Easy Ways to Incorporate Self Care Into Your Life

Whether you’re a corporate professional or budding entrepreneur, you probably wish that you had more time (or any time) for things like self-care. When your days are jam-packed it’s easy to make to-do lists with things like yoga or face mask, but before you know it, it’s 10 pm, and all you’ve done is worked and watched Netflix. I get it, it happens to the best of us. Luckily, with a few little tweaks you can make self care a regular part of your routine.

Here are some easy ways to incorporate self care into your life.

Create a Simple Morning Routine

You’ve probably heard (or learned from experience) that one of the best times to do a new habit or start a routine is first thing in the morning. Why? Well, for starters, in the morning you have the most motivation that you’ll probably have all day. Throughout the day as your energy wanes it can be more challenging to do the things that you know are good for you. Think of one easy self-care ritual that you could do before starting work and try it out for a few days or a week. This might be incorporating a new skincare product into your routine, or reading one chapter of a book. You might even want to keep your reading planner close at hand to add any memorable quotes or note ideas that you won’t want to forget.

Use Your Lunch Time to Relax and Revive Yourself

If you’re used to just scrolling Instagram or browsing online during your lunch, see if you can give yourself an upgrade. Especially during the workweek, your lunchtime should be a space of time to have fun and rejuvenate yourself for the afternoon ahead. With a short walk around the block, while listening to a podcast or audiobook, you can release those endorphins and also throw in a dose of self-care at the same time.

Give Self Care a Day of Its Own

Another idea is to create a specific day of the week where you’re extra intentional about throwing in a few self-care activities. For example, you could try a “self care Sunday” and see how it goes. Now, this doesn’t mean that you need to spend the entire day doing self care. Instead, see if you can either devote your first hour of the day on Sunday or even 30 minutes every Sunday before bed to doing a face mask, a warm bath, or anything else that sets you up for a great day or week ahead.

Journal Like You’re the Hero of Your Own Story

Journaling, especially digitally, is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to incorporate self care into your life. By journaling on your iPad, you can literally journal from anywhere when you have a few minutes between meetings or just need some time to process and de-stress. Also, if you feel like you don’t know what to write, you can literally write about anything. Write about your day, what you’re learning, what you want to do, your goals or dreams, etc. Whether or not you feel like it, you are the heroine that is writing your own life story so make it amazing.

Plan It Out

If you’re an overachiever you’ve probably heard the Benjamin Franklin quote that “failing to plan is planning to fail.” The fact is that if you’re not doing as much self care as you would like to be, writing it down and planning ahead will make it more likely that you’ll actually follow through. If you have a digital planner you can put your self-care habits for the day under your list of personal to-do’s so that you’ll have an easy reminder as you go throughout your day. You might even consider blocking out a specific time of day for self-care even if it’s only a few minutes. Surprisingly enough, spending 5-10 minutes on self-care can make you more motivated and productive to take on the rest of your day.

Start a Wind Down Ritual

Instead of doing self-care sporadically throughout the week or month, find the specific self-care habits that are the most relaxing and special to you, and make it a daily or at least twice weekly date with yourself. And if you go to bed feeling nervous or stressed about the day ahead, this is a must for you! This doesn’t even have to be extravagant! It could look like taking a nightly shower with your favorite products and then taking 5 minutes afterward to use a nighttime serum and moisturizer. Or, try reading a book with your partner before bed or jumping on FaceTime for a 10-minute catch-up call with a friend or your mom. You deserve a life you love so find the self-care routines that will allow you to flourish in every area of your life.