8 Really Easy Self-Care Activities for People with a Busy Schedule

It\’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of every day life. You end up forgetting to take time to yourself or do something that makes you feel good or happy. You don\’t take care of yourself enough.

Let\’s change that!

I\’m not an expert life coach or anything like that. But what I can do is advise you on some of the different techniques and tips I\’ve tried and the experiences I\’ve had when it comes to self-care. It doesn\’t even have to be anything crazy. A few minutes of quiet and solitude or a quick \”pick-me-up\” chat with a friend. There are so many ways you can reinvest your energy into yourself without compromising your daily routine.

Do Deep Breathing

I\’m kicking off the list with the OG of peace and tranquility- your breath.

And it doesn\’t even have to smell good lol, jk

Self-care looks different for everyone. For some, being in a calmer state of mind is as good as being in at a 5 star luxury hotel, ok! Especially these days! We have to protect our peace. If we don\’t, it makes it that much harder to be present and in the right state of mind for our children.

So how do you add breathwork into your daily routine?

Easy! You can do it in the car on the way to work, while you\’re making breakfast, sitting at your desk, first thing in the morning, anywhere! Diaphragmatic breathing has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. This technique also helps to decrease blood pressure, improve lung function, increase alertness, and decrease the production of stress hormones in your body. Here\’s how:

1. Laying down or sitting up in a chair, put one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.
2. As you slowly inhale, the hand on your belly should move while the hand on your chest stays still. Take a full inhale by expanding your belly.
3. As you exhale through pursed lips (like blowing out a candle), the hand on your belly should move back down while the hand on your chest still doesn\’t move. Fully exhale by pulling your belly button in towards your spine to expel all the air from your lungs.
4. Repeat this for a few minutes or until you feel relaxed!

I absolutely love getting in some deep breathing reps each day. It gives me a random anchor point I need sometimes throughout the day. You may not realize it now, but paying attention to your breathing makes a huge different in your everyday life. That\’s what meditation is; following your breath!

Drink Water

This sounds like a dumb one, but I promise it\’s beneficial! Odds are, you\’re probably not drinking enough water. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is:

• About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women
• About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men

Some people also like to divide their weight in half and then drink that many ounces of water per day. Whatever method you choose, just do what works for you. The goal remains the same: drink enough water!

If you\’re not fully hydrated, you can feel sluggish, not think straight, and other things. Here are a few benefits of drinking water that promote overall self-care and a better you:

• It can prevent headaches
• It helps you poop 🙂
• It can help prevent hangovers (for the times you do indulge; your secret\’s save with me
• It helps you focus (our brains need water!)
• It can help you lose weight (and that makes you feel dang good!)

Being hydrated is such a natural high. That\’s why things like Drip Bars have become popular. You can pay to receive an IV filled with hydration goodness that will give you a little pop of life.

Smile at Yourself in the Mirror

Did you know it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile? So be lazy and smile!

It\’s been shown in studies, time and time again, that smiling releases endorphins and has such a positive impact on your life. How much better can self-care get?

Some of the studied benefits of showing your pearly whites are:

1. Living longer (yea it\’s a thing!)
2. Relieving stress
3. Boosting your immune system
4. Lowering your blood pressure
5. Reducing pain (\”just smile through it!\”)
6. Making you look successful

It\’s something so simple that boosts your mood and potentially brightens someone else\’s day, too. It takes little effort and can be done while you\’re brushing your teeth! Not going to lie, I pass a certain mirror in my house every day and smile and high-five myself. I\’m not crazy or anything…*nervous laughter*. It\’s self-care, people!

Listen to Music

You probably already do this, so great job. This is just a reminder that if you need a quick boost of self-care lovin\’s during the day, pop on your headphones and put on your favorite jams.

Dancing gives this a whole \’nother level of greatness. Dancing around is great cardio and a nice mood booster. And you can tailor your music to the mood you\’re in. Listening to music will always be an easy way to do a little something for yourself.

You can listen before bed, while sleeping, first thing in the morning, in the car, making food, working, anywhere!

Go for a Walk

Don\’t even get me started on the benefits of walking! I have lost weight, gained flexibility, and other benefits from simply walking every day.

You have more opportunities to add a walk to your daily routine than you think. Here are some simple ways I love to add a walk to my day:

• parking farther so I\’m forced to walk more
• doing a lap around the grocery store before actually shopping
• hopping on the treadmill during a phonecall
• walking during/after lunch
• walking around the house or on the treadmill while I\’m doing things on my phone
• walking to the mailbox

Think about how many minutes or hours you spend on your phone while you\’re sitting. Get your butt up next time! Walking improves your mood, helps you live longer, burns calories (because \’look good, feel good\’), improves your blood pressure, and helps give you a little energy.

Next time you\’re doom-scrolling and feeling down, get up and walk around! (I didn\’t mean for that to rhyme, but dang does it sound good)

Practice Gratitude

Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude. What a beautiful and powerful thing it is. Gratitude. It\’s free and easy to practice gratitude every day. Just look at some of the benefits of it:

1. Enhancing emotional well-being
2. Fostering healthy relationships
3. Improving physical health
4. Boosting resilience
5. Enhancing mindfulness

You can practice gratitude in different ways. You could journal and write down things you\’re thankful for or general positive things you reflect on. You could have a gratitude jar where every day you write down 3 things you\’re grateful for. You\’ll see the jar fill up, and it\’s a perfect reminder to be thankful for all those great things in your life.

There is a difference between gratitude and toxic positivity. Gratitude is simply being thankful for things, and that can happen even though you\’re in a crappy mood!

Practicing gratitude doesn\’t have to be anything crazy, either. It could be as simple as being intentional about saying \”thank you\” to someone who has helped you in any way, being thankful for Netflix for having all your favorite shows, or even being thankful for the mail person for bringing all the things you need in the mail!

Read or Listen to Positive Affirmations

One of my favorite, easy self-care activities is listening to positive affirmations while I sleep. Our subconscious mind is still active when we sleep, and listening to these affirmations kind of hijacks my brain and pushes it to greatness (while I\’m drooling).

If that\’s too weird for you, you could download a free affirmation app on your phone. Those are great, because you can even tailor some of them to specific topics you want. You can read encouraging messages about love, peace, entrepreneurship, faith, and more.

You\’re pouring back into yourself with positive affirmations. They put the self in self-care. Spotify, YouTube, and other music streaming services have affirmation playlists you could listen to while you work, drive, cook, whatever.

And this is something you can even do with your kids! Each morning when I drop the kids off to school, I have them shout \”I\’m brave! I\’m smart! I\’m kind! I\’m going to have a great day!\” And when I say shout, baby, we shout!

Still not convinced? Check out some of these benefits:

1. Decrease health-deteriorating stress and anxiety
2. Control self-sabotaging thoughts and speech
3. Improve mood and mental wellbeing
4. Enhance self-esteem and self-image
5. Promote positive coping and resilience
6. Improve problem-solving under stress
7. Motivate you to execute your goals
8. Help you find love

So get to it!

Take a Bath Instead of a Shower

And last but not least, soak your butt in the tub at the end of a long day for the ultimate, good-smelling self-care! It\’s amazing what a good soak can do for you. Besides getting your body all clean, here\’s what soaking in the bathtub could give you:

• Improved blood circulation
• Reduced arthritis pain
• Muscle pain relief
• Better skin (especially if you add some stuff to the bath water)
• Improved mood
• Stress and anxiety reduction (lavender drops in the tub, anyone?)
• Improved sleep (according to some studies)

It\’s pretty easy to see why a nice bath is the perfect self-care additive. And it falls right within your daily routine. Everyone has to get clean anyway!

Live Long and Prosper

I hope these self-care tips have been helpful! I love practicing them myself and felt like it was a good time to share them with everything going on in the world. I\’ll add that putting down your phone and getting off social media is one of the best self-care and wellness things I do for myself frequently!

It\’s important for us to practice self-care. They can be simple like the tips listed here or more complex. The key is to find whatever way you can to fit it into your schedule and stick to it. The long-term benefits are crazy good.

Take care of yourself!