How often do you prioritize caring for yourself? If you’re like me or most women I know, it’s not often enough. This is why in today’s post I want to address why self-care is important and why you need a self-care plan.

I have to actively remember to take care of myself more times than not and have found, like most, self-care is still a struggle for me to prioritize no matter the circumstances. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the stresses of everyday life with long work hours and little time to ourselves.

Whenever I feel like I need some time to myself, I immediately think of planning a spa day, but I’ve learned over the years that there’s so much more to self-care than just a massage and a facial. Plus, self-care needs to be up there on your priority list right along with spending time with family and work.

What Is Self Care?

At its core, self-care is any action we take or choice we make to fulfill one of our physical, spiritual or emotional needs. It’s all the little ways we take care of ourselves to make sure we don’t have a legit breakdown in one of these three areas. It seems like I’m always looking for ways to self-improve, and it became obvious that I needed a self-care plan. This way I have something to reference when I feel a funk coming on.

Why Do I Need a Self Care Plan?

The right self-care plan can help improve your overall well being, assist with stress management, and help keep you healthy in the long term.

It’s easy to let taking care of yourself fall to the bottom of your list when life gets crazy, right? It’s always the first thing we sacrifice because, in the midst of chaos, it doesn’t seem as important as all the other “fires” that need to be put out. The problem is that we end up substituting the important with the urgent way more than we should. And after a while, it starts to take a toll on our lives either by way of exhaustion, burnout, decreased focus, lacking motivation or whatever else.

Whatever the case, it’s important to spend a little time to get to know yourself and what your mind, body and soul need in order to function at your highest level. By learning to identify activities and things that support your well-being, you’ll be able to create a customized self-care plan that will work specifically for you.

How To Create A Self Care Plan

The first step in making your self-care plan is to create a list of the things you value and need as part of your day-to-day – like reading with a cup of coffee in the morning, a walk with your dog, or an evening a yoga class. To layer on to that, think of the things you don’t necessarily need on a daily basis, but things that make you happy emotionally or fulfill you spiritually.

Things like learning a new hobby, or going through your closet to purge things you don’t need or wear OR finally making that dreaded commitment to clean out your pantry (do it!). Of course, things like getting a manicure and pedicure can be included in your self-care plan, but try to think more outside the box. One of my favorite daily checklist items is to pick one thing that’s been on my mental “to-do” list and get it done. This one is surprisingly very satisfying!

You want to think of your self-care plan on a daily and weekly (1-3x per week) basis. It helps me to think of practices or activities within the following seven different categories or “domains” of life:

Physical: things that involve taking care of your physical body like eating well, exercising, get enough sleep, doctor’s appointments, moisturizing, and getting proper nutrients

Psychological: This could cover a variety of different things, but I’d say things of the mind and your mental health are first and foremost in this domain of life. For me, I think of journaling, setting personal goals, learning new skills, spending time alone, self-reflection, and brain-dumping.

Financial: Budgeting for the present and future, taking care of taxes and other financial responsibilities and overall understanding how my finances affect my current (and future) quality of life.

Social: Investing in healthy relationships, scheduling time to spend time with people that matter to me, being intentional about making phone calls to those I care about that live elsewhere, being aware of people’s birthdays (I’m the WORST), prioritizing important events, etc.

Professional: Pursuing work-life balance, setting boundaries, investing in new skills, networking, time management skills, planning for the future.

Emotional: Seeking feedback from others, journaling about how I’m feeling, expressing my thoughts and emotions, investing time in positive activities, monitoring my self-talk and thought life, celebrating achievements, etc.

Spiritual: Attending church and small groups, investing in community and getting involved, spending time to read devotionals and scripture (for me personally), turning the radio off in the car to spend time praying, starting my day with prayer, meditating on scripture, etc.

Consider how you are taking care of yourself in these areas currently and then brainstorm ways you’d like to improve or things you’d like to try out. Of course, some areas are going to prove to be more important than others, but all in all, you want to consider how you’re addressing each category. On a daily basis, you want to make sure you’re prioritizing your physical needs just as much as you’re taking care of your professional and psychological needs. Incorporating more balance into our daily routine will help your productivity and overall well-being as well as enable you to be more resilient when life gets stressful.

Once you have a list of things that contribute positively to your physical, spiritual, and emotional needs, it’s time to put your plan into action. I use a combination of a digital planner and pen and paper for this part, and schedule in my self-care plan items in a checklist format to make sure I complete them. It’s not always perfect (and ever-changing slash adapting), but taking some action and initiative will go a long way here. The key is to be making a conscious effort and investment in yourself.

By writing down the things that contribute to my self-care, I’m committing to putting my happiness and well-being first. And that is something we all need to do a little bit more of, don’t you think?

What are you going to add to your self-care plan?

Do you already have a self-care routine and not even realize it?

Check out some of the other posts I have on self-care in case this fired y’all up!:

• 30 Ways to Nourish Your Mind, Body and Soul
• 15 Self-Care Strategies for Better Work/Life Balance
• 7 Everyday Habits that Drain Your Energy
• How to “Find Balance” When You’re Busy
• How, When and Why I Love Brain Dumping
• How to Detox Your Life: Self Care Series

Outfit Details:

Cardigan: Abercrombie & Fitch Puff Sleeve Long Cardigan (I’m wearing a size XS – this fits more on the oversized size)  // Top: Abercrombie & Fitch Drapey V-Neck Tee (I wear a S in A&F tops – I normally am between a XS and a S, so if you boarder sizes maybe size up)  // Denim: Abercrombie & Fitch High Rise Mom Jeans (I wear a 25 and they fit TTS) // Booties: Vince Camuto Gradina Block Heel Bootie (I’m wearing a size 7)  // Sunglasses: Ray-Ban Icon 50mm //