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!
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!
- Meditate for 10 minutes
- Yoga (check out this playlist from Yoga With Adriene of practices under 10 minutes)
- Journal your thoughts and feelings
- Read a book or magazine
- Moisturize your body (I love the Vitamin E All Over Body Cream from Superdrug!)
- Freshen up (wash your face, brush your teeth, brush your hair etc)
- Go outside for a 10 minute walk
- Put on your favourite songs
- Text a friend
- Write a list of things you want to plan
- Make yourself the perfect cup of tea or coffee
- Treat yourself to a cake or a sweet treat
- Snuggle with a pet
- Clip and paint your nails
- Stretch your muscles
- Drink a glass of water
- Watch a video from your favourite YouTuber
- Listen to a short podcast/TedTalk
- Treat yourself to something online
- Read a blog post from your favourite blogger
- Create a vision board on Pinterest
- Clean something
- Write a list of things you’re grateful for
- Hug someone
- Do a visualization exercise
- Give yourself a neck massage
- Delete all Facebook friends you no longer speak to
- Make your bed
- Book an appointment you’ve been putting off (like your cervical screening)
- 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!
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Great working 😊
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
That’s amazing to hear!
Thank you for this post! I was having a day and this encouraged me❤️. I never put enough tome aside for myself. Work I’m progress…
Glad you found this post!
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!
That’s a great idea. Haha “self care ideas to do in 30 seconds – cuddle a cat”
I giggled at delete all Facebook friends you no longer speak to 😂 good list! And so important.
Haha well, it’s true!
Great ideas — and very accessible, which make doing them or making time for self-care an option.
Thank you ☺️
Nice, very helpful!
Self care is so important
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
Definitely 😌
Self-care isn’t a selfish act. It is not only about considering your needs. It is knowing what we need to do to take care of ourselves, and of others. A really good article
-Siddharth Chaudhary ( https://arcanelost.com/category/lifestyle/well-being/)
Thank you 🙂
[…] self care by now. I’ve published many different types of self care related content, including self care in 10 minutes or less, basic self care and how to bring self care BACK into your life when you’ve been […]
Great list! And I love your pin images. Very professional looking!
Thank you very much!
Excellent ideas here!
It’s amazing how much better I feel with something as simple at making my bed, even if I grumble at the thought of it.
Cora | https://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
The little things always help!
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
It does doesn’t it! I’m going to do the same!
I love these tips on how to keep happy and healthy 😄👏❤️
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
Coda cuddles sound like amazing self care!
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.
Sounds like fab ways to practice self care!
Great list! I think you just about covered everything there is to do in 10 minutes LOL
Hahaha absolutely!
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 😂😂
Haha well if you have longer than 10 minutes, go for it!
This is such a lovely post, it’s so informative but not overwhelming!
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
Oh I agree! I love deleting old “friends”. C ya! xxx
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!
Totally agree! Thank you 🙂
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!
Totally 🙂 You definitely don’t need hours!
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
Definitely both!
Oooooh I like these! I always fall into the trap of thinking that if it’s not a long time then it doesn’t count and I need to fix that!
You definitely do! Everything counts!
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.
I totally agree. I don’t drink coffee so that one’s on you but I understand the point 🙂
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.
They’re really great – I’ve been doing a lot of the shorter videos lately!
Moisturising and taking more time out for my night time/skin routine has been a top one for me recent and it’s made a world of difference on how I feel! Going to add more of these ideas to my day, especially as most are effortless!
Fy https://cultureeighteen.wordpress.com/
Ah that’s great to hear!
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 🙂
Yep, absolutely 🙂
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
It really can 🙂
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! 🙂
It really can!
These are great ideas!!! I definitely need to do more self care!
Hope you manage to fit some in!
What a great list of ideas, Jenny. I think for me it would be make a cup tea, read a book, go for a walk or clean something. Thanks for sharing xx
They’re all my favourite things too!
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.
Woo! So glad to hear that!
Great suggestions! I agree that even 10 minutes can make a huge difference. My favorite form of self-care has lately been meditating!