10 simple self-care ideas to try today
Would you work 100 hours? Turns out it’s more common than you think.
Research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies has found mums do a ridiculous amount of work – mostly without even getting paid for it.
The study shows before having children, women only spend about two hours a week caring for other people. However, after kids, a mother will spend a whopping 51 hours looking after others.
Self-care is the new black
There’s a lot of talk about self-care these days. And that’s for a very good reason – to prevent the inevitable burnout.
In this blog we’ll share some simple ways you can incorporate self-care in your everyday life. And self-care doesn’t always have to be alone time (although it is often nice).
Here are 10 easy self-care strategies to help you to strengthen relationships, especially one with yourself:
- Turn on some uplifting music – whatever your tastes and preference, music is proven to be relaxing. We love the daily playlists curated by Spotify. Why not play a different one each day to keep yourself guessing?
- Write and send a card to someone – a birthday card, a “thinking of you” card, a “get well” card, a “congratulations” card, or a “no-reason” card. We love the hilarious notecards by Hurrah for Gin
- Keep your fluids up – make yourself a nice drink like chamomile tea, hot chocolate or juice. Or better, make yourself a G&T– and sip it slowly
- Read a book, newspaper or magazine – reading is the best way to relax. Even six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds
- Schedule at least 1 uninterrupted hour with a close friend – go out for coffee or a drink. Talk on the phone or Facetime. Many of us are guilty saying “we should catch up soon” without committing to a time. Now is perfect opportunity to lock something in
- Grab those colouring pencils – mindful colouring is still a big thing. If you haven’t’ caught onto this trend, you’re missing out. Colour a picture from a colouring book with or beside your child. Or better, grab a Ryan Gosling colouring book from Dymocks
- Go on a social media kindness spree – use 20 minutes to spread good vibes and nice comments on people’s social media, Facebook groups or through messenger
- Plan a special one-on-one date with your child – Out & About Baby is a directory of baby friendly places (with reviews) for you to check out
- Break a sweat – one of the most common mental benefits of exercise is stress relief. Working up a sweat can help manage physical and mental stress. You can go solo in that disco spin class you’d been dying to try (or maybe it’s just us?) or get your whole family involved with a friendly game of football (hello World Cup)
- Plan a date – everyone loves a bit of romance. Plan a day out or a lovely dinner with your partner. Check out our post for some unique date-night ideas. If you need someone to mind your little ones, we have plenty of wonderful babysitters and nannies here at Find Fran to help.
How do you practise self-care? Is this something you do every day? We’d love to hear from you and how it’s helped you to de-stress.
If you found these tips helpful, please share them with a friend who needs some self-care love.
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