take a screen shot. Whatever is conducive to your current schedule. Please feel free to share it with someone who you think might need it.
Thank you for going on another journey with me through verbiage. As always, I do hope that the content that I provide each week has been beneficial or at least interesting to read. I also hope that you’re not just reading but also participating even if you only do one thing on my list. Also, if you’re interested, my Newsletter and Self-Care Accountability Worksheets is now available. The worksheets will act as a supplement to my daily self-care challenges. The purpose is to help you stay on track with your daily self-care routines. If you’re interested in receiving these items weekly, email me at tam33ks@yahoo.com. The self-care worksheets are FREE but will only be available to my Newsletter subscribers. I will NOT spam you, I will only email once per week.
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