How to Take a Self Care Day (Mental Health Day)

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Planning a self care day starts with figuring out how to spend a mental health day and in this post you’ll make a plan for your self care day

journal prompts for healing - adventuring for mental health

What is a Self Care Day?

A self care day is essentially a day where you focus on filling your own cup with some of your favorite things so that each type of self care is taken care of.

In this post you’ll see self care day called a handful of things and I did that because often times, people call them different things but they all mean the same day! I’d say calling it a self love day or mental health day are the most common variations of saying “self care day”.

What Does a Self Love Day Look Like?

A self love day looks like an entire day focused on YOU and your own needs.

Now, it doesn’t have to be an entire day. Sometimes my mental health days are more so mental health evenings where I get myself dressed up and take myself out to dinner to then come home and have a little dance party with some wine, but entire days are even better for your mental health.

A self care day for me looks like a day full of doing things that I love (specifically from my happy list that I mention in this post).

What Should I Do For My Self Care Day?

You should only do things that benefit your mind, body, and soul for your self care day. Things that make your soul happy. If you are spending a whole day on yourself, why spend it doing anything that makes you unhappy? I suggest starting with a happy list like I mentioned above.

A happy list is a list of things that, well, make you happy!

Here is a picture of my own happy list (I’m not here for judgement but feel free to steal some ideas):

how to make a happy list for bad mental health days - self care day ideas

When it comes to figuring out what to do on your self care day, you first need to figure out what types of self care you want to include.

Types of Self Care

Did you know that there are five different types of self care? The different types of self care include mental self care, emotional self care, physical self care, social self care, and practical self care. I have included some examples in the image below.

So with those examples in mind, what do you think you need to work on during your upcoming self care day?

If you need a bit more info on the different types of self care and more examples, check out this post on the different types of self care.

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Mental Health Day Ideas by Type of Self Care

Now that you have a better understanding of what a self care day is, let’s dive into some examples of ways to spend your mental health day!

Mental Self Care Day Ideas:

Read a new book from your list
Try to learn a new skill
Turn your phone off
Color
Do a DIY project
Do a puzzle
Visit a museum
Make a list of your recent accomplishments (no matter how small)

Emotional Self Care Day Ideas:

Write out five things you like about yourself and why
Meditate (I love The Mindful Movement on Youtube)
Write out five affirmations for yourself and stick them around your home
Forgive yourself for something (write about it in your journal)
Open up to a friend about something that has been on your chest
Write down five things you are grateful for

Social Self Care Day Ideas:

Take a social media break
Have a date with a friend
Try to make a new friend
Attend an event for something you enjoy
Spend time with family
Unfollow accounts that make you feel less than
Plan a day/trip with a friend or your SO
Spend quality time with your SO

Physical Self Care Day Ideas:

Get a massage
Spend time outside
Take an exercise class
Take a nap
Go for a walk
Dance it out
Go for a swim
Take a bath
Do some yoga/stretching

Practical Self Care Day Ideas:

Create a cleaning schedule
Update your budget
Make the necessary calls you’ve been avoiding
Write out your personal mission statement
Make a to-do list for the week
Create a master grocery list
Designate a home for everything
Funcationally organize your kitchen

Self Care Day Plan Example:

Set your intentions for the day
Get outside
Take a social media break
Learn a new skill
Eat foods that make you happy
Spend time with a friend
Create a cleaning schedule

& that is just an example of how to meet all of your basic self care needs on a mental health day!

How to Make a Self Care Plan

A self care plan is essentially a game plan for taking care of your mental health on a regular basis so that you can avoid the burnout walls that so many of us often run into.

Making a self care plan can be pretty easy, though!

I’d suggest starting by going back through those types of self care I shared earlier and jot down 3-5 things you enjoy for each catagory. From there, make a plan for how to stick in a handful of them throughout the week. Maybe this looks like a cleaning routine should that be a practical self care item that means a lot to you. It could also look like a regular work out schedule or journaling routine. Pick pieces from each type of self care and add them to your planner!

How to Ask for a Mental Health Day

Personally, I work for myself so I haven’t had a chance to figure out how to ask my employer for a mental health day BUT this post has some great tips for asking for a self care day.

They share that the best way to ask for a mental health day is to keep it short and to the point, direct, and that it is best to ask as soon as possible. Read the post for examples and tips for asking for your own mental health day.

I hope you found this post about self care day’s helpful and informative! For more like this post, check out my other mental health focused blog posts here.