Simple Self-Care Checklist

Make self-care as easy as following a checklist

It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget about yourself. Before you know it, you're tired, stressed out, and in need of a self-care reboot! At Mudita, we’ve found that adding small self-care tasks to my daily checklist helps us keep our sanity while still getting everything done. 

Here are some ideas:

Maintain Healthy Sleep Habits

We all know that sleep is good for us. In fact, research shows that people who get enough restful sleep have more energy and are more productive at work. Yet, most of us still don’t get enough of it. The National Sleep Foundation recommends aiming for seven to nine hours per night, but a third of the population sleep less than 6 hours each night—and many get even less than that.

Here are three tips to help you get better quality rest:

1. Set a regular bedtime and wake-up time—and stick with them! A consistent sleep schedule will help train your body when it should be sleeping so that you can fall asleep faster when it’s time for lights out. Our alarm clock, Mudita Harmony, can help you improve your sleep hygiene by helping you establish healthy bedtime habits.  

2. Stay away from electronics in the hour before bedtime.

3. Avoid caffeine within six hours of going to sleep (or earlier if possible).

Make time for meditation

Meditation is a great way to calm your mind and body, which helps you feel more relaxed and less stressed. It can also help you be more mindful of your thoughts and feelings, leading to better mental health. Meditation can also improve sleep quality, reduce pain levels, and even help improve concentration while working on tasks at work or school. Meditation doesn't have to be done in silence either; some studies have even shown that guided meditations are just as effective as unguided ones. There are many different types of meditation: some people prefer guided meditations where they listen to someone's voice guiding them through the practice, while others prefer silent meditation with no outside influence whatsoever (also called mindfulness practice). Whatever kind of meditation you choose should take about 20 minutes each day, however,  if it doesn't seem like something you'll stick with long term then try starting small! Start by meditating for 5-10 minutes each day until it becomes part of your routine. If it does become part of your routine then try increasing the amount until eventually reaching 20 minutes a day!

Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet

Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet is a major part of self-care. This means eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. It also means reducing the amount of processed foods, sugar and unhealthy fats you consume.

If you can't commit to completely changing your diet overnight (and sometimes it's not realistic to do so), try making incremental changes by focusing on one thing at a time. For example: eat more vegetables; then add in fruit; then start cutting out processed foods; etc., until you've made all the changes that work for you.

Aim for 20 min of exercise per day

Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for your physical and emotional health. It's easy to forget about it when life gets busy, however exercising regularly can help improve your sleep, lower stress levels, keep weight at a healthy level, and improve heart health.

Exercise doesn't have to mean going on a run or lifting weights at the gym. Anything that gets you moving will do—from walking around your neighborhood to taking the stairs rather than the elevator at work. In fact, research shows that 20 minutes of exercise per day (or 30 minutes if you're older than 65) provides many of these benefits! ^[1]

Take care of your mental fitness

Just like physical fitness, mental fitness has many benefits for your health and well-being. The best way to keep your mind sharp is by challenging it. You can do this by reading books, solving puzzles and doing Sudoku, or even playing word games like Scrabble or Boggle. The more you use your brain on a regular basis, the less likely you are to lose it as you age!

Drink more water

One of the easiest things you can do to take care of yourself is drink more water. Water helps flush out toxins from your body, keep your skin looking healthy and glowing, and it also makes you feel better in general. Drinking water before meals will make you feel full faster so that you eat less food overall—and that's a win-win for both your waistline and wallet! If drinking an extra glass or two of water isn't enough to get the idea across, try drinking one before bed every night—it'll help you sleep better, too!

Understand what self-care means for you.

Self-care is different for all people: some might enjoy sleeping in while others get most energized before the sun rises; some love cooking while others prefer ordering takeout; some need alone time while others thrive with social interaction. Knowing what works best for YOUR body (and making sure that it's happening) will help ensure that self-care becomes as easy as following a checklist! We hope these tips help you to take better care of yourself. If you find them useful, please share them with someone you know who could benefit from some extra self-care!

If you’d like to read more about topics connected to this subject, please check out some of our other articles:

• What exactly is self-care & why it matters

• The many health and well-being benefits of daily meditation

• What is Mindful Eating and Why It Matters

To learn more about Mudita, take a look at our website and our other posts.