Create a Personalized Self Care Menu + Free PDF Template

How about creating time for new ways to look after yourself this week? This is what a self care menu achieves. It’s here to ensure you’re supporting (and prioritizing) some much needed balance in your life. 

A self care menu is a fun way to add self care to your routine and help you find new ways to practice self care based on what you need right now.

Whether it’s self-care that fits into a specific timeframe or soothing activities that support the type of self care you need.

I’m also sharing a self care menu you can print and use at home. Plus a template you can use to create your own self care menu!

What is a Self Care Menu?

Think of a self-care menu as a go-to resource that’s customized only for you.

It includes different types of self care that help you:

• Prioritize emotional and mental health
• Improve your energy levels so you can do more of what you love
• Gives you a list of self-care ideas when you have decision fatigue or on hard days when you need to do something for yourself
• Helps you figure out the best type of self care you need in any given moment

Just like a restaurant menu, this self-care menu is broken down into 5 key areas:

1. Appetizers: Quick self care activities you can do in 5 to 15 minutes
2. Main courses: Self care practices you do weekly or during longer periods of time
3. Shareables: Self care you can practice with others
4. Desserts: Indulgent self care activities to do in moderation
5. Sides: Things you can add to your day that are on the side while you’re doing something else.

50 Self Care Menu Ideas To Get You Started

Here’s a list of activities you can add to your self-care menu. 

I will be growing this list over time, so if you have some activities you’d like to share, please add your favourites in the comments section below this article.

Appetizers

Small, digestible self care activities you can do that only take a small amount of time (think 5 to 15 minutes), but can have a big impact.

Examples:

• Have a mini break outside. No phone – just relax, enjoy the fresh air and listen to the sounds around you.
• Complete a journal prompt (lots to choose from here)
• Book a coffee date with a friend
• Buy yourself some flowers
• Have a 5 minute stretch
• 5 or 10 minute body scan meditation (I like this one by Jess Yoga)
• Box breathing 
• Making a cup of tea and taking time to enjoy every sip
• Complete a journal prompt
• Listen to a podcast episode

Check out these 5 minute self care ideas which are perfect as an ‘appetizer’.

Main Courses

When it comes to self care, think of the main course as something you’re dedicating more time to. It can be a daily/weekly activity or an act of self-care that you do in a dedicated longer block of time.

Examples:

• Take an online class – something you’ve always wanted to learn
• Daily morning walk
• Create a self-care plan for the whole week
• Dedicate time to a hobby you love or start a new one
• Journaling before bed every night
• See a nutritionist
• Have a self care day
• Allocating every Sunday evening to a bath and home spa experience (or just lock yourself in the bathroom away from anyone else!)
• Get a massage followed by a long hot show or bubble bath when you get home
• Go on a date with yourself – movies, museum, cafe and book store, etc

Related: The Art of Dating Yourself + 40 Solo Date Ideas

Shareables

This is a fun one as there are actually 5 core types of self care, and one of them is social self care. 

Shareables are fun to eat on a menu, experiencing the same thing with a friend and the same goes for self-care.

When you share an experience you tend to get even more out of it.

A research study from Yale uncovered what I think most of us know, but it truly does show the value of experiencing things with others…

• Sharing an experience amplifies it. It makes good things feel better and bad things feel worse. 
• You don’t need to talk for this effect to kick in. Just being in someone else’s presence, doing the same thing has a significant impact. 

Here are some examples of self-care shared experiences:

• Join a monthly book club or start your own
• Weekly workout or dance class
• Brunch with friends
• Find a walking or workout buddy
• In-person creative class – pottery, oil painting, cooking, jewellery making, etc
• Join a social group – there are so many to choose from in most communities (running, mommy, church, birdwatching groups and more)
• Go hiking with a friend
• Visit a farmer’s market and get to know the vendors
• Get to know people you see regularly – the postal worker, parents at school, people in the dog park, your local barista
• Start a hobby with a friend

Sides

Think of sides as things you can add to your daily routine. Self care you don’t have to think too much about, but that help you look after yourself better.

Examples:

• Play music while you cook
• Walk while you talk – if on a video call give a walking pad a try, or if you have a call, walk in your neighbourhood or around your office.
• Wear clothing that makes you feel comfortable and confident all at the same time
• Use a foot massager when watching tv at night
• Keep a notebook in your bag so you can journal or write whenever you’re waiting on someone
• Keep a large jug of water on hand to hydrate while you work
• Stretch while your tea or coffee is brewing
• Diffuse essential oils or light a candle in the evenings
• Spend 5 minutes tidying your work space at the end of the day, so the next day feels that much more calm
• Spend 5 mins making things easier for tomorrow you – fill the kettle, make overnight oats, prep your coffee maker, lay your clothes out.

Desserts

On a self-care menu, desserts are similar to an actual menu… indulgences, typically enjoyed in  moderation. 

Too much of these “desserts” might make you tired, railroad your routine or be physically, emotionally or financially unhealthy. So, enjoy your dessert, but don’t only eat dessert!

Examples of Dessert Self-Care Items:

• A late night out with friends
• Movie marathon watching your fave flicks
• Treat yourself to actual dessert
• Get a mani and pedi
• Buy yourself a new outfit you feel great in
• Order in from a favourite restaurant
• Book a day at the spa
• Stay in bed all day – nap, read, watch TV, veg out
• Binge a new series all at once
• Splurge on something small that feels extravagant – a fancy candle, makeup, skincare

Create Your Personalized Self-Care Menu

Time to create your own self-care menu…

2. Brainstorm a List of Self Care Activities

I share ideas I love, but please go ahead and write as self-care ideas you can think of. To help you out you can also check out these resources:

• 75 Easy 5-Minute Self Care Ideas (Perfect for the appetizer section)
• 75 Self Care Sunday Ideas (broken down by how much time you have – helpful for completing all sections of the menu!)

3. Fill In Your First Self Care Menu

Add self care ideas to each section of the menu.

Tips for your first self-care menu:

• Only add things you genuinely WANT to do and see yourself doing. 
• Keep this first self-care menu fairly easy. We can’t turn into self-care gurus overnight! So if you feel like writing ‘8 hours spa day’ – perhaps start with a spa morning. Unless you really can allocate 8 hours – go for it!
• Think about what you need right now. Remember there different types of self-care – emotional, physical, social, intellectual and spiritual. Check out this article on the 5 types of self care to learn more and add self care to your menu to support what you need today.

4. Try Your Self-Care Menu Out!

Give yourself at least a week to use your self-care menu. Intentionally look at it everyday and decide what you try.

• As you do each self-care activity, think about what kind of impact it has on you. 
• Spend a few minutes journaling, or writing in the notes app on your phone how you found the different self-care activities

5. Tweak and Create Another Version

By changing up your self-care menu, overtime you’ll be able to only add things that completely fill your cup – things that bring you joy and help you feel balanced and supported.

Also, remember that depending on the time of year, or what season of life you’re in will also impact the types of self-care you add to your menu.

Final Thoughts & Next Steps

I hope you find this list of self-care options helpful so you can dedicate more time to looking after what you need.

This self-care menu is a resource and a personal commitment to look after yourself. This way you can create a more balanced life that feels intentional. 

👉 If you feel like you’re about to hit burnout, or that you’re always overwhelmed, spiraling and exhausted, now is the time to prioritize yourself. You owe yourself that.

Also, know that when you create your own self care menu, it really is something just for you. If you don’t love my ideas, no problem! Truly think about what your body, mind and soul need right now to nourish you, and try self care activities that align to those things.

More Self Care Resources & Support

• Love Yourself First: 30 Day Journal with Self Love Prompts
• Building a Happy Week Self-Care Planner
• 30 Day Self Care Challenge & Printable PDF