Prioritising Self Care Using Your Journal
When your day to day is varied and hectic it’s easy to forget to look after yourself. It is for this reason that I have started utilising my Bullet Journal to prioritise self care.
What Does Self Care Mean To Me?
For me, self care is about taking time to do the things I enjoy doing, which are good for my mental and physical well being. These are the things that often sit idle on my to-do list and get migrated from week to week while I prioritise time sensitive business related tasks.
I own and run a small business, on top of working part time at another job, so it is vital that I stay on top form. My business doesn’t work without me, so I really need to make sure I look after myself!
Making Self Care a Priority
Self care can be incredibly varied: A lovely relaxing bath, going for a run, sitting down with a cuppa, or reading your favourite magazine. For me, it’s about setting aside some time in my day to do something I don’t have to do, but will make me feel more relaxed and happy.
Just because going for a run doesn’t affect my business or customers, it doesn’t mean that taking time to exercise isn’t important!
Utilising Your Journal
I’ve utilised a few different strategies to make self care a part of my journaling process. Simply spending time with my journal feels like ‘me time’, so this is a great first step!
Recently I put together a game of “Self Care Bingo” in my bullet journal utilising my Self Care Icons Stencil.
There are 6 different icons in the stencil, each representing a category of self care;
- Heart – Extra special treats – massage, pedicure etc
- Steps – Moving and hitting the step goal
- Book – Journaling/reading
- Running – Exercise
- Yoga – Meditation/relaxation
- Moon – Rest!
In the bingo spread I have pencilled in 4 of each of the icons. When I complete something in the category I colour in the icon with coloured pencils and write what I did and when over the top in pen.
Another example of Self Care in my journal is my Bucket List spread. This really makes me think about the things id like to get done some day and prioritise them for today!
I created this spread using the new year goals stencil.
If you aren’t feeling too creative or want to speed up the process, we also have ready-made self-care bingo printable pages, available to download for you to print at home. They come ready filled in with ideas, or blank for you to fill in yourself.
However you do it, just make sure you look after yourself!
Click the links below to read more about each kind of journal spread.