How To Create a Sunday Self-Care Routine

Do you wake up Monday morning exhausted and unprepared? Are you always burnt-out and overwhelmed? Do you ever feel like you’re hustling non-stop but never getting it all done?

If any of these resonate with you, it’s time to create and implement a Sunday self-care routine.

Why You Need A Sunday Self-Care Routine

We live in a world that glorifies business and overwork. It’s hard to not feel guilty about resting and taking time for ourselves.

But the truth is that we can’t show up fully present to life and be effective if we don’t take time to rest.

And if we’re honest with ourselves, do we really want to be busy all the time anyway?

 

Despite feeling like you need to do more and be more productive, here are 10 reasons you actually need to slow down and have a self-care Sunday:

1. Resting actually improves your productivity and effectiveness because you can show up fully instead of drained
2. Doing a self-care Sunday gives you the opportunity to do things that fill you up and make you happy
3. You can slow down to fully enjoy life in the present moment
4. You can reconnect with what matters most
5. You can reset your mindset
6. You can fully tend to the needs of your mind, body, and soul
7. Taking a full day for self-care gives you a fuller experience than taking one or two hours each evening
8. You can step back from the external world (like social media) to tune into yourself
9. It’s a chance to reflect on your week so you can learn and grow for next week
10. You can prepare for the week ahead

Creating and Implementing a Routine

The actual process of creating and implementing a self-care routine is fairly simple. It goes something like this:

1. Start with an intention: why do you need self-care?
2. Choose what activities align with your intention (see ideas below)
3. Write it down (to remind yourself and to stay accountable)
4. Take action and do your self-care (this is obviously the most important part)
5. Reflect on your experience and adjust as needed

Take a bit of time to really figure out what you need from a self-care Sunday and why.

Do you need to let go of last week? Do you need to calm your nervous system? Do you need to get inspired and motivated?

Once you figure out your why, then you can move onto the fun part: picking out what activities you’ll do!

The 4 Components of an Effective Self-Care Sunday

You’ll need to decide what components make up your self-care day.

Woo! I love this part.

To create a fully balanced self-care Sunday, I recommend choosing a few activities from each of these four categories: rest, reset, fill up, and prepare.

It’s important to do a little of each because, for example, if you rest all day you may not feel prepared for Monday, but if you only prepare you might not have gotten enough rest.

Let’s dive deeper into each category.

1. Rest

You can’t show up and be effective without rest. Humans require rest, it’s non-negotiable. You can either make time to rest regularly or pay the consequences later when your body and mind force you to rest.

Ideas for resting:

• Sleep in a little (but not enough to throw off your sleep schedule)
• Take your morning slow
• Read a book
• Watch a movie
• Ditch the overwhelming to-do list
• Make your favorite breakfast/coffee/tea
• Make time for snuggles (with your s/o, your family, your pets)

For me, I like taking my morning slow with a good cup of coffee and a book. Sometimes Joe and I like to watch a movie or 1-2 episodes of a show on Sunday, but we stay intentional about not binge-watching to make sure there’s time for everything else.

2. Reset

You know how sometimes all you have to do to fix your computer is turn it off and back on again? Well, a reset can do our minds and bodies a ton of good, too! A few ways you can reset:

• Take a long shower/bath
• Indulge in physical self-care (skincare, mani/pedi, etc)
• Do yoga or workout
• Journal to reflect, let go of the week, and reset your mindset
• Step away from technology/news/social media to tune into yourself

I often forget about physical self-care like tweezing my eyebrows, touching up my toenails, and moisturizing my skin. So, I like to take a really good shower and catch up on all my physical self-care on Sundays. It feels like a physical reset for me. I also love to journal to help reset my mind so I can go into Monday feeling fresh and openminded.

3. Fill Up

A self-care Sunday is the perfect opportunity to do things that fill you up and bring you joy. Think about what really lights you up, makes you happy to be alive, and refuels you energetically for the week ahead. Here’s what that might look like:

• Do something creative
• Go for a walk
• Spend time in nature
• Spend time with friends or family
• Spend time alone
• Do something fun you don’t normally do on weekdays
• Bake
• Set affirmations

I’m an introvert, so I like to spend time alone (or just with Joe) in the sunshine to refuel for the week. And I always love to do something creative on Sunday, even if it’s small. It really fills up my soul and makes me happy.

4. Prepare

If you’re ready to stop dreading Monday mornings and head into each week ready to go, then it’s important to do a few activities that help you prepare for the week ahead. We often think of bubble baths and candles when we think of self-care, but helping ourselves be prepared is just as important and useful as relaxing. Here’s how you can prepare for your week:

• Plan your week
• Meal Prep
• Clean/Tidy
• Drink plenty of water
• Turn off technology to help you wind down
• Go to bed early

This list sounds like the least amount of fun, but it’s super important to fully round out your self-care Sunday with these types of activities. I recommend taking these tasks slow instead of trying to rush through them. Being mindful about preparing can actually be quite meditative and enjoyable.

That’s it! You’re ready to start preparing your very own self-care Sunday!

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