I came across the concept of self-care about a year ago. I was a senior in a very rigorous and stressful high school, where everyone boasted about their lack of sleep and social life because they were taking multivariable calculus or nanotechnology. I was caught up in this bandwagon, too. I took a pretty heavy load of classes in my junior year (even for my school) and decided I needed some sort of break my senior year. The classes were still crazy advanced, but the workload wasn’t as heavy. Even so, I was surrounded by truly driven and exhausted people. Then I came across this article about a woman who found herself floating through life, but found grounding by taking care of herself.
After this, I did loads of research on self-care and mental health. I realized that I had taken care of myself well enough in those three years (I always prioritized sleep over everything else), but not as well as I should have. At one point, I would reward myself with a shower after I writing six straight hours of notes for homework. I have definitely come a long way since then, but I wanted to start college hitting the ground running when it came to taking care of myself. So I decided to write a plan. If you are interested in creating your own, here’s how.
//How To Write One//
I’m not going into too much detail here because I have a full example after this. I feel like that will explain this process further.
First, you need to decide what your bare necessities are. After you divide your day into three chunks (Morning, Afternoon, Evening), add things that are must-dos for a good and healthy day like eat a “good breakfast” or “shower” or “lay out clothes before bed.” These are non-negotiable things that you should strive to do every day.
After that, write a list of fun activity ideas that help ground you or help you relax. College is both an exciting and busy time in your life. Your schedule will, for the most part, be full. Having a list of fun things to do once in a while should. Make sure to do at least three of these list items per week.
I wrote my self-care plan below for you all to read. This will make this idea make more sense.
//My Self Care Plan//
(Disclaimer: The format of my self-care plan was inspired by this post by Enlightened State)
//Morning
- Wake up with an alarm after enough sleep
- Get ready for the day with time to spare
- Drink two whole glasses of water
- Eat a filling breakfast
- Relax a bit before heading out
- Listen to an audiobook, podcast or album you love in the car
- Read a book for fun on the train (not for class)
//Throughout The Day
- Drink enough water
- Eat a filling lunch
- Watch a Netflix show, read blogs, or read a book during lunch break, instead of doing school work.
- Go to the gym (at least 3 times per week)
- Study productively at the library
- Get at least 3/4 of my to-do list done
- Go outside and enjoy the weather
- Think of something happy
//Evening
- Spend time with family
- Watch T.V (An hour at most)
- Eat dinner
- Shower (Every other day)
- Get all homework and studying done productively
- Take breaks in between
- Plan out next day in planner
- Set out clothes for the next day
- Pack backpack and charge laptop
- Sleep early enough to get 8 hours asleep before alarm rings
//Do At Least Three A Week
- Read for pleasure
- Go to the gym
- Dance
- Do yoga
- Meditate
- Spend quality time with a friend
- Spend quality time with a family member
- Journal
- Go out
- Look through old photos
- Color an adult coloring book
- Take a walk
//Some Ideas For Your Self-Care Plan//
- Crossword Puzzles
- Youtube workout videos
- Sudoku
- Dancing
- Singing
- Get a manicure
- Spend time with a pet
- Cooking
- Coloring books
- Drawing
- Yoga
- Pleasure reading
- Watch a movie
- Playing an instrument
- Journaling
- Scrapbooking
- DIY Projects
- Playing a sport outside
- Take a long bath or shower
- Get a massage
- Spa day
- Meet up with a friend or family member
- Go to the park
- Buy something for yourself
- Eat your favorite food
I encourage you to create one of these because most college students (like me) forget to prioritize their health over their grades. I hope this helped you.
(If you liked this post, you should read 8 Ways To Practice Self-Care During Finals Week)
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What will you add to your self-care routine?
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- How To Have A Productive Spring Break
- How To “Survive” Living With Your Parents In College
- 11 Things All College Commuters Need
Man junior year, I remember that horror. I really like the idea of having a more loose self-care plan, it seems to have a lot of flexibility. This post is awesome, I’m definitely updating my post to include this.
I’m glad it helped. And yes. Junior year was the best of times and the worst of times. There was a ridiculous amount of work. But at least now college seems like a breeze, right? It’s nothing compared to Hersch notes.
Thanks for sharing such a great list! I will have to pick some of the ideas from the list and do it during this weekend! Meditating and pleasure reading sounds great 🙂 x
– Sabrina | StudentsToolbox.com
I’m glad I helped you. Self-care is something I know many students don’t prioritize in college.
Hey! I was encouraged by my organization to speak up about mental health, so I recently wrote a blog post detailing some advice I have on maintaining wellness. I remembered how much I loved this post when I first read it and, because I think self-care is SO vital to one’s well-being, I liked this post over. (I hope you don’t mind lol hahaha.)
Anyway, because I never said it the first time, this was such a lovely read. If I could pass this on to middle school me, I would in a heart beat. I also adore how simple and flexible yours is. I especially love “Look through old photos.” I sometimes forget how happy reminiscing about things makes me.
I’m sorry it took so long to reply. I read your blog post and really loved it. Keep up the good work.
Triasha,
Thank you so much for this. This is so inspiring and so motivating at the same time. His blog has been super helpful as college students do require to even look after themselves but we don’t know how. Thanks for the help/ advice.
Thanks for sharing such a nice thing. I always forgot about self care and did nothing interesting in my free time. I used to get lazy and either sleep or just saw YouTube videos. Thanks again for this wonderful blog.