5 Tips For A Perfect Self Care Sunday

Sunday is a great day for self care. In this helpful guide, I will show you how to make the most of it.

Self care isn’t just for Sunday; it should be part of your daily routine. But life happens, and it can be hard to slow down or find time. Moreover, the weekend can be the perfect time to attend to your needs and press the reset button.

So, where can you start? You can start by making a list of what’s important to you and what makes you feel good inside. This will look differently to everyone. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Communicate Your Needs

The most important thing you should note is that it’s never selfish to ask partner, friends or children to respect your wishes. Too much of anything can feel suffocating. If your ideal self care Sunday is being alone and indulging in your own activities, then you should communicate that.

We all need space. Even the most extroverted people on the planet will get burnt out from time to time. Self care can be practiced with other people, but generally, it’s a solo time-out. It makes sense that after a week of being around other people that you might want some time to connect with yourself. Just to relax.

2. Plan The Day Around Your Favourite Things

Whether you have the whole day or just the evening, you can make it feel really special by incorporating the things you love into your routine.

Here are some ideas:

• Relaxing bath (Why not take a book in with you and have a long soak?)
• Face masks or exfoliation
• Foot rub and cream
• Hot chocolate (with or without marshmallows)
• Painting, drawing or some kind of arts and crafts activity
• Yoga or meditation
• Stretches
• Your favourite songs in one playlist
• Watching ASMR or a feel-good film/series
• Ordering a takeaway
• Baking cakes/cookies/muffins

3. Write In Your Journal Or Diary

You probably already know this, but writing down your thoughts is an effective way to make sense of your thoughts. In your journal or notebook, you can write about how you feel currently, how you’ve felt the past week, and any feelings you have about the week ahead.

If you have events coming up, you can use this time to keep track of this. Some people find that the perfect self care activity is to make sure things are well organised. This is like a gift from you to you. Life can be hectic, but that doesn’t mean your schedule has to be. If you make a note of everything that’s coming up week-to-week, it can prevent feelings of overwhelm and stress.

Stress is a major health concern as it can cause a lot of muscle tension, fatigue, headaches and restlessness. This can lead to anger issues, inability to concentrate and problems falling asleep. As you might know, this can have an impact on every aspect of your life, with the potential to leading to chronic health complications like diabetes and high blood pressure.

If you don’t journal, now is the time to start.

4. Catch Up On Chores

I know that doing chores might be the last thing on your mind, but you should know that your surroundings can impact your mood. In fact, a 2016 study found that having too much clutter can have a negative impact on your mental health. It can contribute to anxiety, stress and depression, in some cases.

Catching up on the washing or hoovering can help you to feel more organised and improve your overall wellbeing. If you have limited time, set a timer on your phone. It can be 30 minutes or an hour, and in that time try to get just a couple of chores done. After it’s done and you feel more positive, you can sit down and do one of the self care activities listed above.

Don’t worry if you can’t catch up on any chores, though. Sometimes, resting and having a long nap on the sofa is all you need to make you feel good and uplifted.

5. There Are No Rules To Self Care Sunday

The beauty of self care is that it’s very individual. If your ultimate day of self care looks like spending time with your family, eating popcorn while watching a film, then that’s what you should plan to do. If it’s going out for a meal with friends, then that’s great, too.

Self care doesn’t always fit one image. It doesn’t mean that you have to spend time alone or spend the whole day doing what other people are doing. It’s completely up to you what you do. The only rule is that it makes you feel good, happy and leaves you energised.