5 Ways To Use Your Daily Planner For Self-Care

 

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Fact: The easiest way to ensure that self-care happens is to plan for it! Scheduling self-care has been a huge life hack for me, and it’s so common sense that I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t think of it sooner. For me personally, using my daily planner for self-care has made a huge different to my commitment in practicing self-care.

There are many different ways to do this, of course. But like a lot of folks, I’ve found that using my planner is the best way for me to get anything done in my day-to-day life. So it made sense that it now includes my self-care too.

So if you already use a planner and want to start prioritising self-care in your life, this one’s for you. Read on to discover a few nifty ways you can use your planner for self-care!

Why you should use your planner for self-care

You’re more likely to plan for self-care

This one’s pretty self-explanatory, right? If you already have a dedicated place to plan your days and weeks, it’s the perfect place to plan for self-care too! 

And when you plan for self-care, you’ll be more likely to practice self-care. As a matter of fact, research has shown that you’re 40% more likely to accomplish goals when you write them down. 

So make sure you’re writing down your self-care goals! Even just starting with scheduling one self-care activity a day can make a difference over time. 

It will keep you accountable

When you include your self-care practices in your to-do list, you’re making sure that ‘future you’ is reminded to do it. It’s right there, starting you in the face – a task that can only be crossed off the list after you do it. That’s a pretty strong reminder to commit to your self-care practice!

Keeping yourself accountable is the key to creating any good habit, and this is a quick and easy way to do it. If, like me, you’re not naturally inclined to prioritise your self-care, planning your self-care ahead of time will force you to make it a habit over time.

It allows you to keep track of your self-care

Knowledge is power, and in this case, writing down your self-care plans is a great way to empower yourself with data about how you practice self-care. Tracking habits is the key to building habits.

Studying your self-care habits and taking note of what works (and what doesn’t) makes it a lot easier for you to commit to self-care practices that genuinely resonate with you. And this, in turn, makes it more likely that you’ll commit to more self-care in the future!

How to use your planner for self-care

1. Create a weekly self-care checklist

It may be difficult at first for you to come up with self-care ideas for every single day of the week, so why not start by giving yourself a week-long deadline instead?

This is one of the best self-care planner ideas to start with. You can include this checklist in your weekly planner so it’s always within view all week long. Start small by listing just 3 self-care practices that you must complete by the end of the week.

When thinking about these self-care activities, keep in mind that self-care practices don’t have to take a long time. Give yourself some self-care tasks that can be completed quickly so you can have that sense of accomplishment that will motivate you to keep doing this!

Here are some examples from my own weekly checklist. These are things I actually do every single week:

• 30 minute yin yoga session
• One takeaway dinner to give me a break from cooking
• One Selfie Skin at-home hair removal session
• Two body scrub sessions in the shower

2. Write down your self-care goals

As I mentioned before, us humans are far more likely to accomplish goals when we write down our goals. And what better place to put this list of self-care goals if not your very own planner?

To do this, you simply need to create a page somewhere in your planner that is dedicated solely to your self-care goals. If you’re not using a DIY planner, you can pop this list into your Notes section. Just like any other goal, make sure these ones are realistic! 

In this self-care goals list, you can include:

• Your self-care goal (Example: do one hour of yoga a week)
• A goal tracker with smaller milestones (10 mins of yoga for week 1, 20 mins of yoga for week 2, etc)
• A reward for when you accomplish that goal (new yoga pants!)

You could easily use this list format to track multiple self-care goals. Remember, there are many different types of self-care. So have a think about the types of self-care you may be neglecting and write goals that are directed towards improving those areas.

3. Create a mindful morning routine

When you start your day on a mindful note, it’s inevitable that you’ll incorporate self-care into your day. By creating a mindful morning routine, you’re giving yourself the ability to take control of your mornings and replace chaos with calm.

But it won’t suddenly happen unless you plan ahead!

Start by creating a mindful morning routine that suits your lifestyle, then write it down as a checklist in your planner. After a few weeks, check back on this morning routine checklist to see what needs to be adjusted, added, or taken away. 

Creating a morning routine that is full of intention can be like an anchor to keep you grounded and focused for the rest of the day. Definitely give it a try!

4. Create a self-care menu

When you find a self-care activity that really works for you, you need to make sure you plan to do it again and again! You can achieve that consistency by writing down a list or menu of your favourite self-care activities to revisit when you plan your self-care.

You can just create a simple list, or take it a step further by dividing it by category. Again, you could consider the different types of self-care as a guide here. On the other hand, if time management is important to you, then categorising based on the duration of the activity may be a good idea too!

Whichever approach you take, it just makes sense to have this menu accessible in your planner so you can conveniently refer to it when planning your days.

5. Include a daily mood tracker

I first heard about this concept from Beatrice at The Bliss Bean, and it’s been amazing to observe how much my self-care (or lack thereof) can directly impact my mood when I track it. 

Seeing this connection has been a constant reminder to stay on top of my wellbeing, which is something I forget to do sometimes.

Now, mood tracking doesn’t have to be complex. I’m a big believer in habit stacking – that is, attaching new habits to existing ones – so perhaps that can be an approach you can consider trying too. 

My approach to mood tracking is simple: I draw a smiley face, neutral face, or a sad face next to each date in my weekly pages. These faces obviously reflect my overall mood for each day. 

Alternatively, you can do the same but in a monthly calendar instead. Just make sure you can cross check your daily activities somehow, because the point of this practice is to link your mood to your activities.

No matter the approach, the important thing is that you’re using the existing framework in your planner and adding your mood tracking to it! 

Over time, you might notice ‘trends’ in your mood based on how much self-care you’re practicing, the timing of your menstrual cycle, or even how much (or how little) you’re socialising.

Make it easy: Get a planner that contains it all!

I’m all about keeping life simple, especially when it comes to practicing self-care. That’s why I use my Saint Belford Curation planner to do it all! It’s specifically designed to help you keep track of your goals and habits, particularly when it comes to your self-care and personal growth.

This is my second year using it, and I’m astounded by just how much it has transformed how I treat myself and my self-care! 

Here are the main ways I prioritise my self-care using this planner:

• The Daily Self-Care Planner allows me to jot down exactly what self-care practices I will commit to each day.
• The Self-Care Menu is a personalised list of self-care rituals, routines and habits that I can pick and choose from. Click here to see my actual self-care menu.
• The Habit Tracker allows me to keep track of my new self-care habits. It keeps me accountable and motivates me on days where I might let self-care slide a bit.
• The Gratitude List makes sure I start each week with an attitude of gratitude, ensuring I start all my planning on a positive note.

If you’re looking for solid ways to prioritise your self-care, this planner needs to be on your wishlist!

Use my code ADRIANA to get 10% off purchases over $49 at Saint Belford – click here to start shopping.

Plan ahead so you can commit to self-care

Planning my self-care has been my number one strategy in making it a part of my everyday life. I cannot overstate just how impactful it has been to use my planner for self-care – it’s made a massive difference in how I approach my wellbeing. 

Are you well aware that self-care is good for you, but just have no idea how to start including it in your life?  

I can help! 

My eBook contains 100 quick and easy self-care ideas – and it’s completely FREE! Just sign up for my fortnightly newsletters using the form below to get this comprehensive eBook sent directly to your inbox. Consider that one self-care activity sorted for your week!