It's important to make self-care a priority in our daily lives with a daily self-care checklist. Especially in today's busy world, it can be challenging to put our individual health and needs first. But taking care of ourselves with good self-care habits is the only way to sustain our goals, our health, and our relationships long-term.
Self-care is a popular buzzword, but it's really a way of life. It means taking care of yourself, mentally, physically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally. We wrote a blog on all the different types of self-care needs. One way to practice daily is by using a daily self-care checklist.
In this blog, we'll give you a checklist to get started. And we’ll also explore the basics of self-care, what it is, why it's important, and how to create a daily self-care checklist.
24 Daily Self-Care Checklist Ideas to Try
Self-care ideas and activities are actions that we take to improve our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. All of us are on different self-care journeys. So just use these as a springboard to create your own healthy habits and daily checklist.
Here are 24 self-care activities that you can try:
- Listen to music: Listen to soothing music to help you relax and reduce stress.
- Spend time in nature: Get outside and enjoy a hike or a walk in the park.
- Get enough sleep: Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. The health benefits of a good night's sleep are numerous!
- Learn a new skill: Try something new, like painting or learning a new language, to challenge yourself.
- Meditate: Mindfulness meditation can help you relax and reduce anxiety. Even a 5-minute meditation is a great daily activity to add to a morning routine!
- Take a relaxing bath: Soak in a warm bath with Epsom salt or essential oils. Prioritizing your personal hygiene and a skincare routine are also great ways to invest in yourself.
- Practice yoga: Yoga can help you stretch, relax, and reduce stress. And you don’t have to go anywhere - you can simply turn on a yoga video at home!
- Write in a journal: Writing down your thoughts and feelings can help you process them.
- Read a book: Reading can help you escape and unwind. Starting a new book can be true self-care - giving yourself permission to spend time in a fresh narrative can be empowering.
- Watch a movie or TV show: Enjoy a favorite show or movie as a way to relax.
- Take a break from social media feeds: Disconnect from social media to reduce stress and improve focus. Silencing the influencers and quieting the noise can help us really tune into our emotional needs.
- Laugh: Watch a comedy or spend time with friends who make you laugh to boost your mood.
- Cook a healthy meal: Nourish your body with a healthy meal made with fresh ingredients. A simple nutritious breakfast is a great way to start the day!
- Spend time with loved ones: Connect with friends or family for support and socialization. Even if that means planning a short weekend trip to go be with them face-to-face; sometimes that’s what we need!
- Practice deep breathing: Take deep breaths to help you relax and reduce anxiety.
- Exercise: Regular physical activity can improve your mood and reduce stress. Small, consistent doses of exercise can improve your overall wellness tremendously!
- Take a break from work: Take a mental health day or a weekend off to recharge. Spend some time doing your favorite hobby or trying something new!
- Practice gratitude: Write down three things you're grateful for each day to cultivate a positive mindset. Starting a gratitude journal is a great way to add this practice into your daily life.
- Get a massage: Treat yourself to a massage to reduce tension and stress.
- Take a hot shower: A hot shower can help you relax and reduce muscle tension. We all carry stress home from work into our personal life. A hot shower or bath is a great way to transition and relax our muscles.
- Declutter your space: Cleaning and decluttering can help you feel organized and reduce stress.
- Take a power nap: Take a short nap to recharge and improve focus. Sometimes a nap is one of those basic needs that we can meet to show ourselves self-care.
- Practice self-compassion: Treat yourself with kindness and understanding when you make mistakes.
- Seek professional help: Don't hesitate to seek help from a mental health professional if you're struggling with your mental health or have health concerns.
What is self-care?
Self-care refers to activities that we do to take care of our physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It includes things like exercising, eating healthy, getting enough sleep, spending time with loved ones, and engaging in activities that bring us joy and fulfillment.
If you’re interested in learning more about self-care, we have an entire section on our blog dedicated to it. We do a deep dive into physical self-care, spiritual self-care, and what it means to practice emotional self-care as well. Check it out!
Why is self-care important?
Self-care is essential for maintaining good health and well-being. It’s about both our physical and mental health as well as other personal needs on a daily basis. When we neglect our self-care, we can experience stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions. Taking care of ourselves can help us feel more energized, focused, and productive. It also helps us build resilience and cope with life's challenges.
We have to be able to pour into ourselves before we can pour into others. That’s true of all relationships. And it’s also true
Creating your own daily self-care checklist
Creating a daily self-care checklist can help us prioritize our self-care and make it a habit. If you have a planner (better yet, a self-care planner like Silk+Sonder offers!), this is a great place to make your checklist.
Here are some steps to create your own checklist:
Step 1: Determine your self-care goals
Start by identifying your self-care goals. What are the things that you want to do to take care of yourself? It can be helpful to break them down into different categories, such as physical, emotional, and mental well-being. For example, you should exercise for 30 minutes daily, meditate for 10 minutes, or spend time with friends or family.
Step 2: Make a list of self-care activities
Next, make a list of self-care activities that align with your goals. This might include things like exercising, cooking a healthy meal, journaling, taking a relaxing bath, or reading a book. Consider your mental, emotional, and physical health when reflecting on what you need the most on a daily basis. The activities should be things that you enjoy doing and that help you feel better.
Step 3: Create a daily self-care checklist
Once you have your list of self-care activities, create a daily self-care checklist. This can be a simple list that you check off as you complete each activity, or it can be a more elaborate self-care planner with specific times for each activity. It's important to find a format that works for you and that you will be motivated to use.
Step 4: Stick to your checklist
The key to making a daily self-care checklist work is to stick to it. Try to make self-care a priority in your daily routine, and schedule time for it just like you would for any other important task. If you find that you are struggling to complete all of the activities on your list, consider adjusting the list or making it more manageable.
Free Self-Care Checklist Printable:
Download our FREE daily self-care checklist for you to print or use in a photo editor app on your phone. This self-care checklist printable can help maintain a routine checklist or you can create a new one every day.
Fill it in with whatever you’re prioritizing for your self-care routine each day.
Give a Daily Self-Care Checklist a Try!
Self-care is an essential part of maintaining good health and well-being. Creating a daily self-care checklist can help us prioritize our self-care and make it a habit. By identifying our self-care goals, making a list of self-care activities, and creating a daily self-care checklist, we can ensure that we are taking care of ourselves each day.
Remember, self-care isn't selfish; it's necessary for a happy and healthy life. For more self-care tips and other resources, head over to the Silk+Sonder blog.