5 Self Care Hacks In Under 5 Minutes

No matter how jam packed your day is, you deserve at least five minutes to yourself. More than that, I would argue that you need a little self care to live a full and healthy life.

Discipline is a powerful tool to keep you on track to reaching your goals. However, too much of a good thing is never good. Your daily routine should always include time spent truly taking care of yourself.

When it comes to self care, you don’t need to dedicate an entire hour to complete a 12 step skin care routine. All you need is to take five minutes at a time throughout your day to check in and take care of yourself.

The more often you take time to check in, the better you’ll be able to understand what your body is communicating. This will help you develop skills and habits that will help you through hard feelings.

So, here are five simple things you can do to squeeze in a little self care whether you’re at home on the couch or at the office, and none of them are a face mask (sorry).

1. Take a breath.

One of the most powerful tools we have to regulate our anxiety and stress is breath. Even just focused attention on the breath can slow your heart rate and calm you down.

There are many breathing techniques you can use to calm yourself, such as box breathing. This technique originated as a yogic practice and is even used by Navy SEALs.

To try it yourself, first expel all of the air in your lungs. From there, breath in while slowly counting to four. Hold at the top for another four count and then breath slowly out for four seconds. At the bottom of the breath, you guessed it- hold for a final four count.

Repeat these steps several times or until you feel better.

2. Drink some water.

Yes, even staying hydrated counts as self care, especially if you’re like me and can often forget to drink water throughout the day.

Along with all of the amazing things that water does for your body, research shows that dehydration can actually worsen depression and anxiety. To make hydration more self care-ish, make it special.

Make your water more exciting by slicing up some fresh fruit to add. Serve it over ice in your favorite cup. For the water averse, start working toward better habits with a decaffeinated tea or add a few drops of flavoring concentrate to your glass.

Finally, try to be mindful while drinking your water, focusing your attention on the experience and how it feels to know you are tending to your needs.

3. Stretch it out.

Another great way to get out of your head is to get physical. Whether you spend the majority of your work day sitting, or if your job involves physical labor, you could really benefit from some better flexibility.

As we age, our joints become stiffer and muscles weaker, and mobility can suffer pretty quickly if you aren’t taking time to practice stretching. Further, taking a moment to stretch can be combined with breath work, reducing your heart rate and blood pressure.

You can repeat what you learned in middle school gym class, find a video to follow on Youtube, or use this routine from Healthline.

Stretching is a great habit to get into for your longterm health, and is a great way to slow down for five minutes to get out of your head and into your body.

4. Write it down.

You can write a to do list, a list of things you hate, or things you love (please follow up the hate list with at least one thing you love) or you can simply write.

Journaling can be such a powerful tool to help you work through hard feelings. When I feel overwhelmed, the first thing I do is write a to do list. I like to think of my thoughts swirling around in my brain and I am plucking them out one by one and putting them on paper.

Once they are on paper, I can focus on the task at hand and bonus! It’s really satisfying to check them off.

However you choose to use your journal, writing can be immensely helpful to processing your thoughts and emotions or just letting your feelings out.

5. Clear your space.

One thing that can lead to mental clutter, stress and anxiety is physical clutter. Physical clutter can also build up when we haven’t been taking enough time to properly care for ourselves.

Take five minutes to clear your desk, your kitchen, your nightstand, or whatever is closest to you when stress hits. Clear all items and put them back where they belong, organize your papers into a neat pile, and toss any trash.

Once clear, wipe down the surfaces and step back and admire your work. You don’t need to do a deep clean to feel the effects of a short tidy up, and you’ll be better able to relax in a clean space.

Commit to it daily.

The best part of incorporating self care in small doses is that you can always make time for it. Even better, I would encourage you to take small breaks for self care throughout your day, checking in every couple of hours to determine what your body and mind need to recenter and ground.

I want to encourage you to think about self care in a way that goes beyond just putting on a face mask or taking a bubble bath. Don’t get me wrong, taking time to relax is also important!

However, I think that we can reframe what it means to truly care for ourselves by choosing to do small tasks that will help us in the moment and set us up for a better day moving forward.