Hey guys
We have a sweet featured guest post here for you today by Regularlee!
She writes tons of posts on self-care, job interviews and college life (literally, right timing because I’m just about to head to university so I could really use some advice.)
In today’s post, she explains her routine for self-care after a long day working, including taking baths, cooking, exercise, meditating and a bonus app that could too help you take care of yourself.
Grab your mug of coffee or tea and let’s get right into it!
There are lots of ways to take care of yourself mentally, but some of them can be more harmful in the long run, if your way is to eat sweets or something similar.
It’s about finding that balance between enjoying yourself and doing it for your own benefit.
Take a Long Shower or Bath
One thing I enjoy doing is taking a long shower or bath.
Especially after a long tiring day, there’s nothing better than hot water relaxing your muscles.
Sometimes, when we are mentally in a bad place it’s hard to get out of bed or leave the bedroom.
It can definitely be tough to want to do anything at all.
But it doesn’t take much effort to seep up some nice scents and relax, and even mask afterward!
I love the scents of Herbal Essence and using various Korean moisturizing masks. It’s important to take care of ourselves by not neglecting hygiene.
Cooking
Another thing you can do is try cooking something new at home.
It doesn’t have to be super healthy, but trying a new dish that looks mouth-watering on Pinterest could be rewarding, and cheaper than eating out.
Even if it doesn’t end up the way you wanted it to look or taste, it’s a small adventure in the comfort of your kitchen.
I like trying recipes with ingredients I’ve never used before.
It’s always fun to be inside the process of a meal you used to take for granted.
It can also be fun trying to make food from other cultures!
Not only is it a nice learning experience, but you also get to eat the delicious results!
Exercise
This one I do regularly. Look up exercise videos on YouTube!
Many instructors are fun and it’s healthy to follow along a video and get your blood flowing.
The videos I found were 10-40 minutes long and there are various kinds you could do: yoga, pilates, cardio, boxing, etc.
I personally like following Cassie on her channel, Blogilates.
She has apartment friendly exercises as well as dances you can try.
The reason exercise is a good self-care activity is because the increase in blood flow and adrenaline will help you get out of a lethargic mood.
I find myself working out to a quick 10-minute video when I can’t focus at home.
Meditation
It’s also good to get up in the morning to do stretches or a meditation video to start your day right.
Everyone has their own tastes and I like doing 30-60 minutes of pilates and do this 2-3 times a week as my workout.
What’s good about having it on demand on YouTube is that you can mix and match what you want to do, instead of having to follow the course and instructor has you do that day in a real class.
Especially after a long sedentary day at work or classes, it’s nice to know I’m keeping my health in check and making that a habit.
I also have an app called Year in Pixels where I track my mood every night.
You might not see the need to right now, but it’s very therapeutic in seeing your weeks, months, and year in color.
I started using this app when I had a bad day and I felt like I was the unluckiest girl in the world.
It seemed like I was always upset and it wasn’t just a bad day, but another day of my life when everything wouldn’t work out. But I had my doubts and wondered if it was just my perspective that was negative.
I started tracking the colors on a 5 color scale (dark purple for a bad day and light pink for a great day) and for either of the extremes, I wrote a short note on what happened those days.
It turns out, I didn’t have bad weeks!
Sure, there were bad days here and there, but it was really nothing to get upset about! It helped me lift my mood and change how I see the negative events that happen to me.
Even if I feel like it was definitely a bad day, I can find comfort in knowing that this will pass and tomorrow it won’t be so bad.
If you can relate to how I felt in any way, I highly suggest downloading one of the many similar apps in the app store, or even making a physical journal for it and coloring in your moods.
Whatever you choose, it’s for improving your perspective on life.
Author’s Note:
This app is similar to the app I usually use called Daylio! And since it looks so cooler in pixels, I’m going to download it right now and try it out.
Look, I can be chill and stress at once. Don’t judge me!
And I agree with Regularlee when she recommends checking out Blogilates when you’re up for checking out motivating exercise routine (still jealous of her abs and legs though).
Don’t forget to check out Regularlee’s site and social media for more self-care tips, job and college advice!
Regularlee.com is a blog talking about everything between college life and everyday things. Some major topics are study tips, first jobs, productivity tools, and post-grad life. It’s a useful blog for getting various perspectives and tips on things many college students will encounter.
Follow on Instagram: @regularleegram
Like on Facebook: @regularleeblog
~ Ellen
BOOKMARKED! Will definitely print a check list out and type your recommendations. I have to show me some love, lots and lots of love! Thank you for sharing. Keep them coming.
Some nice points about easy ways of self-care. I like taking a nice walk in the evening after a stressful day.
I usually take my walks during midday but the evening sounds much better because of the sunset!
Thank you for sharing I also do these things after a long day. When I reached home, I prepare my food – go to the gym for 20 minutes – eat my dinner – take a quick shower, then rest. This makes me relax and accomplished everyday.
I never thought about going to the gym after work! I usually thought that you would run out of energy to even going to the gym but it sounds like a great way to regain back the energy.
Great self-care tips. Cooking is not for me. I might get stressed more. lol. But definitely exercise, meditation and a long shower. As simple as they may sound, these self-care activities show love and attention to our body. We have to take care of ourselves every day until it becomes a habit. If we will not take care of our body, who will?
Not cooking is for everyone and I understand! I enjoy cooking but sometimes thing doesn’t go the way I wanted it to. I agree that taking care of our body physically and mentally is really important and should definitely be an everyday habit.
A long bath sounds just perfect!
Doesn’t it?? Especially with scented candles lit!
I am firm believer of exercise and meditation and practice regularly.
I too can agree. Installing these into your daily life really helps a lot!
Meditation has become my go to for relaxation. It calms me down everytime.
Doesn’t it? Installing meditation into my life helped me a lot when it comes to stress. Glad meditation and awareness exist!
Love this post! Self-care is so important, but it can be hard to find time when you are always busy. Great list of simple ways to unwind and pamper yourself a bit after a long day!
That’s so true. Sometimes when I’m really busy, I tend to forget to install it into my life. I’m trying to get into the routine of doing it daily even if it’s just 5 mins! Always pamper and treat yourself!
I love to try to cook after work each day as I feel cooking your own meals are much healthier than eating out. I also exercise by dancing along with the Just Dance videos found on Youtube!
That’s so cool! I love Just Dance videos, they’re so entertaining to watch. I dance to Kpop dance challenges instead because it’s more fun and it’s bopping. I completely agree that homemade meals are much healthier.
I do really hope I could do all these so to have balance in my everyday life….thumbs up for this…..
You don’t have to do all of them, just the ones you really need so you don’t stress yourself out!
Sometimes, I forget to give myself a treat because of how busy I am. Last month, I decided to dedicate a few minutes a day to meditate and relax my nerves. I’ve also set aside Sunday as my “ME” time; it’s all play and no work that day. It’s been really helpful!
You definitely deserve a treat after a busy day of work! I too set Sundays to only “me time”. No work, just relax. Best choice ever!
It’s so important to find time for uourselves! These are great tips. Thanks for sharing
I agree and I hope you enjoy!
What I like to do after a hard day filled with classes and stuff is when I get home, i mix myself a nice mixed drink, and make some popcorn and watch an episode of my favorite show, it’s my 45 minutes for myself and after that I can continue on with my day, great post, thank you for sharing.
I love that! I’m glad you get to have time to self-care after classes! When I was still in public school, I would get home, eat and go back to studying. It was awful!
All great ideas. I’ve neglected self care over the years and paid the price.
Haha, you can still self-care! No matter how young or old you are, self-care can be for everybody. I too wished I learned about self-care sooner than I should but I’m glad I did it now.
Self Care Isn’t Just Important, It’s Crucial. … Self care reduces the negative effects of stress: A small amount of stress can serve a purpose, but after a while, it just breaks down your mind and body. Taking care of yourself means keeping your stress from taking over so you can function at full capacity.
You definitely know more about self-care than me! What you said about how self-care reduces the negative effects of stress is why I install self-care in my daily life as possible. I use to stress a lot and didn’t know a thing or two about self-love till later in life and it changed me.
Beautiful article…nice suggestions for self care…. meditation always provides relief…what one requires are regular breaks ..a creative hobby also helps….app sounds good..
Thank you
I 100% agree with regular breaks and a creative hobby. Those are key ways to regenerating ourselves!
I used to think self care was a waste until I had a bad flu and it took a long time to get well. Now I’m a huge advocate. I just need to get into Exercising again. What’s your fav boxing on youtube? I do like Blogilates too.
I too use to think self-care was a waste of time but then I realised it helped me with my depression! Definitely should consider exercising for productivity and health.
Self care is so important, but something I have definitely been neglecting lately. This post serves as an excellent reminder of some of the things I should be doing, given how hard I have been working lately.
No need to fret! We all have those days where we forget to self-care. I’m glad this post sets as a reminder for you to take good care for yourself and wellbeing. Always have a break once in a while!
I’m a visual person so I like the idea about seeing the days in color. Definitely going to give it a try.
I completely relate because I’m a visual person too. Hope you enjoy!