If you need to spend more time at home at the moment, be sure to include some self-care activities in your daily routine.
Self-care is always important, but never more so than during times of upheaval or anxiety.
Regular self-care will help you to stay focused and calm during times of stress. It’ll also help you build resilience and feel more confident in dealing with the challenges life throws your way.
What is self-care?
Self-care is the practice of protecting, maintaining and improving our health and well-being.
The best way of taking care of our physical and mental health is to eat nutritious food, get restorative sleep, exercise regularly and consistently do activities that make you feel good.
Even if the self-care activities you normally do such playing a team sport, going to the gym, meeting friends for coffee, or going to art class are no longer possible, there are still many other self-care activities you can try.
Self-care activities to do at home
Take a look at these 40 ideas for self-care activities you can do while you are at home.
As a bonus, all these activities are free or low cost. See if you can incorporate at least one into your day today.
Move your body
If you have a garden and can get outside, do some weeding or water your plants. You’ll be nurturing your garden, moving your body and getting fresh air, all at once.
But if you have to stay indoors there are still plenty of ways you can move your body.
- Do some stretches or yoga
- Put on some music then dance around the kitchen (bonus points for singing along too!)
- Find a fitness workout on YouTube – try out a few different ones till you find your favourite
- Do 5 star-jumps – and see if you can add one more each day
Get creative
Take up a new hobby or revisit an old one. There are masses of tutorials online, and you can even enrol in online classes to learn new skills. What have you always wanted to learn?
- Knit or crochet
- Sew
- Play a musical instrument
- Write a song, a poem, or a story
- Try a new recipe
- Draw, sketch or paint
Get organized
Excess clutter and disorganized spaces can make you feel anxious and overwhelmed. And clutter isn’t just physical stuff. It’s also those nagging ‘should-dos’ or ‘need-to-remembers’ at the back of your mind.
Spend a bit of time organizing your space and your time. It will boost your mood, and help you feel accomplished.
- Clean out your handbag or purse
- Declutter a drawer
- File paperwork (and shred what you no longer need)
- Collate your photos into photo books (physical or digital)
- Write a list
- Tackle a nagging ‘to-do’
Connect with others
Even if you can’t leave the house, there are still ways to connect with friends and family
- Write a letter or postcard or draw a picture for a loved one – take a photo, then email it to them
- Make a phone call to a friend just to say hi
- Send a ‘thinking of you’ text message
- Arrange a group chat (use Skype, Zoom or other video chat technology)
Recharge
Switch gears and let your body and mind recharge
- Read a book
- Listen to an audiobook or podcast
- Tend to your houseplants
- Drink some water
- Brew a cup of tea
- Watch a film or an episode of your favourite TV series
- Have a nap
- Meditate
- Journal
- Go to bed early
- Focus on your breathing for 1 minute
- Soak in the bath
- Do a jigsaw
- Diffuse some essential oils
- Put your phone out of sight for 1 hour – unplug from news updates and social media for a while
- Start a gratitude practice
Plan ahead
Having something to look forward to will help you feel positive about the future. Think about your dreams (big and small), and set some set goals and action plans in place to help you achieve them.
- Write a bucket list – where do you want to go, what do you want to see and do
- Create a vision board – physical or digital
- Set some goals for the next 12 months. What do you want to achieve by this time next year?
- Write a list of books you want to read
- Write a list of movies or TV series you want to watch
So there you have it – 40 ideas for self-care activities you can do at home.
What’s the one thing you’re going to do today to practice self-care?
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