When you’re creating a self care plan, know it doesn’t have to be bubble baths and massages — but it can be.
With about 33% of people in America reporting they feel stressed, you know there are plenty of others out there that are maxed out and feeling the pain but not saying anything about it.
Continue reading this article and learn why you need a self care plan as we go over these reasons to practice self care and how to do it.
Contents
What Is Self Care?
Before we get too deep into why and how — let’s look at what self care is.
Self care is something we do to take care of mind, emotions or physical health. While self care sounds simple, it isn’t easy for many people because life is busy and the easiest person to push to the back burner is yourself.
You’re taking care of everyone else but you are running on empty and about to burn out. Practicing self care is a must if you want to live a fulfilling life and stick around to help others for many years to come.
You should know that self care is not something we do that makes us feel bad. If you hate working out, if you force yourself to work out, that isn’t self care. That’s getting what you need to do done.
Self care is something that makes us feel good and replenished. Make sure you don’t get it twisted.
Why You Need a Plan
Life can get extremely busy. Almost every moment of the day is spent achieving and working harder so that we can do more, buy more or be more.
If you don’t have a self care plan in place, it’s very unlikely you’re going to do anything to refuel yourself.
I’m guilty of falling out of my self care routines from time to time but I don’t beat myself up about it. I notice where I fell off the path and I hop back on and get back at it.
As a mom of 4, it can be hard to focus on myself and make a plan for self care but here is what I do, personally, when I am taking care of myself. These are in no particular order.
- Take a 30 minutes nap
- Read a romance novel
- Watch a Netflix show
- Write in my journal
- Go for a walk
There’s more but these are more normal go-to’s and make a major difference in my life. I have to remind myself that I’m allowed to relax and enjoy life. I’m a recovering workaholic and that’s not always the easiest thing to do.
Create a self care plan that works for your lifestyle. If you’re really busy, maybe you only have one or two days a week that you can devote an hour to yourself. Make it happen and don’t break that appointment with yourself.
Having a self care plan takes the guesswork out of what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it. One of the biggest stressors in our lives is trying to make decisions on everything. If you make the decisions beforehand, you’re saving yourself a lot of stress.
Love Yourself Enough to Do It
If you don’t love yourself, you’re going to find it very difficult to give yourself self care. You’re going to want to stop and you’re going to feel some guilt.
Take some time to look yourself in the eyes in the mirror and see what an amazing person you are. I don’t expect you to love yourself instantly but it’s a good start and if you keep working on it daily, you’re going to love the person you see in the mirror.
Best Practices for Creating Your Self Care Plan
Don’t just create your self care plan in your head. You need to write your plan down and put it where you can see it.
List the activities that you find appropriate for self care and then put any objections you can think of. Do you think that you don’t have enough time? Aren’t worthy? Or something else?
Put all of those limitations down and then look at them closer and see if those things are really true and how you can overcome them.
If you’re coming up a little dry on ideas, it is likely because it’s been so long since you’ve allowed yourself to have fun. Go back to when you were a child and think about the things you liked to do then.
You might not like all of these same things anymore but you could find some gems that you really did enjoy but you just stopped doing them over the years.
Did you love to dance? Maybe you used to read books and you haven’t picked up a good one for a while.
Think of as many things as you can and at least explore these things and commit to yourself and your self care plan.
Putting Your Self Care Plan In Practice
It’s not always easy to practice your self care plan. Life will try to get in the way. Guilt will try to come and take over.
You’ve got to let those things go and take it one step at a time. The more you practice self care, the easier it is going to be for you to breathe and enjoy yourself while you’re doing it. So, if it feels a little weird at first, that’s okay.
Just keep going and learn what a good self care routine looks like to you.
What are some of your favorite ways to practice self care? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know. 🙂
