The Two Kinds of Self Care You Need This Year
If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent most of your summer planning for the beginning of the academic year. A new academic year brings new schedules, new cases, and often a commitment to a self-care routine that fades after a few weeks. One reason may be how we think about self-care. Social media tends to spotlight bubble baths, face masks, and “treat yo self” moments. Those things matter, but they are only part of the picture.
Self-care comes in two forms: the fun kind and the practical kind. Fun self-care helps you recharge, while practical self-care keeps life running smoothly. Both matter. Here are a few simple ways to make room for each this semester.
Practical Self-Care: The Everyday Tasks That Protect You
Practical self-care may feel more like a chore than a treat, but it can keep small problems from becoming bigger ones. Think of it as routine care for your health, well-being, and daily life.
Book appointments you’ve been putting off. Schedule physicals, dental cleanings, eye exams, skin checks, and any recommended screenings, like a mammogram or colonoscopy. If you care for children or pets, schedule their visits too.
Plan for vaccines and prescriptions. Get your flu shot, recommended vaccines, and refill medications before you run low. Automatic refills can make this even easier.
Check your finances. Review your spending, saving, subscriptions, insurance, and service plans (like your cell phone) to see where you might simplify or save.
Review your benefits. Your benefits package may include helpful resources or discounts you have not used. A quick review could uncover support for fitness, nutrition, or other services.
Take a look at your calendar. Look at what is coming up personally and professionally and plan for it. Build in time off to your schedule, even if you don’t yet have something planned.
Protect your sleep. Keep a steady routine when you can and try putting devices away an hour before bed and waiting until you are up in the morning to check them.
Tackle digital housekeeping. Clean up and back up your work and personal laptops, phone, and photos. Consider whether or not your work laptop needs to come home every night.
Renew what is expiring. Check your driver’s license, passport, vehicle registration, insurance, memberships, and subscriptions (the ones you actually use).
These tasks may not be exciting, but each one is a small kindness to your future self - the one who doesn't want the flu during finals week or a car that breaks down the morning of a big presentation. Choose a routine that works for you, and make it as easy and enjoyable as possible.
Fun Self-Care: The Things That Help You Recharge
Fun self-care restores your energy, reconnects you with what you enjoy, and reminds you that you are more than your to-do list.
Make something. Paint, journal, bake, knit, or doodle—anything that lets you create.
Slow down. Try a massage, a pedicure, guided meditation, or a quiet moment just for you.
Read for pleasure. Choose something unrelated to work or school. And yes, audiobooks count too.
Go somewhere simply to enjoy it. Visit a coffee shop, park, or bookstore without an agenda.
Try something new. Explore a recipe, restaurant, trail, class, or local spot.
Make a date. Visit a museum, take a scenic walk, or enjoy a favorite meal alone or with someone else.
Connect. Call someone, meet a friend for coffee, or send a quick note or postcard.
Play. Try a board game, video game, or puzzle. Play matters at every age.
Move in a way that feels good. Dance, bike, walk, or take a class that sounds genuinely fun.
Why You Need Both
It is easy to think of fun self-care as “real” self-care and practical self-care as just another obligation, or to feel guilty for resting when tasks are waiting. A sustainable routine needs both. Without practical care, small issues can pile up. Without fun and rest, burnout can follow even the most organized schedule.
As the semester begins, choose one practical task and one fun activity for this week. Small, consistent steps can make a lasting difference. Self-care isn't just about feeling good right now, it's about building a life you can actually sustain.
This Week’s Self-Care Challenge
Choose one practical task that will make life easier and one fun activity that will help you recharge. Keep both small, specific, and doable this week.