5 Essential Tips to Create Your Own Daily Self Care Checklist

Why is Self Care Important?

Go for a manicure and pedicure. Create a morning routine. Buy yourself a coffee. Buy someone else a coffee. Go out for girls night. Meditate. Put down your phone. Drink more water. Go for a run. Do your affirmations. Pray. Plan an adventure.

Are you overwhelmed yet?

Raise your hand if you feel overwhelmed on a daily basis!

Trust me, I know EXACTLY how you feel. I used to feel overwhelmed every. single. stinking. day! And while all of these self care activities are fabulous for a once a week, once a month, or once a quarter self care list, you need to begin with the basics. Let’s start with taking care of ourselves each and every day.

Creating a daily self care checklist should be simple and doable. Period.

What is Self Care?

Self care is defined as the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health. AKA pretty much any activity that benefits our physical, emotional, and mental health. Increased energy, mood and self esteem, decreased anxiety, less overwhelm, and overall improved quality of life are all proven benefits of self care.

Self care is a hot topic right now.

And for good reason.

Intentional living starts with self care.

Wait…what? Yep, you heard me right. I believe that our journey to a more intentional, simpler lifestyle starts with self care. Many minimalists recommend starting with decluttering your home. While that may work as a physical reminder of your desire to simplify your life, we also need to dig a little deeper.

So many of us are guilty of neglecting ourselves. Whether we don’t want to deal with our issues or simply put our loved ones first, self care often tends to go by the wayside. When we prioritize our self care, we’re then able to take better care of others. An easy way to get started is by creating a daily self care checklist.

So, what do you have to lose?

Let’s give self care a try!

5 Essential Tips in Creating Your Own Daily Self Care Checklist: Going Beyond the Mani/ Pedi

**My number one tip above all others is to allow yourself to be in a season of learning. Give grace to yourself daily!**

1. Create a daily self care checklist that works for YOU!

Self care is about YOU! Not about anyone else. You are the only one who is responsible for taking care of you. So, be realistic with your time and create a list around what nourishes your soul and fills your cup.

You don’t look like everyone else, and neither should your daily self care checklist.

2. Incorporate your list into your daily rhythms and routines.

You will receive the MORE benefits of self care from repetition. Consistently taking care of your well being daily is far more important than the once a month treat.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am certainly in favor of going the extra mile. Do something special for yourself. But daily self care shouldn’t be hard. A daily self care checklist should be easy to accomplish and not add stress to your life. We’re trying to beat the overwhelm here, not add to it! On the daily!

Want to start your day off in a more positive way? Get my best tips on crafting a morning self care routine that will stick!

3. Keep your list visible.

You will be far more likely to stay committed to your self care practice and keep yourself motivated when you have a physical reminder. Some reminder ideas include

• Save a reminder as your wallpaper on your phone. (You’re welcome to use the image above!)
• Set your morning alarm with a note to yourself.
• Schedule self care as a item on your calendar.
• Hang a sign up in your bathroom so you see it every morning as you’re getting ready.

4. Go beyond the mani/ pedi.

How to start self care? There are five main areas to consider when creating your self care routine: physical, emotional, mental, social, and environmental.

Your physical well being: Listen to your body. This can be as simple as getting enough sleep, getting a shower every day, eating healthy foods, and moving your body.

Your emotional/ spiritual well being: Nourish your soul. I actually believe this is one of the hardest areas to tackle because it often requires the most work. Take a look at your values. Where do you find purpose? What makes you feel happiest? Try starting with some of these ideas:

• If you’re religious, do a daily devotional.
• If you’re not religious, try practicing mindfulness, meditation, or journaling.
• Check in with your feelings: do you have a healthy way of expressing your anger, sadness, and joy?
• Practice saying No.
• Celebrate your wins.
• READ! Check out what I’ve been reading recently and my favorite personal development books.
• Be forgiving (of yourself and others).
• Develop a gratitude practice!
• Let go of self imposed guilt.
• Try some affirmations for self care, self love affirmations, peace affirmations, or affirmations for self worth.
• Practice awareness- make choices that align with your values.
• Work on having a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset!
• Add a self care quote or motivational quote to your journal each day.

Your intellectual/ mental well being: If you’re feeling drained, overwhelmed, or even bored you might want to work on this area of self care. What stimulates your mind? Do you love creating things? Are you doing things you find purpose in? Do you love learning something new? Are you feeling excited and inspired?

Your social well being: Studies have shown that close connections are important to our well being. It is so easy to get caught up in our busy schedules and neglect our friendships or even family- prioritize relationships in your life. Spend time and connect with people that lift you up.

Your environmental well being: Do your surroundings cause you stress? We spend a lot of time in our homes, workplace, and even our cars which is why a peaceful environment is a form of self care! Some ideas are:

• Work towards creating spaces you love.
• Get rid of things that you don’t use, love, or need.
• Don’t bring the clutter inside your home.
• Try a ten minute quick clean during your day.

Need some examples? Check out this list of easy self care ideas or try our fun and easy self care challenge!

5. Check in with yourself; Revise your daily self care checklist list as needed.

Consider each area of self care and decide if it’s something you need to work on. If you’re killing it with your workouts and nutrition but still can’t say No when someone asks you for a favor, then shift your focus. If you’re trying to get up an hour earlier than your kids to get some “me” time but you’re falling asleep at the dinner, then try to find your me time elsewhere in your schedule.

Ask yourself questions. What’s working? What’s not? Does this feel right? Am I doing too much? Too little? Life changes…it’s ok to revisit your list. Remember this is about YOU.

Pro-Tip: I always do better with reminders. Choose a random day in the middle of the month (doesn’t the first of the month always seem busier than the middle?), set yourself a reminder on your calendar, revisit your list. Revise as necessary.

The holidays can be an especially stressful season. Grab my top tips on how to practice self care at Christmas!

More Self Care Ideas & Tips

Don’t let these areas overwhelm you.

Choose what you need now, need most, and customize your list. Remember every single person’s list is going to be different. That mama that has two kids under two? That mama who with three teenagers? That special needs mama? All of their lists will look different, and that’s OK!

Bonus Tip: Don’t be afraid to ask for help! If you need a 15 minute break in the evenings to regroup from a busy day before you do bedtime routines, just ASK! If you need a night out with girlfriends to actually have an adult conversation….ASK!

Still unsure what to put on your list?

Start simple. Choose five ideas to put on your daily self care list. Do a self care challenge- try it for two weeks. See how you feel. Better? The same? Worse? Re-evaluate.

Want MORE? Find out MY simple daily self care checklist and routine and grab a free template to help you create your own!

((You’ll also get some other cool stuff like my beginner’s guide to intentional living.))