The Best 101 Self Care Ideas For a Happier Life

Looking for self care activity ideas for women? You’ve come to the right place. These are the top 101 self care ideas to be happier and live your best life.

You’re sure to find some great ideas and inspiration from this extensive list of self care activity ideas for women.

This self care list is a wide range of ideas so that there’s something for everyone. The self care ideas range from free to inexpensive to pricey, depending on your needs.

Also, some ideas are DIY and super easy, while others require some planning and effort to pull off. That means that not everything will appeal to you but some will be perfect for you.

If you have very little time and you’re looking for a few simple yet effective daily self care ideas, you’ll love this post.

I’ve also made it easy for you to plan your self care activities with a free self care planner printable. So, be sure to grab that!

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.

Why Is Self Care Necessary

I’ve come very far with understanding the need for self care. When I was younger and even as a new wife and mom, I felt that self care was selfish. I could easily spend that time helping someone else.

Even after burning out more times than I can count, I would repeat the same cycle – keep going until my body or mind forced me to stop. I would rest, recuperate and then do it again.

Now, I know all too well the importance of self care. If you want to live your best life and give your best to others then you must take care of yourself FIRST.

These are the incredible benefits you gain from practicing self care:

• Higher self esteem
• Knowing your self worth
• Healthier lifestyle
• Improved stress management
• Stronger relationships with loved ones
• Higher productivity

How To Make Time For Yourself

If you’re feeling like you have no time for yourself, ensure that you’re prioritizing your day efficiently.

The key to having time for yourself if you’re super busy and think you can’t fit it in is understanding the importance of self care.

Always, always remember that you cannot pour from an empty cup.

How To Create A Self Care Plan

Creating a self care plan should be fun! Essentially, you’re going to spend some time thinking of your biggest needs and jotting them down.

You can create daily, weekly and monthly plans depending on your lifestyle and your needs.

Of course, you may need to switch and shift some things around and that’s ok.

Once you ensure that at the end of each day you’ve practiced self care in the way you need, that’s all that matters.

You can create your own planner or use the free one provided in this post.

There are three ways to use my free self care planner pdf printable.

1. Planner by time – select your favorite picks from the self care list of 101 ideas and jot them down in the desired time frames.
2. Daily Planner by self care category – select and write in your top self care activities in the categories and day slots provided. This allows you to create a holistic self care plan.
3. Thirty Day Self Care Challenge – select your top picks and create a 30 day self care challenge for yourself that you can start at any time!

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Self Care Categories

When you’re planning and practicing self care, you want to be sure that you’re being holistic in your approach.

Ensure that you’re addressing each of these areas in your life:

1. Spiritual
2. Emotional
3. Mental
4. Physical
5. Practical
6. Social

Spiritual Self Care

Spiritual self-care seeks to nurture your spirit. It can be religious but it doesn’t have to be.

This is a great explanation from Chopra.com:

A spiritual self-care practice is any ritual that connects you to your true self, the real you. The real you is the raw expression of who you were meant to be and offer this world. It’s energizing, inspiring, and most of all, it feels right. Perhaps you already are experiencing this or maybe have had glimpses of what this might look or feel like. Becoming familiar with how you feel is an important part of being able to navigate through life. Accessing that part of yourself through spiritual self-care can be rewarding on many levels.

https://chopra.com/articles/10-spiritual-self-care-tips-you-need-to-know

Emotional Self Care

Taking time to understand and really feel your emotions is what basic emotional self care involves.

When you understand and are in touch with your feelings and it’s also important to accept them.

This in turn can help you to accept the choices and decisions you’ve made in your life.

By practicing emotional self-care regularly, you value and honor the fact that you are in control and in charge of your emotions and your reactions to things in your life.

Emotional self-care activities increase the likelihood of you enjoying healthier self-esteem and self-worth.

These empower you in every aspect of your life from personal to professional and so it’s worth it to take the time to care for yourself emotionally.

Mental Self Care

This form of self care involves activities that stimulate you mentally and help to reduce your overall stress levels.

Mental self care is any activity that aids in improving your overall mental health and is very beneficial in your everyday life.

I know that you live in a very fast-paced world and sometimes slowing down seems impossible.

You probably have never-ending to-do lists and commitments.

But, in order to be at your best and increase productivity, the first and most important commitment needs to be caring for yourself.

As with any form of self care, these types of activities would be different for everyone.

Your choices of mental self care would involve anything that would relax and destress you.

Reading a book, enjoying the sunset, self reflection and journaling are great examples for mental self care activities.

Physical Self Care

These self care activities strive to improve your physical fitness and health. Any activity that will give your overall health a boost will fall into this category.

By caring for yourself physically, you will enjoy the benefits of being physically fit, having a healthier and stronger immune system, better moods, higher energy levels.

Some examples include following a healthy diet, walking, running, sports, sleeping, staying hydrated and caring for your skin and hair.

Practical Self Care

These self care activities seek to reduce stressful times in your life.

They’re may not instantly feel like you’re pampering yourself but they are very helpful to your everyday life.

Some ideas are creating routines or budgeting.

By establishing good routines and habits and staying on top of your spending or even meal planning, you’re reducing possible stressors.

For instance, with budgeting, you will be aware of your spending habits and saving capabilities. Just having a clear picture of your finances can reduce and even eliminate so much stress.

Another example is meal planning. As a mom of three young ones and far from being a chef, I can’t emphasize how much this helps me!

When I have everything planned out, everything flows so much better – from getting groceries to cooking. I’m not fumbling each day wondering what to cook or if I have ingredients to cook something.

Creating routines may seem daunting to some but it helps our family so much! It allows us to basically automate parts of our day which has drastically reduced my stress.

Instead of constantly remembering to do things and reminding the kids to do things, more often than not we get the regular daily things done with no stress.

If you’re interested to find out exactly how we create routines, I have a great post to get you started.

Social Self Care

These types of self care activities enhance and deepen your relationships with others.

Connecting with others and developing meaningful relationships are very important to over all happiness.

Positive and healthy relationships with others provide the necessary support throughout your life. Nurturing these relationships brings joy to your life, comfort and is a source of stress relief.

It’s an incredible feeling to know you have people you can count on and who can count on you.

It’s important to have genuine people who will listen and understand you as you express yourself. People who will laugh at a joke that others wouldn’t.

People who love you unconditionally and will support you through tough times and who allow you to support them as well.

It’s also important to maintain relationships with others who accept and love you for you.

People who will also encourage you to constantly develop and be your best self and who you can comfortably do the same for throughout life.

101 Self Care Activity Ideas

Grab your pen and your free self care printable and let’s get to planning your self care activities!

Self Care Ideas:

1. Practice breathing techniques
2. Get enough quality sleep
3. Go to bed earlier
4. Get up without your alarm
5. Get enough rest and down time
6. Have a PJ day – relax and laze all day
7. Snuggle with your partner or kids
8. Laugh more
9. Spend quality time with your loved ones
10. Give your loved ones extra hugs
11. Attend religious sessions
12. Pray
13. Stretch
14. Meditate
15. Practice positive thinking
16. Write a list of things you’re grateful for
17. Practice self love
18. Practice self compassion
19. Write a list of your accomplishments
20. Work on self improvement – Make a list and plan to work on things you want to improve about yourself
21. Digital detox
22. Attend therapy
23. Release frustrations and enjoy a good cry
24. Say no to people and things that don’t serve our best interests
25. Put yourself first more
26. Join a support group
27. Cuddle with your pet
28. Drink sufficient water
29. Have a healthy, well balanced diet
30. Enjoy a warm shower (or cold if you life in a warmer climate)
31. Have a warm bath
32. Facial
33. DIY manicure
34. DIY pedicure
35. Get a massage
36. Enjoy a spa day
37. Deep condition your hair
38. Get a hair cut
39. Get a makeover
40. Dry brush your skin
41. Exfoliate your skin
42. Moisturize your skin
43. Burn a scented candle
44. Diffuse and enjoy essential oils
45. Read an inspiring book
46. Create or follow an inspiring quotes board on Pinterest
47. Enjoy staring at nature
48. Look up at the blue sky
49. Enjoy a stary night
50. Listen to music
51. Dance
52. Listen to podcasts
53. Baking – Learn to bake if you can’t yet
54. Cooking – Learn to cook if you can’t yet
55. Gardening
56. Knitting
57. Crafting
58. Coloring
59. Crossword puzzles
60. Build a puzzle
61. Word search
62. Learn a new skill
63. Learn a new language
64. Find and nurture you creativity
65. Enroll in a class
66. Journal
67. Blogging
68. Volunteer – help someone out
69. Compliment someone
70. Make someone smile
71. Be kind
72. Get some fresh air and enjoy the sun
73. Take a scenic walk
74. Enjoy the sunrise
75. Enjoy the sunset
76. Go to the beach or lake
77. Go jogging
78. Exercise
79. Yoga
80. Pilates
81. Bike riding
82. Sports
83. Declutter your home
84. Clean your home
85. Decorate your home
86. Start new good habits
87. Replace bad habits
88. Create a vision board
89. Challenge yourself
90. Create a bucket list
91. Create and start routines throughout your day
92. Watch some tv
93. Enjoy a solo date
94. Go out for a meal by yourself or with a friend
95. Enjoy tea or hot cocoa with a loved one
96. Go to the movies
97. Experience something new
98. Drive around
99. Go on vacation
100. Buy yourself something practical
101. Buy yourself something really nice

Self Care Ideas for Women at a glance

Even though some of these may be very specific to women, self care is for everyone and these self care activity ideas can give you inspiration to help you create your self care plan.

Now, you don’t have to wonder what to do on self care days, nights or Sundays.

You’ve got 101 ideas to choose from to create a holistic and unique personal self care plan.

Save the pin above or bookmark this page to revisit for self care ideas whenever you need inspiration.

Also, don’t forget to download your free self care planner pdf printable and keep it handy to help you on your self care journey.

Let me know what you’ve come up with in the comments below.

Also, check out these posts to help you on your self-development journey:

• 99 Self Reflection Questions To Find Yourself
• 50 Questions to find your best self
• Learn How To Love Yourself Again
• 52 Journal Prompts For Moms
• 5 Daily Self Care Habits
• 8 Simple Things To Do On Sunday For A Productive Week
• 10 Ways To Live The Life Of Your Dreams
• How To Prioritize Your Life
• Simple Tips To Set Goals That You Can Achieve
• Easiest Ways to Find Motivation
• Over 100 Short Positive Affirmations