5 Ways To Simplify Your Self-Care Practice

Last Updated on February 5, 2021

By now, we’ve all heard that self-care is more than a pamper session on a Sunday. It’s about taking care of yourself from the inside out and regularly tending to your own needs.

Despite the seemingly simple nature of self-care, it can be really easy to overcomplicate things. Especially since the word self-care has become so buzzworthy, there’s so much information out there about how you should and should not practice self-care.

I want to take it back to basics and talk about how we can make self-care simpler. Self-care doesn’t have to be this overwhelming or unattainable thing. We just need to simplify how we look at self-care and make sure we’re consistent with our actions.

Maybe you’re ready to make self-care more of a steady practice in your life but it just seems so overwhelming. Perhaps you already have a good relationship with self-care but you want to take it to the next level. Wherever you stand, keep reading for five things I’ve done to simplify my approach to self-care.

5 Ways to Simplify Self-Care

1. Remember The Basics

Instead of making self-care an elaborate and unattainable practice that takes up three hours of your time, keep it super simple. Start with your most basic needs and work your way up from there.

My personal philosophy is to pay attention to what your mind, body, and soul need most. If you keep those elements of your life in check, self-care won’t seem so daunting.

Which of your basic needs have you been skimping on lately? Eating healthy food, moving your body, spending time alone, socializing, skincare, etc.? Think about how can you start small and take it back to the basics with these things.

Read More: How To Start A Self-Care Routine Using The Power Hour Method

2. Reframe Your Mindset

Something else that helped me with self-care is reframing the way I think about it. Over time, I have come to use the words self-care and wellness interchangeably. Wellness is about making healthy choices that improve our physical and mental state, and I think that’s exactly what self-care helps us achieve.

Self-care is about taking care of yourself and finding methods to help us to stay balanced and healthy – mentally, physically, and emotionally. If we look at self-care as a wellness practice, it starts to feel more attainable.

Try not to get swept into the marketing side of things where everyone is trying to sell you “self-care products”. To take care of ourselves from the inside out, we need to focus on what we actually need, not what other people tell us we need.

Read More: 25 Ways to Nourish Your Mind, Body, and Soul

3. Keep A Self-Care Mood Tracker

When things get rough, it’s easy to forget that self-care can truly make a difference in our daily lives. We’re going to be stressed out no matter what, right? Maybe not. I’ve noticed that practicing self-care can significantly impact my mood and attitude towards myself and others.

A self-care mood tracker is a great tool to visualize the way self-care affects you. This could be as simple as writing down the days you practice self-care vs. the times you don’t and asking yourself how you’re feeling. After doing this, you’ll begin to see that self-care really does make a positive impact on your relationships, work, and overall mood.

If you’re looking for mood tracker inspiration, I found some great Bullet Journal spreads here and here.

4. Stop Searching for Inspiration

I love hearing about other people’s self-care routines, but it’s easy to get stuck in a rabbit hole when you’re searching for ideas instead of just practicing self-care. It’s the same as trying to beat procrastination by searching for productivity inspiration. I believe it’s more important to take action instead of simply collecting ideas.

Obviously, it can be helpful to see what other people are doing, but ultimately it’s more important to listen to your own needs, drown out the noise, and practice self-care in a way that feels right for you.

Read More: What Is Self-Care Anyway? Here’s What You Need To Know.

5. Track Your Self-Care Habits

If you’re a productivity nerd like I am, it can be fun and rewarding to track your self-care habits. This could be a daily tracker where you check off certain self-care activities like meditating, exercising, and getting to bed at a certain time.

I find tracking my habits super motivating because it encourages me to keep going when I see a consistent line of checkboxes. This can also be a wake-up call if you start to notice you aren’t checking off any boxes because you might not be taking as much time for self-care as you’d like.

If you want to start tracking your own self-care habits, the self-care planner in my Free Self-Care Guide is a great place to start.

Check This Out: Free Self-Care Routine Planner

How do you simplify self-care?

I hope these tips have given you some inspiration to simplify your self-care routine. I’d love for you to leave a comment sharing how you keep your self-care practice simple and attainable!