Why You Need a Daily Self Care Checklist Right Now
Self-care is all the buzz these days, and rightfully so. Many people are experiencing stress, burnout, and overwhelm at astounding rates. It’s essential to incorporate self-care activities into your life regularly so that you can create habits that will help you improve your overall health and well-being. Creating a daily self-care checklist is the best way to ensure that you are sticking to your own self-care plan and working to take better care of yourself.
Daily self-care checklists are powerful tools to help hold you accountable for your self-care routine and make prioritizing your needs a daily habit.
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What is a self-care checklist?
A self-care checklist serves as a guide to help you keep track of the activities that you need to do to focus on your physical, mental, and emotional health. You can use the checklist to keep track of the specific actions that you plan to do to make a positive impact on your health and wellness.
This self-care guide will help you create a daily routine of health and wellness activities that have proven to make you feel better. It’s a plan of action to use while you’re on your self-care journey.
Why do you need a self-care checklist?
We know the importance of self-care activities, but many people admit to neglecting self care because they find it challenging to fit it into their booked and busy schedules. A self-care checklist makes it easier to implement activities into their morning and evening routines.
Like other habit trackers, a self-care checklist gives you a visual aid to help you focus on yourself. If you are serious about prioritizing your health and well-being, you might want to begin tracking the activities to help you achieve your wellness goals.
Here are some other reasons that you might need to keep track of wellness activities:
- To monitor your mental health. Looking after your mental health is important. Using a checklist is a great way to ensure that you are doing things to support your mental wellbeing.
- To stay abreast of your physical self-care habits.
- To keep track of patterns in your mood. Adding mood trackers to your checklist can help you notice patterns in your mood.
- To ensure that you are regularly prioritizing your needs.
- To focus on nurturing healthy relationships.
What should be included in a self-care checklist?
Because you are already super busy, I suggest keeping your daily self-care tracker short and sweet. You want to make it very easy so that you’re more likely to stick with it. You can design your checklist so that you can add specific items that will help you focus on your unique needs. Or, you can choose a pre-made template to get started.
The key is to keep it simple and focus on things you can really do every day. Don’t overcomplicate it by adding unrealistic tasks. Remember, this is your daily checklist. You want to include things that you can do daily.
Either way, don’t waste too much time deciding what your tracker should look like. It’s more important that you start using this great tool so that you can work towards being a better you.
Here are some examples of the types of activities you can include on your daily self-care checklist:
- I exercised today.
- I meditated for 10 minutes.
- I drank water.
- I chose 1 thing to be grateful for.
- I called or texted a family member or friend.
- I did something that I enjoy today.
- I spent some time outside for some fresh air.
- I took a few minutes for deep breathing.
- I ate at least one nourishing meal.
- I took some time to reflect on my day.
- I took a quick break from my phone or screen.
- I stretched.
- I sat in silence for a few minutes.
- I repeated an affirmation.
NOTE: Do not put all of these things on your daily checklist. Start small. Choose a few activities that you can commit to doing consistently. As you master fitting these into your routine, you can add more or change the activities on your list.
You want to keep your daily checklist small and manageable so that you’re actually able to do the things on your list. You also want to pay attention to the activities you’re doing to assess how you feel once you implement these activities into your life.
Everyone has different needs so it may take some trial and error to find the activities that really help you to be your best self.
Who should be using this type of habit tracker?
This checklist is a great idea for anyone who wants to show themselves more love. It’s a great way to encourage healthy habits in teens and young adults and it’s also great for busy working professionals, stay-at-home moms, and older people. It’s suitable for everyone! Different people use these trackers in different ways and that’s okay. The most important thing is that you build better habits to be a better you.
What strategies can I use to ensure that I regularly use the checklist?
Adding something to your already busy schedule might seem overwhelming. But, you can take small steps to make using your checklist a part of your daily routine.
The first step is to determine the type of checklist you will use. You can create your own or you can download my free self-care checklist.
Daily Self-Care Checklist by Cherith FlukerNext, determine if you’ll wait until the end of the day to track your activities or if you’ll marks items off the checklist as you accomplish them during the day.
Finally, just do it. Don’t overthink it, and don’t overcomplicate it.
Final words about the checklist and a few quick tips.
Using a checklist is a good self-care practice that really helps keep you accountable when it comes to putting yourself first. But, It’s not enough for us to simply have a self-care checklist. We also have to have a plan to help execute the activities on the list.
Here are some strategies to help you put yourself first:
- Maintain your friendships. It’s important to stay connected with the people that you love. Close relationships can have a positive impact on your emotional health. Make a list of people that you don’t want to lose contact with and make an effort to stay connected by sending a text, making a quick phone call, or even dropping a card in the mail.
- Get regular exercise. Exercise helps with reducing stress levels and improving your health. And, it can go hand in hand with the first tip. Find an activity that you enjoy with your friends and do it together. Try aiming for 20-30 minutes a day.
- Eat a balanced diet. As often as possible, reach for nutritious foods. This helps with energy levels and with managing stress. Limit your caffeine and sugar intake.
- Ask for help and accept it when it is offered. If you’re experiencing overwhelm, stress or worry, seek help.
- Be kind to yourself. Encourage and reward yourself for getting through a tough period or for reaching a goal. On the other hand, don’t be too hard on yourself when you make a mistake.
