Simple Weekly & Monthly Self-Care Tasks for When You Don’t Have Time

Because we’re all busy bees at one point.

One common reason that people don’t do self-care is because they lack the time. I know this because I was the same.

When I was in my senior year of high school, I felt that I never had time for myself. Because with all the exams and school work happening, it felt like I just simply did not have time for self-care.

However, we probably already know that self-care is important. But how do we do self-care when it feels like we’re always busy all the time?

Well, it starts with small steps. It all starts with just doing one weekly task. Then two weekly tasks. Then eventually, you may do a monthly task, until you add them all up.

This blog post is going to go through weekly and monthly self-care tasks that you can make non-negotiable. All these tasks are things that you can easily implement into your life so you can make self-care a part of your permanent lifestyle.

You’ll learn of simple self-care tasks that are still enjoyable! This blog post is definitely for all those who want to add self-care into their lifestyle and keep it that way!

I’m also curious on anyone else’s way of doing self-care! Let me know in the comments below (only I see them!)

Weekly Non-Negotiable Self-Care Tasks

1 – Self-Date

Let me just say that weekly self-dates are lifechanging!

There’s something about spending quality time with yourself that boosts a lot of self-love and self-esteem.

Having self-dates gives you a chance to spend time in your own company. It allows you to discover what you really enjoy, without the input of another person. And the more self-dates you have, the more comfortable you get with yourself.

If you haven’t done many self-dates before, you’re more than welcome to start small! Even if it’s just a night to yourself at home, where you watch your favourite TV show with some takeout. Or even if it’s just a nice nature walk outside.

If you need a place you start, you can read my past blog post on how to plan a self-date. It’s a step-by-step guide to planning a self-date you’ll enjoy!

2 – Learn something new every week

Because guess what, learning doesn’t stop after you graduate school… any sort of school.

The learning keeps on going.

But, it’s important to also be intentional with your learning. What I mean by this, is that while we do get lessons from our different life events, challenges, and circumstances, it’s also just as important to go out and learn something new.

And how can you “intentionally” learn something new? Well, you can read a personal development book, or listen to a podcast.

Or if you want to start small, you can just read a blog post article (like the ones on this blog 😉 ) or you can watch a YouTube video. Small steps make a difference.

As discussed in a past blog post, your diet isn’t just in what you physically eat. It’s also in what you put into your mind.

3 – Take yourself out for coffee

This is also a self-date idea. But there’s a reason this is its own task.

How many times have you got a coffee, tea, or whatever beverage you usually get (like bubble tea or something), and you actually took the time to just sit down in the cafe and drink it?

Most times, people just like to order their coffee and just take it with them as they go. But how many times do we actually just stop to sit in the cafe and have a mindful moment?

I understand that schedules can get super busy, but I’m sure we can find at least 5 minutes to just sit down, and enjoy the sips of the beverage we ordered. And if we need to get somewhere and we haven’t finished the drink, then we can take it with us.

It may seem like a small moment, but it’s those small moments that are precious.

4 – Take a nice nature walk

Of course, this is weather dependent. But as long as the weather is not pouring rain, snow, or even a big heatwave (depending where you live), there are so many benefits to taking a walk outside even if it’s just for 15 minutes.

I don’t know what it is, but nature has a big effect on me. Whenever I feel stressed, I go outside for a walk, and I feel a bit better. There’s something about being in the nature that is stress-relieving.

I love doing my nature walks every day when I can. But, of course, if it’s just the start for you, you can just go for once a week. Even once a week can make a big difference. In fact, you may find taking walks outside very addicting that you want to do it more than once a week.

5 – Have a non-negotiable rest day

Humans are like our phones! Our phones does a lot of things for us, but there will come a time when it needs to recharge. Because when the battery is low, it can’t function as much.

Same with humans. We do a lot of things, but we need to have recharging time too! Having even just one day off of all work and study can be enough recharge for us. It’s not too much that we become lazy, but not too less that we burn out.

I know that we might be hesitant and afraid that it will affect our work/study/business if we take one day off a week. But if we’re always in the work zone without a break, we’ll eventually burn out. And when we burn out, it can take a while to recover, and I’ll work/study/business will end up getting affected too. So that’s why, you want to charge yourself before you need it.

Monthly Non-Negotiable Self-Care Tasks

1 – Try out a New Activity

It’s always great when we have different hobbies, interests, and regular activities that we do! But remember, that there’s always something new that we can discover about ourselves.

That’s why, every month is a good time to try out a new activity. It can go one of two ways.

You either discover that you probably don’t like the activity, so you don’t do it anymore (which is okay).

OR you discover that you really enjoy the activity and it becomes a regular thing for you!

But you never get to know the answer unless you try it.

So think of activities that you’ve always wanted to try out, and then every month, take the time to try it.

Feel free to read this blog post on different types of hobbies that you can try out!

2 – Watch a movie/binge a TV show

I’m sure everyone loves this activity.

BUT how many of us use this activity as a procrastination method?

When we use this as a procrastination method, we feel guilty about watching the TV show or the movie.

So we probably agree that watching a movie & binge watching a TV show hits differently when we actually have earned it and not associate it as a way to procrastinate.

That’s why, at least once a month, we have a movie or TV session where it’s not associated with a way to procrastinate. Instead, we use it as a way to truly enjoy ourselves and genuinely watch the TV show.

3 – Do some self-touring

Now, when was the last time we toured the city we live in? When was the last time we actually went on a tourist attraction in our city?

I’ve lived in Sydney for several years, and it was only until my last years of living there that I started going to all the tourist places.

There’s two reasons why this is fun to do.

One, any attraction is entertaining and is enjoyable (at least we hope so).

And two, it’s also a great self-date idea as well!

How many places have we wanted to go to but didn’t because we couldn’t find anyone else to go there with?

So why not just go on your own? You can take your own pictures & enjoy the moments.

4- Have ONE day to yourself (or at least a few hours)

Now what exactly is a DAY (or a few hours) to yourself?

It’s when you get to spend time in your own company, phone free (exception is photos and emergency phone calls & messages) and have an enjoyable time.

You can do anything you want to do that day. You can turn your phone on silent and watch a movie for a few hours. Or you can go for a spa day, or you can take yourself out for grocery shopping (which is something I love doing). There’s so much you can do.

And it’s important to regularly spend time on your own because you have to get used to your own company. Because being afraid of your own company can get hard! Besides, the best and only way to boost your self-love and self-care is by spending more time with yourself.

5 – Have a non-negotiable work-free weekend

Before you say “but I have so much work I need to do, I can’t find just ONE weekend off”… just remember that the fact that you have so much work to do, means that you’ve already earned that time off.

Maybe it’s not a weekend, maybe it’s a weekday. But out of the 30 or 31 days (or 28 days if it’s February), really look into your calendar and see if you can find at least 2 days that you can take a non-negotiable no work break.

Just like what we mentioned earlier with the non-negotiable day off, we need to recharge. We’re humans… we have to recharge! Without recharging, it will lead to burn out. When we burn out, our work ability does end up getting affected and it can take a while to recover.

So that’s why, really take a look at your calendar, and you may find that you have a few days to spare and take a work-free break. Pinky promise, that if you have a lot of work to get done, you need that break!

BOTH …

Have Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly Traditions for Yourself!

You know how couples or families have certain traditions whenever a certain event happens or they even just have regular traditions in general?

For example, a couple on their anniversary has a tradition to watch a particular movie that they both enjoyed. Or a family has a tradition that every weekend they try out a new restaurant.

Why not have the same traditions for yourself?

Maybe, for every accomplishment you make at school, work, or your business, your tradition is that you’ll take yourself out to the movies.

Or maybe every month, a tradition you may have is to go to the spa to relax!

Or every quarter, you go on a mini getaway… the possibilities are endless.

You can even think of the traditions that other couples or families already have, and see if you can turn them into self-traditions.

To hopefully help you get started, here are a few of my traditions!

Weekly

• Self-Date to spend time with me!
• After every Muay Thai Kickboxing class, I reward myself with ice cream, bubble tea, or food to eat at home!
• Every week I go and visit a place with a water view.
• Every time it’s a face-mask day, I relax with my favourite TV show.

Monthly

• Tour a tourist attraction in the city I’m living at.
• Do a self-date hike.
• Try out a new restaurant.
• Self-date traditions – movie night at cinemas, arcade self-date, painting by the water).

Quarterly

• Take a week off ALL work and simply relax

Take a SMALL STEP

It’s time to take some small steps to implement all these weekly & monthly tasks into your life!

1. Add into your schedule this week, the following things:

• Your SELF-DATE!
• 15 minutes of learning time.
• Coffee self-date (even just 5 minutes)
• Nature walk (even just 15 minutes)
• Your non-negotiable work-free day (just ONE day)

2. List down activities that you’ve always wanted to try out!

3. List down any movies & TV shows that you will be watching guilt-free this month.

4. Search up and list down at least 3 tourist attractions in your city, that you’ll take yourself to.

5. Look in your calendar and schedule a WORK-FREE weekend (or 2 days off from any sort of work). One of those days will include a day to yourself.

6. List down a few self-traditions… at least 5!

How you take care of yourself, determines how

you’ll do everything else

This was a hard pill to swallow in the beginning, but it’s true! How you take care of yourself, determines how you do everything else in your life, from your work to your studies, and your relationships.

Understandably, it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why, taking small steps and implementing a few tasks into your life can make a big difference. You can start with the weekly tasks (self-dates, nature walks, coffee self-dates) and the monthly tasks (self touring, trying out a new activity, work-free weekend), and then go from there.

It’s all about the small steps that you take consistently that help you see the difference. If you need help in taking those small steps, you can read my book Small Steps to Progression (link book) which you can download for free here!

In the meantime, be kind to yourself and take good care of yourself.

-Lauren 😊

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