Self care is a vital part of staying happy and healthy. It’s great for when you want to maintain your mental and physical well-being but also an important tool for helping us get through those tough mental health days. Which inevitably we will all have. But, let’s not beat around the bush, a lot of us have busy and hectic lives. With kids and jobs and relationships to maintain. We don’t have time to treat ourselves to hours of self care every day. Which is where this handy list of self care ideas in 10 minutes or less comes in!

Self Care Ideas in 10 Minutes or Less

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

As much as we’d all love to be going for massages, pedicures and hour long walks in the countryside every day, it’s obviously not feasible for most of us, for a lot of different reasons. But that’s certainly not to say that we shouldn’t be trying to introduce small acts of self care into our daily lives.

10 minutes of self care is better than none at all!

There are thousands upon thousands of self care ideas but today we’re focusing on those small acts of kindness we can give to ourselves when we’re a busy mum, a working woman, a carer or someone that just leads a very busy lifestyle. Circumstances don’t always allow for an hour long soak in the bath, sadly!

In times of stress, it is SO bloody important to take extra care of ourselves. Even if we’re busy. Even if we’re tired. Even if we have responsibilities. I truly believe that you can’t give your full self to your duties if you don’t take care of yourself adequately too.

If you’re struggling to fit self care into your busy life, this post is for you. The list below contains simple self care ideas which will take 10 minutes or less. Just 10 minutes of your day – we all have that to spare. Some things listed below are super basic self care ideas as well, that we absolutely shouldn’t overlook.

Here are 30 self care ideas which will take you just 10 minutes or LESS!

Self Care in 10 Minutes or Less

  1. Meditate for 10 minutes
  2. Yoga (check out this playlist from Yoga With Adriene of practices under 10 minutes)
  3. Journal your thoughts and feelings
  4. Read a book or magazine
  5. Moisturize your body (I love the Vitamin E All Over Body Cream from Superdrug!)
  6. Freshen up (wash your face, brush your teeth, brush your hair etc)
  7. Go outside for a 10 minute walk
  8. Put on your favourite songs
  9. Text a friend
  10. Write a list of things you want to plan
  11. Make yourself the perfect cup of tea or coffee
  12. Treat yourself to a cake or a sweet treat
  13. Snuggle with a pet
  14. Clip and paint your nails
  15. Stretch your muscles
  16. Drink a glass of water
  17. Watch a video from your favourite YouTuber
  18. Listen to a short podcast/TedTalk
  19. Treat yourself to something online
  20. Read a blog post from your favourite blogger
  21. Create a vision board on Pinterest
  22. Clean something
  23. Write a list of things you’re grateful for
  24. Hug someone
  25. Do a visualization exercise
  26. Give yourself a neck massage
  27. Delete all Facebook friends you no longer speak to
  28. Make your bed
  29. Book an appointment you’ve been putting off (like your cervical screening)
  30. Do a quick 10 minute HIIT workout (check out Holly Dolke on YouTube!)

Which suggestions are your favourite? What do you like to do as a small act of self love or self care when you’re busy? Let me know!

Self Care For Busy People

143 Comments

  1. This is such a wonderful post, thank you so much for writing this! The Facebook one is such a great suggestion, when I was dealing with severe anxiety and experiencing symptoms of agoraphobia back in 2018 I might have taken this a leap further and just deleted it in it’s entirety! But honestly it worked wonders and never once have i invited it back into my life, or felt the need too.

    Quinn x

  2. This is fantastic, it really highlights how even small acts can make a huge difference to how we feel. Lately I’ve been taking ten minutes to meditate when things are feeling rough, or just cuddling my cat (sometimes she only lets me do it for about 30 seconds but still!). Taking some time to slow down every day is so crucial, especially in times like these!

  3. Awe I love this idea. Especially for those who struggle with self-care. This can help guide them to do smaller and simpler tasks so they can better understand the benefits and how much better it can make you feel! You rock! Thanks for sharing! xx

  4. I am loving this list! I love that so many of these things can be done in minimal time! I have deleted sooo many old “friends” and it feels so good!
    Rosie

  5. I enjoyed reading this! People think that self care has to last a while but your post proves that you can practice self care in just a short amount of time! Some of these I mentioned I have never thought when thinking about self care, such as clipping my nails, visualization exercise, massage. I especially like that you mentioned booking an appointment that you are putting off (I am guilty of this). My favourite 10 min self care would be making a cup of tea and giving Coda a cuddle! Great post jenny xx

  6. I love this list! I’ve been decluttering little by little to help me make more room to do things I love! Or I love baking something go give me a little bit of a break from my usual routine. Making things from scratch has always been one of my favorites.

  7. Coffee, cleaning and watching my favourite youtubers are the ones I tend to do to give myself a little treat 😊 The Pinterest vision board would be on my list as well, but I can’t trust myself to stick to 10 minutes 😂😂

  8. I love this list. Sometimes the tiniest of things can shift our moods and make us feel better. You really don’t need hours and hours to do something positive for yourself. And doing things like deleting old contacts/ ‘friends’ or emails is so satisfying!! x

    Sophie

  9. What I love about this post is that none of the ideas you listed are the surface-level kind of self-care. For me, self care is taking care of the now so that things are good for my future self. Setting my bed or cleaning a space is not only meditative but also benefits future me. Great post, Jenny!

  10. These are all great ideas. You know I’m a big fan of Self-Care, but sometimes finding time is a challenge! Spending 10 minutes doing any of these activities is a brilliant way to start building positive habits!

  11. So easy to say we don’t have time for self care but you’ve just proved how many things we can achieve for ourselves in a very short space of time.

    In fact, I am going to get up and do something for me right now! Now should I paint my nails or tint my eyelashes? I might do both x x

  12. Self-care doesn’t have to be an all day affair. Like you said it could be as simple as a nice cup of coffee or tea. Or even treating yourself to that expensive coffee you keep at the back of the cupboard (or is that only me?). Great list, pet! Plenty of ideas for me to try.

  13. Love this! Self-care doesn’t have to be long or expensive – it can be the little things. I love Yoga with Adrienne so definitely need to check out her shorter videos for little bursts of self-care.

  14. Love these! They’re not time-consuming or spiritual, rather just simple things you can do during your day. Thanks for sharing! Will definitely be using some of these 🙂

  15. This is great. Self care is so important! Even doing the smallest thing to look after yourself can make you feel a little better x

  16. Reading a magazine, or even multiple magazines, has to be one of my favorite ways to pass the time or even fill up just a simple ten minutes, but I love the idea of clipping and filing nails. I never thought about it before, but concentrating on one simple task can do a great deal for focus! 🙂

  17. I love the visualization idea, positives all the way! I was quite pleased with myself that I’ve been doing a good number of some of your suggestions like all over moisturising, drinking water, HIIT and listening to favourite songs.

  18. Great suggestions! I agree that even 10 minutes can make a huge difference. My favorite form of self-care has lately been meditating!

  19. Excellent list! We always think we need to allow so much time for these little ‘extras’. We can slip them into our day with no trouble at all. We need to be mindful about it. In the end, when we feel better, everything else in life goes better. We wind up having more time to do other things that we need to do.

  20. Love these ideas! I just got my Habit Nest journal in the mail and it is perfect for guided journaling/build better habits. Totally recommend, it’s perfect for 10 minutes or less of self care.
    XO Tabby from book-baths.com

  21. I love these ideas! I’m going to start trying do to a couple everyday. I love yoga but usually put it off because some practices are quite long – definitely going to check out the ten minute videos 🙂

    Style by Sam

  22. OOoooo I love the treat yourself to a sweet treat! I’ve been eating a lot of cookies and creme Hershey bars lately. lol

  23. Lovely ideas! I think we often don’t indulge in self-care because we think we don’t have enough time, so no excuse with these ideas. I love taking a quick walk around the garden and just really appreciating all that’s around me.

    Lots of love, Helen x

  24. I love that you came up with so many ideas that you can do in ten minutes or less. Self-care doesn’t have to be complicated or take forever to be effective. Great list!

  25. Some great ideas here that you just seem to forget about and they are so simple some of them. I am definitely taking more time for myself and looking after myself too. I’m fortunate enough to have the time if I just prioritise and stay organised and focussed…..that’s sometimes the difficult part. Thanks Jenny, I love reading your blog posts they’re so helpful and uplifting xxx

  26. Now this is the sort of self care list I need! With Theodore running around I rarely have more than a few minutes to myself. I’ll have to book mark this list and treat myself to a few self care moments, there’s some brilliant suggestions!
    Rachael x
    palegirlrambling.co.uk

  27. These are such fabulous ideas, I’m all about self care especially since we’re all stuck indoors. This reminds me, I probably need to call some of my friends I haven’t spoken to in ages 😐

  28. Fab tips and it goes to show that self-care doesn’t need to be extravagant. I’ve found that freshening up is such a good one, especially in lockdown as it’s so tempting to sit around in your PJs all day! Thanks for sharing! x

  29. I love this article because you show how simple and easy it is to incorporate self-care into your day to day

  30. Great posts i really enjoyed reading it. i think that it is so important that we have a long list of things that we can do for self care that work for us, some short and some long depending on the situations. i look forward to your future posts.

  31. This is a fab list! One of my favourites is definitely making myself a nice cuppa and sitting down to watch a YouTube video. I like to do it in the morning so I do give myself that 10 minutes or so just to start the day off feeling relaxed before getting stuck into work!

    Chloe xx

  32. Great ideas! I think looking at it this way instead of saying “I don’t have time” is great. I love to clean for 5 minutes or even just meditate for 10 minutes and that is a great way for me to just do self care without taking up too much time xxx

  33. This is an amazing list of ideas, so often we say we’ve not got enough time for a typical self care pamper night so I absolutely love these ideas!
    gingerblogger.wordpress.com

  34. After reading this blog, I tend to realize that I concentrate on only 8/30 things!!!
    I got to know my level!! Thanks for this!!!

    Will start applying most of them!!!
    😊

  35. This is a brilliant list of things! Self-care is so on trend right now and I’m always a bit afraid that people start “achieving” it like we do with so many things in life. But the thing is, self care can be such a small thing as promising oneself to have a proper lunch hour every day at work. Shockingly many don’t, or they eat at their desk, which is sooo wrong. Take half and hour or an hour away from your laptop, and stick to it. It’s on everyone’s contract as well that we are obligated to take that break, so we bloody well should. Owning our time and appreciating it is the only way to a happier life 🙂 xxx

    Teresa Maria | Outlandish Blog

    1. Totally agree! And when we work for ourselves we need to be disciplined enough to work AND to take that break! I always have an hour break for lunch and watch Desperate Housewives haha!

  36. Awesome resource Jenny, never thought of giving myself enough time by either applying any of your suggestion above, I will start applying this self care tips to my daily living. Thank you so much for sharing

  37. Thank you so much for these lovely ideas! As strange as it sounds, I never really knew how much going for a quick walk could impact my mental health until I started doing it during lockdown as part of my exercise. I’ve been really slack lately and it definitely shows, so need to get back into it again! Cleaning is such a good idea, too!

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