Take Time For You: Weekly Self Care Day Advice

How to introduce a fun workout into your weekly self care day – and include your friends and family. Practice self care Sunday (or any self care day) and set time aside each week for you. Our favorite way to start a journey towards a better mind and better you!

Adding Activity to a Self Care Day

If you’re like me, it can be challenging to find the energy to fit in regular workouts. Putting on workout clothes and driving to the gym can sound like a real drag when you had a hectic day at the office. Or you spent all weekend driving your kids around to their various activities. You hope to find some extra time to fit a self care day (or hour) into your weekly schedule. But often times, prioritizing time for ourselves doesn’t happen. Consider thinking outside the box and joining the Weekly Activity Challenge. Achieve a happy, healthy, more active lifestyle. And one that brings you closer together with your friends and family.

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The benefits of the Weekly Activity Challenge

Part of your self care day
Provides you with a great workout
Something you can do with loved ones!

This challenge has become the BEST part of my week. It makes me set time for self-care while also staying active. And it enables me to do several priorities all into one activity.

Build Your Perfect Self Care Day

We have a tendency to avoid the things we dislike and let lower priority items fall to the wayside. So, it is important to focus on exercise and turn it into something you look forward to doing.

How?

Well, my favorite way to do this is to seek activity from the things you love most. I recommend always maintaining at least one “fun” self care day each week. This day must include time set aside for some self care activity! I call this the Weekly Activity Challenge.

The Journey

My husband and I first tried this challenge when we moved to Denver a few years ago. We were new to the area and looking for ways to explore the many mountains, lakes, and towns around us. I was also experiencing a plateau in my fitness journey. Thus, I was looking for ways to reignite my energy and introduce variation to my routine.

I decided to make it a personal goal to to fit at least one new and “fun” activity into each week.
The first activity we chose was a short hike near Boulder. Having moved from Illinois, it had been a while since either of us had hiked. And let me tell you – the struggle of hiking at a higher elevation is REAL! We stumbled, out of breath, through the 6 mile out and back trail. We had an awesome time. Throughout the year I found myself engaging in physical activity more often. I looked forward to getting my couple hours of exercise in on the weekends, not obligated. With this success, I ended up dedicating one day of my week as my self care day. And using the weekly activity challenge helped keep me on track!

Good luck… and most importantly… HAVE FUN!

Favorite Self Care Day Activities

Here is a list of 20 ideas to get you started when planning your self care day!

Take your dog on a walk
Shoot some hoops
Go on a hike
Jog through your neighborhood
Enjoy a round of golf
Rent paddle boards
Ice skate during the holidays
Sign up for a 5k race
Try snowboarding
Walk around an outdoor mall
Kick a soccer ball around with your friends
Play a game of kickball with your family
Go for a walk in the park
Play sand volleyball on the beach
Bike ride with your kids
Skii a new mountain
Organize a picnic with fun yard games like Frisbee
Get a group together for a game of softball
Spend a day at the zoo
Take a yoga class

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All these activities help make exercise enjoyable. And provide dedicated time for YOU to focus on yourself and do something fun.

To get started, follow the five simple steps outlined below. And don’t forget to share your progress with us!

Step 1. Define Your Goal

Decide how many weeks you want to complete a fun activity and for how many minutes or hours each week.
I recommend starting with a goal of completing a 1 hour activity each week for 5 consecutive weeks. If you enjoy it and complete 5 weeks – keep going!!

Step 2. Pick 1 Activity to Complete Each Week

The activity you choose is completely up to you! Make it your own.
Use our idea list at the top of this article if you need some ideas to get you started!
If you find something you love, it’s okay to duplicate activities from week to week, but try to put a new spin on it each time. For example, find a new running trail, paddle board on a new lake, or take your dog on a walk through a new neighborhood. At the end of each week, choose a new activity for the following week to give yourself something to look forward to!

Step 3. Engage in Each Activity

To enjoy each activity, make a conscious effort to be present. Put down your cell phone, turn your mind away from work or school, and focus in the present. By doing so, make your self care day the most enjoyable, active, and fulfilling day of your week!

Step 4. Keep a Log of Your Activities

Create a system for yourself to track your progress toward your goal! This not only holds yourself accountable, it is also rewarding. Celebrate everything you accomplished over the past several weeks or months! For example, I take a photo each week of my activity and save to my Google drive. I also add the photos to family photo album I create each year. The albums are my husband and I’s FAVORITE thing to look through. It serves as a great reminder of how lucky we are for all the great memories we have. Feel free to use one of these methods or create your own!

Step 5. Share Your Success

Weekly adventures help you progress toward your fitness goals and enhance your relationships.
Encourage your family and friends to join you in this new way of life. Enjoy sharing something memorable and meaningful with those you love most.
Don’t forget to share your progress with us! We love to hear about your progress. Post a comment below or send us a note about your favorite activity!

We hope you enjoyed these tips for planning a self care day. For more tips, resources, and challenges, join our Breaking Zen community! And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Free sleep aids, nature sounds, meditations and more!