Out Of The Box Self-Care Ideas For The Busy Homemaker’s Soul

Join me as I share some out of the box self-care ideas for everyday moms and homemakers!

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Self-care looks different for everyone, and for the homemaker, in a lot of cases, going away to get a massage or having retail therapy or a pedicure—getting out of the house, escaping—is often the message we hear. But today, I’d like to share some out-of-the-box self-care ideas that fill my cup. These are activities right at home that bring relaxation, rejuvenation, and even help me to refocus as a full time homemaker.

So I hope you’ll stick around today. I’ve got lots of self-care ideas to share with you!

Take A Walk

One of the very first things I would recommend doing, if you’re able to—I know that depending on your season of life, if you have little babies, it’s not always possible—is to go for a run or walk as part of your morning routine. I remember when my husband worked jobs where he had to leave very early, so it wasn’t always possible to take a walk in my day-to-day life.

But even if you can just step outside in your very own backyard and feel the sunrise hit your face… I know I live in Michigan, and it’s probably not always possible during those cold winter months, but I can’t even tell you how good it is to try to step outside and just surround yourself with creation and the beauty of the earth. It has been so good for me and such a good part of my daily routine as a stay-at-home mom.

Sometimes as homemakers, we get kind of stuck in our little bubble, right? Our homes kind of feel like they’re our whole world. We wish we could just drive to the gym and hop on the treadmill. So stepping outside—even if it’s just your very own backyard—can really help you in so many ways, and especially your mental state. It reminds you that our issues and our problems are really much smaller than they sometimes feel in our heads. As a Christian, I think that just being surrounded by creation helps me to feel so much closer to my Creator. So that’s my first tip for you.

Spend Time With God

Of course, I always like to spend time afterward, after I drink my coffee, just in God’s Word and prayer. I love to read my Bible. I have a beautiful women’s study Bible that I will link for you here. It has been excellent and it’s honestly the most important self-care activities. I feel like I’ve learned even more about the Bible this year. I just like to go through and highlight verses that really speak to my heart, and then I journal them. I write them down and share in my journal what they meant to me.

Get Ready For The Day

After I spend some time in my devotions, I personally like to get ready for the day. Again, this looks different for everyone. I put makeup on every day. I’m not trying to say that you need to put makeup on. Everyone is different. This is just something that I like to do that helps me feel better about my day.

Whatever that looks like for you, I think it’s important for homemakers to change out of their pajamas, maybe put some makeup on, brush their hair. For me, it helps me to sort of take my job a little bit more seriously—because homemaking truly is a job. It’s hard work. There’s a lot involved. There’s a lot to do to run a home, to manage a home well. So for me, I personally just feel better about myself when I put on a little bit of makeup and get dressed for the day.

Keep Your Home Tidy

I also think it’s really important to try to tidy up the house throughout your day rather than allowing it to get out of control. I like to make my bed every day. Again, this is just something that personally makes me feel a little bit better. I’ve shared before with you that there’s some research that shows people who make their beds are happier. Not sure if that’s true, but it makes me happy!

So rise early, have some alone time before everyone else wakes up, try to spend some time getting ready, and then make your bed. That alone will give you a great head start every day. Have a simple cleaning schedule for your household chores to help you stay on top of your home so you don’t get overwhelmed having to clean bigger messes. If you stay on top of the small things, it can really help to take some stress out of the activities of daily living.

Like I said before, as I go throughout my day, if I notice things are out of place, I just take 30 seconds to put them where they’re supposed to go. To me, this has to do with self-care, because when my home is unorganized, sometimes I start to spiral and I get overwhelmed. If it takes just a few seconds, put it away and take care of it. Tidying is a daily living skill that is truly a prevention planning technique for me.

This is another strange thing that maybe for you might not feel like self-care, but I think just not only keeping your home tidy and organized, but cleaning. Now, I will say that cleaning bathrooms is probably one of my least favorite activities. In the moment, it does not feel like self-care—it feels like, “Man, I hate this.” But when it’s accomplished—when I just take the time, five minutes, ten minutes—to do the job, it truly feels so much better afterward to go and use a bathroom that is clean.

The same thing goes with laundry. Everyone has a different policy when it comes to laundry. Some people like to do a load of laundry every single day, and that just kind of relieves a lot of stress. I don’t tend to do that. I tend to procrastinate when it comes to laundry. I wait until I have so much to do, and then I just like to turn on a podcast and listen to something while I fold several loads. But you can figure out what works for you and what really helps make your life less stressful as a homemaker.

Fuel Your Body

Also, eat whole foods and balanced meals. Make sure you’re getting enough protein. A cheese stick doesn’t cut it all day long. Having the right fuel is what’s going to help you function properly. I also keep a planner. Just mentally writing down the things I have to do is important.

Drinking enough water has been huge for me. I feel such a huge difference when I’m having the right amount of water. My sister is so good at this and she’s really gotten on to me about it.

I also try to take time to take supplements. I talk about the types of supplements I take in my homemaking course, actually, but that’s really important as well. Not only is good for your immune system, it can help to prevent a lot of health issues.

I like to take some time to prepare healthy snacks for myself so that if I do get hungry, I have something I can easily grab out of the fridge. We really don’t spend a lot of money on processed foods that are overpriced and don’t do anything for our bodies. Whole foods—nuts, vegetables, fruit, cheese sticks—are great snack options. Taking the time to prep those things makes your life easier as a homemaker. Personally, meal preparation is very relaxing to me. I enjoy it. Find those things that are relaxing for you.

Take A Phone Break

Put your phone away. Take a social media break or just set some series boundaries with your screen time. It’s such a distraction from our work, and we can waste hours and hours on our phones. I tend to turn it off, set it down, and walk away. I’m very careful not to spend a ton of my downtime on social media apps like Instagram or Facebook during the day. For me personally, I feel like it’s a waste of time. Have specific times where you take a break from your phone and maybe pick up a book instead!

Organize And Declutter

Another thing that really helps me as a homemaker is to organize. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been going through every single cabinet, organizing everything, getting rid of extra clutter. This is so important for self-care. I like to make a list every August and again in January of each room in our home. It feels so good when I cross off areas that I’ve organized.

When we declutter and simplify our homes, it almost immediately relieves stress. You will feel less overwhelmed. We have so much to do as homemakers, and so many tabs open in our brains, that having a disorganized home can really add to that anxiety.

Make Your Home Cozy

Something very simple: just lighting candles. For me, this is huge. There’s something about having candles lit throughout my home that immediately invokes relaxation and calmness.

I’ve also really gotten into live plants throughout my home. It might seem silly, but they have helped so much in the area of self-care. Just having something that’s alive, that I’m taking care of, tending to—it’s something you should try. It’s much less difficult than I thought. Most houseplants, you just feel the dirt. If it’s dry, it probably needs water. I’ve managed to keep a lot of plants alive. I’ve killed some, yes, but it’s really not so bad, and it helps me a lot mentally.

“Play” With Your Home

The next thing I want to share with you is something that I truly enjoy, and that’s just playing with my home and the décor in my home. Trying to take some time every now and then to just play. I like to call it play. One of my friends kind of laughed at me one time. She said, “What do you mean, play with your home? It sounds like you’re playing with toys or something.” But what I mean by that is, if there’s an area that’s been bugging you—an area you’re not really in love with—take some time for yourself. Truly carve it out in your planner. Take some time—even if it’s 20 minutes, 30 minutes—and play with your home.

Maybe it’s hanging some pictures, playing around with paint samples, or moving some décor around. For me, this is one of the best forms of self-care. It just feels good afterward to tackle a little area—not an entire space, which can feel overwhelming—and just get it to where you like it.

I like to light some candles while I do this. I like to play some soft music in the background. For me, this is a very relaxing form of self-care and one that I truly enjoy.

Take Time To Rest

Now, the last thing that I want to share with you, that I think is so important for homemakers, is to allow some time throughout the day—whether that’s 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, whatever you think you need—to rest. We have established a rest time every afternoon, for as long as I can remember. Usually, it’s a time when babies go down for naps. I think it’s a good time for us as homemakers to sit down, refocus, have a cup of tea, think about our day, maybe write down some things that we’d still like to accomplish, some goals that we have—or maybe just even read a book.

That’s something I’ve been trying to model for my kids. I want them to become readers. When I exemplify that for them, it’s something they tend to want to do as well. They will also pick up books and read when they see that I’m reading or that Mike’s reading. I think it’s so important to have this time.

Every time I do—even though it’s tempting not to, because I’m not one that likes to rest, I tend to want to go, go, go—but whenever I do this, I always feel so much better afterward and ready to tackle the rest of the evening. To tackle dinner, dinner cleanup, bedtime, and everything else that goes along with homemaking.

That’s my last tip for you: carve out some time for rest every afternoon. It has done wonders for me as a homemaker and it’s one of the best forms of self-care.

I hope I was able to share some tips with you that have helped me over the years. I would love to hear from you—what are some of your tips when it comes to self-care? Let me know in the comments below!

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