7 DIY daily self-care ideas you would have never thought of!

7 DIY daily self-care ideas you would have never thought of!

Self-care is all the rage these days, and for good reason – it works! I find that with some of these DIY daily self-care ideas, I have helped both my mental and physical health, and it has made me much more productive!

BUT… it’s really hard to turn that into a habit!

So I’ve put together some fun and easy DIY ideas, so you can make self-care into a habit!

Plus, if you’re looking for some extra help with your self-care, I have some free self-care worksheets that you use that will help you stay on track and incorporate self-care into your daily life!

Idea #1: Self-care popsicle sticks 

When you feel like you need a bit of extra self-care in your day and don’t know what to do (this can actually be the hardest part), just pull from a jar filled with popsicle sticks that have self-care ideas written on them!

You can choose from the 100 self-care ideas!

My favourite self-care activities to include are:

  1. Going on a walk
  2. Cooking a healthy comfort food meal, like mac and cheese with broccoli, peas, and onions!
  3. Calling a friend for a quick chat!
  4. Having a shower and putting on a luxurious smelling moisturizer!
  5. Putting on an essential oil diffuser and reading a book!

 You can also just use pieces of paper if you don’t have popsicle sticks, not a big deal!

 

Showing the self-care popsicle sticks that can be used daily and are easy to DIY

Idea #2: Coloured paper clip habit tracker

One of my favourite self-care ideas that you can do daily is to simply track your habits with paper clips!

It seems simple, but humans LOVE visual cues, and will give you a little hint of dopamine every time it sees more paper clips in the jar!

Soon enough, you’ll make caring for yourself a habit – which will improve your mental health and energy, as well as offering tons of other benefits to your life!

Paper clips to use as a daily self-care habit tracker

Idea #3: Money jar self-care habit tracker

Just like the one above, this self-care activity will give you an even bigger reward – money!

Which you can then use to get yourself a more luxurious self-care treat!

Idea #4: Journaling ideas for daily for self-care

I love to journal, I think that it’s a great way to unlock deeper emotions and get all your feelings out!

I have so many free journaling exercises and I also have some articles that link to them!

100 mental health journal prompts

30 days of self-care journaling exercise

3 Must-Have Journal Exercises For Anxiety

Idea #5: DIY your own fun self-care habit tracker!

Use your creative skills to make an online or paper habit tracker!

Things you can track:

  1. Cups of water
  2. Daily exercise
  3. Meditation
  4. Mood (to see how all of these things affect your mood)
  5. Outside time
  6. Time with friends
  7. Making your bed

You can get my super cute self-care tracker here for free!

Idea #6: Sticky Note Daily Self-Care/Daily Self-Love Affirmations

Keep a stack of sticky notes on your desk and write different self-care ideas or positive affirmations!

Pull one off each morning as a fun way to start your day! Bonus if you stick it somewhere you can see on the daily, it will make it more fun!

Idea #7: Create a Self-Care Space for Yourself

It can be as simple as creating a safe little cove for yourself in a corner of your room, but having a space where you can read and be safe and happy can make a world of difference!

Try adding fairy light, a salt lamp, a nice cushion, and a soft blanket! You’ll feel happy and cared for every day!

I love finding ways to incorporate more self-care into my life and to make it a daily habit!

Do you have any self-care activities that you love? I’d love to hear them!

Best vision board alternatives: find yours to supercharge your goals

Best vision board alternatives: find yours to supercharge your goals

I love vision boards, the law of attraction, and manifesting so much! They are amazing ways to attract the goals you want! A lot of people like to make their vision boards and then “let go” and not look at them, which is one way of doing things, but I like to be reminded of my goals and dreams every day! That’s why I’ve come up with some fun vision board alternatives to give you daily inspiration and help skyrocket your goals as we move into 2020!

Here are my Top Vision Board Alternatives for Achieving Your Goals!

Alternative #1: Vision board photo wall

Simply having some cute photos pinned to your wall is another great way to start a vision board (or turn it into something amazing!)

You can cut pictures from magazines, print some off the internet, write quotes – whatever you would do for a vision board, but this can be ever changing. You can add, remove, replace, and make it something really special!

And you can keep it where you can see it, like I do!

Vision board alternative #2: sticky notes where you can see them

Sticky notes can be absolutely great for manifesting! You can write down your intentions, positive affirmations, big goals – and place them around your living space where you can get reminders!

You can also put pictures too if you’d like, but sticky notes are just so easy!

Tip: Write down your intentions as if you already have done them! And sprinkle in some gratitude to that!

Example: I am grateful that I have my 6-figure dream job.

Shows an alternative to having a vision board, using sticky notes.

Alternative #3: audio “vision board”

I find this one really exciting! I love the power of meditations and listening to audio to increase the power of your record a message of your hopes and dreams and listen to it each morning.

Again, with this you can record positive affirmations, messages of gratitude, setting an intention for the day, list your goals as if you have them, or anything else you would like!

Here’s a voice recording app for apple and this one is for android.

Visional board alternative #4: Using a goal planner (like this one!)

I love using a goal planner! It’s such a great way to break down your goals into easy tasks that you can complete and feel good about!

It’s the best way to reach your goals (in my opinion) because it helps you look at it in small chunks, which makes everything less overwhelming and much more do-able!

#5. Pinterest vision board

This is kind of the point of Pinterest in a way!

It’s a great, virtual way to gather all of your important dreams and goals into one place!

You can also find great tips for reaching your goals on there too!

(bonus tip: have a bookmark in your browser linking to your Pinterest vision board so that you can refer to it when you need some extra inspiration!)

#6. Vision Journal

Use a journal or journal prompts for fulfilling your visions!

You can write your affirmations each morning/evening to set your day up for success!

Keep a journal by your bed so that you remember to do it!

Journaling as an alternative to a vision board

#7. Guided vision meditations/visual meditations as an alternative

Guided meditations are a great way to help you manifest and create a solid vision. 

This is a way that you can practice the law of attraction daily, in an active way!

There are so many great options out there on youtube, you can get a manifestation video for pretty much anything you want!

There’s also a cool website called mindmovies, which I’ve never personally used – but they create powerful manifestation videos for specific goals. Could be worth a shot!

Do you have a favourite vision board alternative?

Let me know in the comments!

20 self-care ideas for stress-relief

20 self-care ideas for stress-relief

As someone who has had lots of anxiety and stress, I have found that one of the BEST ways to keep anxiety at bay is to do a heck of a lot of self-care. There are so many ways to do the whole self-care thing, but there are some ideas that are just better suited for daily stress and anxiety!

These self-care ideas will leave you feeling more mentally free and physically energized, which definitely goes a long way when dealing with stress and anxiety!

And honestly, some of these are nothing new, but they are THE most important things you can do for yourself!

This post may contain some affiliate links (which means I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you), but only to products that I believe in and that will improve your life! 

  Just want to let ya know: The information and tips on this website are from my personal experience with stress and anxiety and are not a substitute for any type of medical, psychological or health advice. You can view my full disclaimer policy here.

There is always help out there, and you can find a mental health professional locally, through your doctor, or through an online directory like this one. This is a link to a great article that discusses affordable therapy options and this is an affiliate link to a great online therapy option. If you are in a crisis, I have a list of help hotlines here. You are not alone!!

So here are my top 20 self-care Ideas to reduce stress

Habit-Based Self-Care Ideas

It can be REALLY hard to do anything when you feel anxious and stressed, and doing any of the following things might be VERY difficult. But it can be a bit easier than you think and over time, these things can become second nature to you.

Incorporating self-care habits into your life will make your day-to-day life feel a lot more enjoyable and these healthy habits will help you feel good physically and mentally, which can help you reduce stress and improve your mental resilience so that you can deal with stress better! 

1. Declutter for 5 mins

Having less clutter in your physical space will lead to less clutter in your mental space. I know decluttering is the last thing you want to do when you feel anxious, but it helps so much! Just take baby steps, and do a couple minutes of decluttering in the spaces you use the most!

2. Do a quick, daily clean of your kitchen

Healthy eating is a big must for self-care, but you won’t want to cook if your kitchen is a mess!

Try cleaning the kitchen as you cook, or you can even trick yourself into doing it by just setting a 5-min timer and see how much you can get done! (You’ll usually want to do more later anyway).

3. Do your Laundry

Laundry tends to be something that literally piles up on you. It can act as this big weight on your mental health.

A great thing to get in the habit of doing is having one or two days a week where you just quickly throw in a load of laundry. Set a timer and just do it!

If you have to go to a laundromat, invite a friend with you and it will be much more enjoyable!

4. Cut back on spending (on frivolous things)

Financial troubles can be a huge cause of stress, so cutting some of that burden can make a world of difference.

Making small changes can make a huge difference, like thrift shopping, making coffee at home and having more nights in with your friends (or virtual hang outs).

If you’ve been eyeing some new furniture, jewelry, or whatever it may be – you could try to go DIY!

Maybe it’s even time to talk to a financial planner or your bank to see how you can lessen your financial stress!

5. Try using a planner

Keeping track of these new healthy habits and planning out your self-care activities is an absolute must!

If you sign up for my self-care guide, you’ll get access to all my free worksheets and free courses that surround self-care! I have checklists, habit trackers, calendars, and mini-courses that are designed to help you implement self-care strategies into your life.

6. Daily gratitude

You can either do some journaling or just take the time at the beginning and end of each day to think about what you’re grateful for!

(Set a reminder for yourself to do this!)

7. Listening to music

Another easy thing to do that we forget so often! It just makes every part of your day better and can give you some motivation to do the tasks that you don’t feel like doing.

Maybe invest in a spotify account! Mine has worked wonders for me because now I always have access to good music!

Health self-care Ideas to reduce stress

8. Prioritizing healthy eating

Eating balanced meals with proper proportions of protein, fat, and carbs can wonders for your mood and focus. Food is fuel after all, so make sure it’s premium! There’s also evidence of supplements that can also help regulate your mood and focus. This is something that you should discuss with your physician.

 9. Going on a daily walk 

Exercise has so many amazing health and mental health benefits.

You can do the shortest walk imaginable. Just tell yourself to go out for 5 mins (and then you’ll probably want to go for longer). 

Getting into the fresh air and releasing some endorphins will boost your mood significantly!

10. Learning how to cook! (Or at least adding more veggies and protein to your meals)

Eating healthy is so important for maintaining your mental health. A really easy way to start feeling better is to add more veggies and protein to each meal. Just this small thing can have a lot benefits!

If cooking really isn’t your thing, consider a health meal delivery service, like fresh meals! You can get healthy meals delivered straight to your door, and you won’t have to deal with ingredients going bad!

11. 8 cups of water (get a big-ass water bottle!)

It’s so simple and has so many benefits. Just do it! Set reminders if you must.

“Inner-work” self-care ideas for anxiety

12. Challenging and changing negative self-talk

Negative self-talk can turn a small stress into a big stress. Remind yourself to challenge that negative voice in your head! For every negative thing you catch yourself thinking, replace it with something more positive (or at least neutral).

13. Give yourself some real, good, self-love!

Practicing self-love and self-compassion will help every aspect of your wellbeing, especially when you’re feeling down about how anxious you feel (the anxiety-shame spiral is real folks!) Try these self-love journal prompts that will help you along your self-love journey.

14. Journaling

Journaling is good for everything emotional! It’s the perfect self-care go-to because you can journal for stress-relief, gratitude, self-love, and so much more!

15. Doing a deep (and uncomfortable ) self-assessment

Sometimes it’s very important to take a deep look at your own behaviours that might be affecting your situation. 

Are you self-sabotaging in your life and relationships? Are there areas in your life where you should be taking more responsibility?

What do you need to work on that will improve your life?

16. THEN FORGIVE YOURSELF. 

People make mistakes. EVERYONE makes mistakes. 

When you are feeling stressed, it can be hard to do all the things that you know are good for yourself. And this can lead to an unfortunate shame spiral. 

Mistakes or self-sabotaging behaviour are a part of human nature. The important thing is that you learn and grow from these experiences. 

In my mind, there really is no such thing as mistakes, just learning experiences.

17. Consider therapy!

Therapy is something that is great for anyone and everyone! You don’t need to have a diagnosis to get therapy. And right now, online therapy is more accessible than ever! You can get all the help you need for half the price of traditional therapy. 

18. Meditation

Learning to meditate and getting into the habit of meditation can be really hard because we’re always so used to having our minds constantly stimulated. However, just spending 5 mins in the morning or night (or both!) to do a quick meditation can work wonders! There are tons of great free meditations on youtube that you can find!

19. Mindfulness

Mindfulness is similar to meditation, it can take some time to get used to. However, mindfulness is probably the MOST useful tool when it comes to beating stress.

Whenever I feel stressed about life in general and I find myself slipping into bad habits (like avoiding the world and not taking care of myself), I just think about what will make me happiest in the present moment. Is it worrying? (NO!) Is it doing something enjoyable like making a nice meal or hanging out with my friends? (YES!)

That’s how I try to make all of my life decisions now, and I have to say that it’s working out pretty well! 

20. Do a huge negativity purge!

I urge you to go through every aspect of your life and think about the things that are bringing you stress and negativity. If it doesn’t have space in your life, let it go!

Here are some quick tips to get started: go through your entire house and get rid of anything you don’t need, do the same with your workspace, your email, and your social media!

Get rid of anything that doesn’t serve you!

So there you have it, the most important self-care ideas for stress reduction!

If you want any extra help, you should sign up for my self-care guide and worksheets! (Coming soon!)

It includes

  • full self-care book! 
  • goal planner
  • meal planner
  • habit tracker
  • much more!
How to deal with overwhelm

How to deal with overwhelm

When I was in university, I was enrolled in an engineering program, and this meant two things:

  1. That I had all my classes with the same group of students, and
  2. That we always had a sh*t ton of work to do!

Every once and awhile though, that regular sh*t ton of work to do would turn into an unmanageable, completely impossible sh*t ton of work to do! We would sometimes have so much assigned to us at the same time that it actually seemed physically impossible to get it all done (which it was). 

Thankfully though, there was always that one calm and collected classmate who would tell the professors that we had too much work to do, and the professors would then switch some deadlines around. 

This experience taught me one very important thing about being overwhelmed: if it seems too unrealistic, it just might be. 

So what does this mean for you?

If you feel overwhelmed, take a step back and look at everything you have to do from an outside perspective. Is it too much for one person to do? Would someone else struggle if they were in your situation? Or is it just more than you should be handling right now? (Remember to go easy on yourself. If you’re feeling tired and rundown, you need to listen to your body and lessen your workload). 

If after you’ve done this you realize that it is too much work for you, there are a few simple questions you can ask yourself to help the situation:

  • Are there any non-urgent tasks that I can push to do later?
  • Are there any tasks that I can postpone the deadline on or ask to get the deadline postponed on?
  • Are there any tasks I can easily delegate to someone else?

Just these few things alone can lighten your workload immensely.

For your remaining tasks (the ones that are urgent, the ones that you can’t postpone, and the ones that you can’t delegate), you can take the following steps to organize them in a way that will make them easier to handle:

Step 1

Group together all of the easier tasks that will realistically only take you about 5 – 10 minutes to complete. Then, schedule them into specific time slots when you’ll get them done (preferably earlier in the day so you can get them out of the way).

Step 2

After you’ve finished the easier tasks, get the most urgent tasks done. Even if they’re the ones you really don’t want to do – just get them done and out of the way (you’ll feel so much better once you do).

Step 3

Schedule time for your remaining tasks according to how much focus they require. For tasks that require more focus, schedule them during a time that you can be alone and more attentive. For tasks that don’t need as much focus, schedule them during the gaps in your day.

Step 4

Get it in your mind to focus on one thing at a time and to not hesitate. Often, when we have too much to do, we think about everything at once, which just makes us lose focus and become overwhelmed. We also tend to hesitate and overthink about what task we should begin first. This often leads to not doing anything at all! You just need to start doing one thing really well without overthinking it too much (this is why it’s important to schedule your tasks and stick to that schedule!).

Some more things to keep in mind

  1. The world will go on if you don’t get everything done. The outcome is definitely not going to be as bad as you think it will be. But if you’re having a hard time with this or feeling way too overwhelmed, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional that can help you.
  2. There are always people who will be willing to help you if you have too much on your plate – you just need to reach out and tell them what’s going on. If you are sincere and vulnerable, people will understand and be happy to help (as long as you’re respecting their time and personal boundaries).
  3. If you always have way too much to do, it’s time to be firm with yourself and reevaluate your workload to see if you have too many responsibilities. It might be helpful for you to cut something out of your life for a while if it’s taking too much of your time and damaging your wellbeing.
  4. Take a minute to move your body and exercise! This will help you recharge your body and mind. Seriously, it works wonders – don’t underestimate it!
  5. Schedule in small breaks. Your mind can’t run on hyperdrive all day. Even a quick 10-minute break will help reset it.

Feeling overwhelmed doesn’t have to be a normal state of mind for you. There are always things you can do to help relieve some stress and lessen your workload. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you’ll be able to start enjoying your life (no matter how busy you are!).

The crazy way I manifested my dream job

The crazy way I manifested my dream job

A couple years ago I quit my high-paying job because it was making me stressed and unhappy. I took the time off to work on my mental health and figure out what I really wanted to do in life.

After a whole lotta soul-searching, I came to the realization that my one true calling was to create this blog, Mindaya. I wanted to help people, because I didn’t want anyone else to feel the way I was feeling at my worst (which you can read about here!).

Fast forward to today – I have my own online business, my mental health is in the BEST condition it’s ever been in, and I feel genuinely fulfilled. It was with this new, healthy mindset that I realized I was ready to go back to my 9-5 job. Why? because I knew that in order to make my dream work (this blog), I needed to have some extra money to help make it great. But this time, I wasn’t going to let my 9-5 job take over my life. Nope – this time, it was going to be on my own terms.

I’m now working again at the job I had years ago, but it’s a whole lot different now – that is, a whole lot better. So I thought I’d share with you how exactly I made this happen. *Spoiler alert* – it all came down to manifesting!

So to anyone else who feels “stuck” in a job or a routine that they don’t like or that makes them unhappy – I want you to know that you too have the power in you to choose what you want. Whether that’s shifting jobs, finding a new career path, starting a business, or finding the confidence to ask for what YOU want in your current job – it’s all totally possible!

Here are the things that I learned when manifesting my dream job

 

1. I knew what I wanted

When it comes to getting what you want in life, it’s important to take some time to make a goal plan and figure out what will truly make you happy on a deep level. This is going to take a lot of self-reflection, so make sure you spend some time on this.

For me, I discovered that the two things that would make me happy were:

  1. Using my creative talents
  2. Not working a ton of hours

I know that I’m not the type of person that can handle boatloads of work. I just don’t have it in me. I need my rest and relaxation time – and a lot of it.

I also know that I need to be creative to feel fulfilled. This is something that is really important to my wellbeing.

At the time, my 9-5 job wasn’t giving me these two things that I needed. It wasn’t allowing me to express my creative potential, and it was far too demanding of my time.

So I knew that to combat this, I needed to do two things: first, I needed to carve out a creative outlet for myself. Enter this blog, Mindaya! Second, I needed to significantly reduce my hours at my desk job (so that I could have enough time to spend on my creative outlet!).

2. I asked for what I wanted

This is something I have found to be very useful in my life when manifesting my desires and going after my goals. And it’s a very simple reason for why it works: you are letting people know what you want! You can’t get what you want if you don’t take any steps to go get it!

Everyone’s situation is very different, so use your judgement if you are asking for what you want. There are definitely limitations to this point, so this is more of just an idea for you based on what has worked for me.

For me, I knew that I needed to talk to my boss about my hours. So I floated the idea of less hours and the ability to work remotely.

Luckily, I had a great rapport with them already because I used to work with them (and they liked me!), so this was something that they were willing to agree to. Success!

The funny thing is, it was all so easy! It never occurred to me before that I could just ask for what I wanted, but that’s really all it took!

So once you know what you want, put some feelers out! Just see if what you want is a possibility, you may be surprised at what you’ll get!

3. I knew my worth

When I was working at this job before, I wasn’t getting paid nearly as much as I am now. It was actually a stroke of luck that I saw the job posting online – and they were offering a lot more than I was making at the time!

This was probably to entice more experienced people to apply, but I knew that I was worth that much as well, even though I was less experienced.

I’ve always been uncomfortable asking for money and I was certainly uncomfortable when I asked for that much. So I really had to take a look at my needs, my values, my commitment, my strengths – and I finally came to the conclusion that I needed more money to support myself in the way I needed.

4. I had to be flexible

Although I’m now working my job on my own terms, it still may not be my “dream job” forever and ever. I know this. However, at the moment, it’s allowing me to live the lifestyle I want – and that’s the main thing. I know that in the future, my priorities may change and evolve, and this job may also change and evolve. And that’s totally okay.

Life changes every day, week, month, and year – and we all will inevitably change along with it. This is a beautiful thing, because change = growth. So I personally try not to get too attached to my current situation, whatever it may be.