Self-care isn't just reserved for weekends and days off. It's much more effective when it's integrated into your daily life.
In this post, we'll talk about why you might not be getting enough self-care during the week and sharing weeknight self-care ideas to help you feel rested and recharged.
Are You Rushing Through Weeknight Self-Care?
I used to rush through my evening 'to-dos' like making dinner, exercising, and taking a shower to get to the 'relaxing' portion of my evening...which, let's be honest, was mostly Netflix.
Despite all of the relaxing I was doing each night, I was still coming away exhausted because I didn't put real effort into the actual self-care - which was all of the other stuff I was rushing through.
The truth is that most self-care isn't cute and Instagram worthy. It's putting more attention into the daily tasks of sustaining yourself.
If you get back to the basic definition of the word care, it means 'the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something.' Self-care isn't all of the fluffy stuff, it's the everyday tasks we often rush through.
I've found a lot more enjoyment in my daily life tasks now that I take my time and look at them as self-care. Here are some of the ways you can integrate weeknight self care into your evenings.
Weeknight Self-Care Ideas
- Evening Shutdown. This is just a little ritual of signaling to yourself that the day is over. It could be leaving work at work and listening to your favorite song on the way home, doing a quick brain dump then closing your computer for the day, or going for a walk. Anything that signals an end to work and shift into your evening.
- Mindfully make and eat dinner. Food is definitely one of my love languages. I feel immensely better when I slow down and take my time to prepare and eat dinner. Nothing fancy, just a meal that makes me feel cared for and nourished.
- Indulge a 20-Minute Luxury. You might think you don't have time for extra-special self-care on weeknights, but can you spare just 20 minutes (or swap 20 minutes of screen time for 20 minutes of self-care)? This might look like reading a novel, watching the sunset, coloring, painting your nails, or upgrading your shower to a bath. Just 20 minutes of real self-care can make a huge difference.
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