Do you think you are too busy to take time out for Self-care rituals? Think again!

I have heard it SO many times before with my clients – “I don’t have time to do Self-Care routines”. And YES, we are all leading busy lives – juggling many things at the time – so I get it. But I also know that this statement often stems from the belief that we need a lot of free time to do this. And that is not true.

Instead of taking time out of your daily routines for Self-Care, why not just make it part of your day? Instead of visualising self-care to be a whole day out at the spa (which can be lovely to do also!), why not think of self-care as the small simple things we can add into smaller time frames throughout our usual daily life. I want to share a journal exercise that will help you re-think self-care!

Let’s get started!

For starters, commit to investing some time for this! If you are not willing to put in a little time for planning, then how can we commit to a plan of action! Turn your phone off, get your favourite cup of tea and let’s map this out in our journal…

A fresh start…

In your journal, we are going to have 6 whole pages (or more) for this exercise! This is one of my favourite ways to start a new journal so I can use it as a reference for a new Self-care/love journal – And to track my progress as I try it out. So, I invite you to start a brand new journal for Self-care today – And make this your first entry.

It is important ONLY to use pen and paper – It does make a huge difference.

Set the intentions and flow…

PAGE 1 – Start by writing down your intentions on your first page. Why did you start this journal? What would it mean to re-claim time during the day to take care of your Self? What are you open to learning as you create a plan of action? These are all things you can use as your intention-setting first-page entry. To remind your Self why this is important to you!

PAGE 2 to 6 – Get your timing right! The next few pages will be an exploration of how you can use your time to add or expand self-care rituals. Start off with smaller time slots and gradually build the time slots. I have given you the time slots that I use… Feel free to make your own version! And in time, you might even add more pages.

• Page 2 – Time slots of 1 to 5 minutes
• Page 3 – Time slots of 5 to 30 minutes
• Page 4 – Time slots of 30 minutes to 1 hour
• Page 5 – Time slots of 1 to 4 hours
• Page 6 – Time slots of half-day

Build your plan…

Now that we have our pages set up, we can create tables on each page to fill in. The easiest way is to split each page into 2 columns. The first will be headed with the time slot and the second with simple self-care routines.

For the 1st time slot column – Think about times during the day, in your usual daily routine, when you normally do have some moments to spare… As you can see, it can even just be for 1 minute!

For the 2nd self-care rituals column – This is a list of potential things you can do during these times. You don’t need to match it exactly to column 1, the main important thing is that you do have a list of different things to choose from. That way, you can easily return to this table for inspiration.

Let me share some examples below…

SOME EXAMPLES:

Use this for inspiration…

Try using your list for the next 40 days. You can start with just a few simple things during the smaller time slots and gradually build. In this journal, you can also keep track of your journey in the next 40 days. In time, you will know through experimenting what works for you. As these simple routines start to form habits, they will become easier to use without even thinking or reminding our Self about them!

ENJOY!