Hi guys! Welcome to my newly remodeled blog!
Now, before you say “not another self-care routine”. I promise this isn't your typical self-care blog.
Let's start with the monthly theme “Self-Care”. This month is solely dedicated to focusing on yourself.
Let me explain. For one month, I want to completely make it about myself by taking care of my mental, physical, and emotional health. We’ll get into the examples a little later.
So what exactly is self-care?
It’s whatever you want it to be. Health, fitness, mental health, or maybe detoxing from social media and the television, making a doctor and dental appointment if needed, or you could find ways to improve in other areas of your life. For example, finances, budgeting, and spirituality. This is your life and how you choose to go about it is no one's business but your own.
Now that I’ve explained a little, let’s get into why I picked the theme of self-care and why for a full month. I started to feel drained, tired, unfocused, unhealthy, and overall feel like crap. I decided this month I should only focus on myself and purging what I don't need. Meaning if it isn't in alignment with me, then it has to go. I printed a calendar and drafted what the focus will be each week.
Here's a peek at what my weekly routines will look like.
Physical Week 1 - Health and fitness, skincare, detoxing
Spirituality Week 2 - Meditating, journaling, daily affirmations
Habits Week 3 - Developing new routines
Finances Week 4 - Budgeting and finances
These are just a couple of examples. Tip* This should be fun to do. It should in no way feel like a chore. Treat yourself and don't you dare feel guilty about it.
Now that I've explained what self-care is, get your pen and paper, draw your calendar, color it or glitter it up. I want you to find ways to make this fun and set up your month focusing on yourself.
What exactly will you be doing that’s in alignment with the theme this month? And please feel free to use my routine and make the necessary changes to fit your lifestyle. Here’s a copy of my first week.
Physical Week 1 Health, Fitness, Skincare, and Detoxing
During this week I'll create a workout and healthy eating schedule
Develop healthy meal plans by finding inspiration and doing research on healthier options to cook. Pinterest is my go-to for meals and workouts. I usually pick easy meals with less cook time and less prep time. I don't find enjoyment in cooking. This works for me. I can’t really go into what meal plan you should do. That is up to you. I am simply sharing what works for me.
Develop a fitness routine. List what exercises and body parts to focus on each day of the week. Try looking up exercises by taking advantage of free resources such as Youtube, Instagram, and Pinterest. I found that creating a schedule and knowing ahead of time the exercises you're going to do helps a bunch! I cannot stress enough how this is a big helper. I used to go to the gym and wing it. Now I make sure I'm prepared, so my workouts are smooth and I don't waste time deciding on what to do next. I use an app called insta downloader which lets you download videos from Instagram, keeping them in a file. I also use Pinterest by creating a private board just for fitness.
Set a doctor and dental appointment.
Pamper me - To be realistic I need to take 1 day each month to focus on my skincare, beauty, and just loving myself. I schedule a professional facial, manicure, and pedicure. I usually do my own acrylic nails and manicure, but if I don't feel like it, I’ll just schedule an appointment with my local nail salon. 9 times out of 10, I'll do my mani's and pedi's myself.
Wash, detox, and condition my hair
Take a cleansing bath
Relax
Spirituality Week 2 - Meditating, Journaling, Daily Affirmations
Now while keeping my fitness and healthy eating routine, this week I begin my spiritual journey. Meaning prayer, meditation, and speaking daily affirmations. Here’s what my schedule might look like. In the morning before I get out of bed, I speak what I am thankful for. While showering I speak daily affirmations. I used to meditate in the morning, but now meditating during the evening before bed works best for me. Some would argue that it’s best to do it in the morning, but again, this is my life and I do what I think works best for me. My goal is to journal at the end of the week. Just write down all of my thoughts. I'll listen only to uplifting podcasts and spiritual podcasts throughout this month.
Habits Week 3 - Developing new routines
My goals for this week are to develop new routines such as daily and weekly cleaning routines, making it a habit to make my bed in the morning, having an evening routine before bed, or maybe getting in the habit of scheduling my monthly, weekly, and daily tasks.
I am in the process of creating a monthly, weekly, and daily planner for me to use. It will be available in my Etsy shop very soon.
In the past, I have had issues with organization. I think I have found a way to organize my life, work, hobbies, and more in one so it doesn't feel overwhelming. I have a huge binder that I call my life binder. It has everything from my home management schedule to my financial planning in it. For me, it's the same as preparing your meal and workout schedule. I like to know what my goals are for the week, month, and day so I can make sure I'm on the right track to reaching them.
How I organize my week
Write down my tasks to complete this week. Kind of like a brain dump.
Decide what days to work on specific tasks
Decide what is most important to the least important
Time block how long you will be working on each task
Include rest breaks to recharge the brain
Check off that box when you're done.
I started with 8 simple tasks to complete.
Finances Week 4 - budgeting
This week’s focus is on how to improve my finances. I look over my budgeting to see if changes need to be made. Maybe figure out ways to bring in extra income and more. I can go on and on. I'm pretty sure I have missed some things. But I think you get the gist of it.
Make this month about you. If you realize something isn't working, don't quit. Try a different way.
What will you do during the self-care month? I would love to hear. Leave a comment below.
Disclaimer. I am not a fitness coach, financial advisor, or nutritionist. I am simply sharing what works for me.