5 Ways to Make Self-Care More Effective

Everyone’s talking about self-care nowadays, aren’t they?  Sharing their self-care tips & ideas.  To be honest, I’m all for it.  Self-care is a fundamental component of increased well-being.  It’s essentially a way of making time to care for ourselves.  And I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you the damage that can be done – emotionally and physically – if we allow ourselves to burn-out.  

So today, I wanted to share with you my own self-care tips.  Tips to make any self-care practice you undertake more effective.  These tips don’t require any additional effort or cost to implement, which is what I’d call a double-win for your well-being! 

5 Ways to Make Self-Care More Effective

#01 Understand it

We’ve all seen people suggest things like candle-lit bubble baths or face masks & mani-pedis as forms of self-care.  I even saw a hair-dye commercial the other day where they suggested dyeing your hair is a form of self-care.  Yes, there are many, many ways to practice self-care – and I’m certainly not discrediting anyone making these sorts of suggestions – but it’s important to understand they won’t work for everyone.  

Let me explain. To truly benefit from any self-care practice, we must first understand what ‘needs’ need to be addressed.  Personally, I’m someone who needs space.  My self-care practices often revolve around activities that provide me with some breathing space.  Some may find the opposite and require comfort from the company of others.  Some may need to feel they’ve pampered themselves and others may need complete rest.  Understand your needs first and then pick the practices that address them best.  

Bonus self-care tip: Once you’ve worked out your needs build a ‘bank’ of self-care practices which will address them, covering different time frames & locations.  For example, if your need (like mine) is often for headspace, you might add: meditation, taking yourself to a different room and closing the door for a while, switching your phone off for a bit, taking a bath, going for a walk or run.  Whilst I appreciate your needs do change (and it’s important to be responsive to this) building this type of list will give lots of readily available options to address your most frequently occurring needs.

#02 Accept it

I’ve spoken about this before (and if the following resonates with you, you’ll benefit from reading: How to Practice Self-Care Without Feeling Selfish) but if you see self-care as indulgent, selfish, unimportant – some mindset adjustment is required.  

Self-care – your self-care – is mandatory, so accept it!  Accept you need to do it, we all need to do it.  You’re not weak for needing to look after yourself, if anything, looking after yourself makes you stronger.  It’s not a waste of time either, self-care practices will pay dividends on any time you devote to them, for you and those around you.

Just accept your need for it, know you’re worth it and get on with practising it already!

RELATED: How to Start Accepting Yourself More

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#03 Acknowledge it

Whenever you’re about to do any form of self-care practice, you should take a moment just to acknowledge it.  

It works in the same way as setting an intention at the start of meditation or practising gratitude/savouring a moment.  You’re just gently alerting your brain that you’re undertaking something beneficial.

This is especially important for any self-care practices we do daily, which can easily slip into under-appreciated habit territory.  Taking that moment to say (or think) I’m doing something nice for myself, I’m helping myself to feel good, builds even greater energy around the act increasing the benefit felt.

Good to know: Equally you can take a few moments during or even directly afterwards to acknowledge the good feelings, it all works just as well, go with whichever feels most workable to you.

#04 Schedule it

I have this helpful ‘To do’ list pad, where I record all my tasks for each day.  At the bottom is a section entitled ‘self-care’ and it encourages me to plan in what I’m going to do, in amongst all the demands, that will allow me to look after me today.  

What I write will vary depending on my day, but this pad is a great prompt for me.  Which is why I recommend you find a minute each day – whether actually or just mentally – to schedule in your self-care practice.  

If you’ve worked out (as advised in self-care tip #01 ) what your self-care needs are, you’ll hopefully have a bank of ideas you can draw on to fit something effortlessly into your day.  Plus, getting into the habit of actively ‘scheduling’ it means you’re less likely to reach the end of the day realising you haven’t done anything related to self-care. 

#05 Protect it

My self-care is sacred – how’s that for a mantra?  Please protect it.  Don’t offer it up as the first thing to sacrifice when you’re day takes an unexpected turn.  Obviously you don’t need to be rigid – you can change things up depending on the circumstances, but don’t just instantly say, ‘Oh well, no time for me today’. 

You’re more productive, healthy and happy when you’re taking care of yourself.  So don’t send the message to your mind or others, that self-care is something you’ll readily bypass.  Stand-up for yourself & your needs – the more you practice, the more benefit you’ll see, so protect it because it’s precious!  

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RELATED: How to Say ‘NO’ (So You Can Say ‘YES’)!

I hope you find these self-care tips helpful for boosting all the well-being benefits practising self-care will bring you! Do you do any of them already? Do you have any of your own tips to share? Whatever you’d like to say – or ask – just leave me a comment in the box below. I’m happy to help and I always love to hear from you!

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