WHY YOU NEED A CREATIVE SELF CARE PLAN AND HOW TO CREATE ONE
are you struggling to find time for yourself amid the busyness of daily life?
PUT YOURSELF ON YOUR TO-DO LIST AND SCHEDULE IN SELF CARE TIME - GUILT FREE WITH A CUSTOMISED PLAN
We are nearing the end of 2020 but this long and strange year doesn’t need to be a complete write off just yet. Why not use the last few weeks of the year to set yourself up for a stress free 2021 (no matter what this crazy world has in store for us!)
Here at CHH we are aaaaalll about keeping things simple, creative and fun and know that to truly prioritise your self care, you need to schedule it in. Here’s how to get organised and do just that in a way that feels gentle, creative, streamlined and still leaves space for all the rest.
WHY DO YOU NEED A SELF CARE PLAN?
Simply put, having a plan will consistently direct your daily actions towards your ultimate goal. A good self care plan will allow you to have a good balance of ‘me time’ as well as all your other daily and weekly tasks.
a plan can uncover your specific self care needs
So often we chase and try every single self care activity we come across, hoping its going to help us feel better in some way, but this only leads to more overwhelm and usually no result because not every self care things our there is going to of benefit to you and your specific needs.
Real self care runs deep and surface level, short-lived bubble baths and face masks can’t give us the long term wellness benefits we want. Self care is multi-faceted and should take into account your personal, physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual and professional needs. Creating a self care plan ensure that you have a bank of self care activities to cover all these facets of your life, keeping you well balanced.
Its only when we come to actually writing this stuff down, getting it out of head and onto paper that we realise, what we are craving, what we are neglecting and what we need to make more space for.
That’s where a self care plan (with a tracker is even better!) comes in. A self care planner is your space to figure all this out, schedule it all in.
a plan leads to a habit
So often our new self care activity drops off after a while and that’s because we fail to turn it into a habit. Habits are easier to form when you know exactly what it is you’re trying to trying to achieve and why. Again, this comes back to (realistically) scheduling in your ‘me time with a morning routine for example and having a weekly and monthly plan to guide you.
accountability when you’re having a not so great day
Having a self care plan means you have something to fall back on and keep you on track when you’re having a not-so-great day. If all you can think of doing is curling up and watching Netflix but know you’d feel better if you did something else, then your plan is there to support you.
Sometimes something as simple as listing all the things you want to do can be a wonderful act of mindful self care, lists are definitely one of my favourite things to create and come back to when I need some accountability.
How to create a self care plan
There are many ways you can create your plan but keeping it simple is always going to be the most effective to begin with. Clarity, routine and a schedule are the 3 key ingredients.
GET CLARITY
Clarity on what brings you joy, calm and health. I suggest brainstorming and heartstorming under these three headings - BODY, MIND & SOUL (all this mapped out for you in the Self Care Planner & Tracker).
ROUTINE
Have a think about what routines you can create, morning/evening/weekly to support you in getting all the regular things you need to do done, having a routine means less thinking and decision making has to happen and less thinking means a happier brain!
SECHEDULE
Map it all out. Start with an overview of your month, note down all your appointments and errands (holding them in your head is overwhelming), then start to map out the week ahead (schedule in time for yourself here and include your ‘routines’). Then its time to get focus on your days (I suggest doing this the night before or first thing in the morning). I also like to include a daily intention on my plan as a way to keep grounded and mindful throughout the day. This simple activity of having everything you need to think about for the day already laid out will make a real impact on how you move through the day.
GET planning
Creating a self care plan should not be stressful, in fact planning in this mindful and creative way is in itself and act of self care!
Remember your self care plan is fluid, so nothing has to be set in stone and you can constantly review and add and remove anything that no longer serves you.
3 TIPS TO WRITE YOUR PLAN
Choose a quiet time and space, grab a coffee, put on some music, light a candle, create a space that engages your senses and calms your mind. Get in the zone!
Incorporate your creativity with coloured pens and markers, stickers, post it notes, quotes, drawings etc. The more you can ‘connect’ to your plan the more effective it will be.
Get your copy of the Self Care Planner & Tracker to make this process even more effortless, with done for you templates, self care ideas calendar, planners and trackers, weekly reset, productivity planner and vision board to really up-level your self care game.