Back in 2020, I found myself with a very sore throat. After a couple of weeks, I Looked inside my mouth with my phone light and saw an infection forming from the constant use of face masks. I felt ill for weeks on end on top of having the virus and eventually, I got completely fed up and desperate to just feel “good” again. I’d felt ill for so long that I forgot what “good” even felt like. Tired, sore and sluggish, I’d reached my limit.
This experience really made me think about my health and how I was taking care of myself (or wasn’t). By then I was entering my thirties and I realised that getting ill might not be so easy to get over like it always had been in my twenties. I’d been quite lucky with my health up to that point and so I’d never really thought about “looking after myself properly” or any kind of self-care.
Furthermore, I’d never been a fan of the term ‘self-care’. It felt like something exclusive to Mom blogs and the like. It felt kind of self-indulgent.
And so it took some time to realise that self-care isn’t all about taking bubble baths and candles, it’s simply about taking care of yourself, ideally, in a holistic way. It’s really about doing the things we know we should be doing but often put off, telling ourselves we’ll worry about them later or when we’re older.
“Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.”
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
I love this quote because it reminds me that I need to take care of myself in order to take care of others. And it makes sense. If you’re not fit and healthy both physically and mentally, you can’t be there for your loved ones. Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s vital for you and the ones you love.
But like anything, self-care doesn’t get you very far unless you’re doing it consistently, making it a daily habit.
So where do you start? In my opinion, there are key self-care habits to track that I think are some of the most important in life. They’re the ones that make you feel good all around and have a positive effect on your energy, mind and body all at the same time.
And they’re also pretty simple yet can have a powerful effect on your mind, at least, that has been my personal experience when I have focused on each of these things.
I didn’t get to grips with all of these things at once mind you. I’ve spent many months on each of these self-care habits, falling off at times and then hopping back on the consistency train. Sometimes I still fall a little short but I’m trying because when I’m consistent, I really notice how good I can feel.
So don’t worry if you feel overwhelmed, I don’t think you need to be a master of these things (and other self-care habits) all at once.
Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good!
1. Nutrition
Eating right is one of the most important self-care habits you can have. I have experienced this myself in many different ways. For example, when I switched up my diet to a mostly whole-food diet, I found that my weight dropped but I also experienced more energy throughout the day. I would go as far as to say nutrition is the most important of these self-care habits because it affects how you feel, whether you realise it or not.
I like to think of my body as a piece of hardware that requires certain things to function properly. Think of your body like a car; you wouldn’t put washing-up liquid in your car because it would break. Likewise, if you put junk into your body, the hardware doesn’t function properly.
Understanding nutrition is key as there’s a lot of accessible information out there. Foods affect the way you feel and therefore, a simple change in your diet could make you feel 10x better. There’s so much debate about which diet is best for humans which is why I like to stick to wholefoods that are as close to their natural form as possible.
This keeps healthy eating simple, super simple. Essentially, all you need to do with this way of eating is limit processed foods. It’s difficult at first, especially on your tastebuds but when you learn how to cook with herbs and spices, a delicious whole food world opens up and so I don’t think this way of eating needs to be as boring as you may initially think.
What you can do: Swap out one of your daily meals for something full of whole foods including plants meats, nuts and seeds (or just plants if you’re vegan). Notice how you feel afterwards and if there is any difference in your energy levels. Track this daily as you experiment with different foods. One of the best things I have done is spend some time paying attention to how my stomach feels after eating certain foods. If my stomach feels uncomfortable, I’ll avoid them or cut them back. I’m much more interested these days in how food makes me feel than the potential weight it can potentially cause.
2. Sleep
Another one of the best self-care habits to track is your sleep. I spent many years pushing myself to stay up later and I think this is becoming more and more common as we find ourselves working more and later. As I get older, I notice a huge contrast in the way I feel more and more when I get a good night’s sleep versus when I don’t. Like nutrition, it has a huge effect on the way you feel and perceive the world.
When I’m tired I’m less patient with people and more grumpy in general. It’s said that we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping which is obviously a huge portion. Therefore, it’s clearly something that is vital to our survival and that’s why I believe that if you really want to take care of yourself, you need to make sure you’re getting enough sleep, ideally, 7 or 8 hours of undisturbed sleep a night.
Sleep = self-care. It’s a time in the day when you’re repairing your cells, strengthening your immune system and helping to relieve stress. When you delve into the subject of sleep, you begin to realise just how important it is for all areas of life and thankfully there are many ways to track your sleep with the aid of wearables. But you could also use a simple sleep tracker worksheet as a cost-effective alternative.
What you can do: Avoid alcohol and caffeine near bedtime. Set yourself a bedtime and stick to it. Make your room as dark as possible without any lights, including small ones like you find on chargers. Notice your energy levels when you wake up and throughout the day. Track your sleep by simply noting how many hours you got each night. Do this over 30 days so you can find the average.
Download your own self-care worksheets
3. Information consumption
One of the best (in my opinion) self-care habits to have and to track is getting in control of the information you consume. We live in a world of algorithms that control our attention and steal our focus. These highly addictive programs keep us coming back over and over, stealing our time through endless scrolling. Unfortunately, a lot of the information and content we consume isn’t always helpful.
When I think more and more about it, I realise that a lot of my thoughts aren’t even my own. They are those which I have seen and heard online and on the news, or from the constant bombardment of online talking points.
So what is it that I truly believe?
I knew a long time ago that endless scrolling wasn’t good for me. But it wasn’t until realised how long I was spending scrolling that I cut right back. These days I barely ever use Facebook or watch the news at all.
There’s so much sensationalism and things that are out of my control that it’s easy to become stressed. I believe self-care is about taking control of what you read, watch or listen to, so you can protect your spirit. This also helps free up your time to do the things that are actually important to you.
What you can do: Free yourself from the endless cycle of talking points and breaking news. Be mindful of where you get your information and how long you spend digesting it. A simple way to do this is to turn off the news and turn to the things you can control and love doing. Use a tracker so you can track how many hours you spend consuming content and then use that breakdown to see how much time you could dedicate to other things that are more important.
4. Exercise
Exercise is something that has come and gone out of my own life but every time I rediscover it and build an exercise routine, I always end up falling back in love with it. The problem is, it’s easy to be tired, fed up and not feel motivated to do exercise. I think the best way to get around this is to find a form of exercise that you enjoy. When you think about exercise, your first thought might be running but there are many different kinds of exercise like swimming, cycling, dancing, martial arts and gymnastics. All of these things have fun elements to them and skill progressions that help you stay engaged along your journey.
The benefits are obvious when it comes to exercise but for me personally, I find that when I am consistent with exercise, my energy levels feel higher and I sleep better. In fact, exercise in the evening helps me to drift off at an earlier time and therefore wake up slightly earlier which is beneficial to me in many ways. So exercise isn’t just something to improve your physical image, it improves many different areas of your life and can even boost your self-confidence as you get better at a sport, for example.
By its nature, exercise is one of the best self-care habits to track each week.
What you can do: Like anything, its benefits are only worthwhile if you’re consistent with it and make it a habit. Whatever exercise you attempt, start small and progress slowly. For example, if you’re trying to improve your stamina, start by cycling once a week and build up the duration of time you spend on your bike. Log how many times and the duration of your workouts so you can see your progress.
5. Self-compassion
I believe that self-compassion is important in your self-care routine. I know for me, I am my own worst critic. I sometimes have the habit where I’ll tell myself I’m not capable of doing something and doubt myself and this was something I did a lot growing up. However, it’s only been in the last 5 years that I have tried to be more compassionate to myself and this has allowed me to do many things. For example, when I forgive myself and show myself kindness, talking to people is much easier.
Where I used to avoid striking up conversations, I now practise self-compassion and remind myself that I am capable of holding a conversation with someone I might not know very well.
Think about how many times a day you talk down to yourself. Then ask yourself what this has stopped you from doing.
Sometimes being hard on yourself blocks you from opportunities. But when you practise self-compassion it’s much easier to take a breath and put one step forward.
What you can do: When you’re feeling stressed or anxious or the conversation in your head isn’t too friendly, take a moment and breathe. Gently calm that voice down and forgive yourself for being so hard on yourself. Remind yourself that you are safe and you are capable of doing the things you want to do, just as much as anyone else. You can track this self-care habit by making a note each day detailing a time that day when you paused and noticed when you began to have negative self-talk. Sometimes simply noticing when this happens is helpful in stopping it.
Download printable 2-minute mindfulness exercise cards
6. Live in the moment
Mindfulness is another important self-care habit that I believe, can change your life if practised consistently. There are many ways you can practise mindfulness but for me, it boils down to being present and paying attention to the current moment, free from distraction, not through strict focus but simply through observation.
Consider this; take away your expectations, your beliefs, and your identity, what do you have left?
You become an observer, experiencing the now and this is incredibly freeing. This allows you to separate yourself from your emotions and just be.
When you’re practising mindfulness, you don’t push your emotions away, you simply take the role of the observer, not labelling your emotions or the things around you as ‘good’ or ‘bad’,
Through mindfulness, you can learn to be more stoic, becoming more at ease and accepting of your emotions. This has been incredibly helpful for me personally. I have become more aware of my emotions, and what triggers them and have learned the importance of the present moment, free from distractions.
There will always be distractions and intrusive thoughts but being as present as you can allows you to enjoy every moment of life as it is, not with expectations.
What you can do: Take a moment each day for as little as 5 minutes to sit without distraction. Put your phone away and close your eyes. Concentrate your focus on your breathing without expectation of how the experience will unfold. Then, notice the thoughts that come into your mind. Try not to label them as good or bad, simply observe them as they come and go. Don’t hold on to them. Gently let them go if they stick around for longer than any others. Notice if you feel more in tune with your body when you’re happy to open your eyes.
7. Hydrate
Your water intake is another helpful self-care habit to track in your planner. Hydration is key to how you feel as you walk around this Earth, just like your nutrition with food. And the truth is, most of us are walking around dehydrated. According to Everydayhealth.com, an adult should drink between 2.7L and 3.7L a day. That’s 6.5 pints of water and I can safely say I never used to drink that much water.
I think everyone knows they should be drinking more water but why should you?
Staying hydrated can improve your energy levels. I noticed this myself when I started to drink more water each day. So, if you’re feeling a little sluggish throughout the day, try upping your water intake and you might be surprised how much more awake you feel.
Staying properly hydrated also helps with the transport of nutrients around the body, improves your sleep quality and helps with cognitive function, amongst other things.
So, it’s safe to say that doing something so simple like drinking more water is a great self-care habit that you can begin today.
What you can do: Today, drink at least 6 pints of water throughout the day. Take a reusable bottle with you wherever you go so you don’t forget. The great news is that tea and coffee counts towards this target and there are many water-dense foods you can eat like fruit that also count.
Track your self-care habits
I think these are some of the most important self-care habits to track in your planner. They take care of your body, mind and spirit all at the same time. They are foundational things for your health and when done consistently, can make you feel pretty good, just as they have for me in my journey for more “goodness”. Be consistent with your self-care habits by treating them as a ritual you need to pay attention to every day and you might just surprise yourself.
Take a little step by focusing on one thing first, see how you feel and try to be consistent. If you miss a few days, don’t beat yourself up. Go again tomorrow and don’t let perfection be the enemy of good. We all have to start somewhere!
Make your life super easy
Make your new habits super easy by downloading your own habit tracker and other worksheets from the shop.
