Self-care is not an indulgent fad.
The idea that we need to take a step back from our duties, routines, and responsibilities and take time to recharge dates back to ancient times.
Ancient Egyptians discussed how different types of oils could alleviate different types of ailments. If this sounds familiar, it probably is. They were discussing the practice of aromatherapy. This practice indicates that the ancient Egyptians took the matter of their health seriously.
The Importance of Self-Care
With self-care, we can shore ourselves up against the overwhelming challenges that life throws at us. Without self-care, we become vulnerable to depression, stress, and disease.
However, even though we know this, it is often difficult for many of us to find time to engage in different types of self-care. Moreover, some people associate self-care with self-indulgence. They avoid self-care out of fear of being labeled self-centered, vain, or frivolous.
The good news is that there are many ways of practicing self-care without spending too much. One of them is the simple habit of keeping a self-care journal.
The Benefits of Journaling for Self-Care
Keeping a journal encourages you to set aside time to do what’s necessary for your well-being and health. The right journal can serve as a guide for strengthening your mind-body connection. (It also makes the perfect self care gift for someone you love.)
Today’s article features inspiring self-care journal ideas and templates you can apply in your daily life to develop a self-care habit.
Check out what we’ve got for you today.
15 Self-Care Journal Ideas & Templates
1. Self-Care: A Day and Night Reflection Journal
Taking better care of yourself is easy with this journal.
It allows you to track your self-care journey for 90 days. The journal contains delicate illustrations that will inspire you to cherish habits that nurture your soul. Its ruled, acid-free pages allow you to record your thoughts without any fear that what you’ve written will fade over time.
As you fill this journal’s pages with your thoughts, you’re creating a mood booster for the coming days. So, grab your favorite pen and dive in to reflect more deeply about life.
2. Self-Care Playbook: Mind Shifting Exercises to Feel Peaceful, Empowered and Free
A journal intended for self-care provides guided exercises and prompts designed to strengthen your mind-body-spirit connection. This is one of those rare examples that perfectly fits that purpose.
Its 172 pages are filled with prompts, affirmations, and guide questions to help uncover your limitless potential. There are 20 chapters within the journal, and each one contains a ritual to guide you to self-love. There are also exercises within the chapters that are designed to help you build a positive mindset.
Finally, as a bonus, there are 20 pages of full-color, eye-catching affirmations. They add further motivation and inspiration as you create a habit of self-care.
3. Breathe Self-Care Journal
This journal features a collection of articles from Breathe magazine. One purpose of the journal is to remind you that you deserve your moments of self-care.
The journal is your guide to discovering rituals that pamper you, allow you to achieve balance, keep you organized, help you slow down, and create the perfect mindset for your well-being.
It is filled with beautiful illustrations to help bring further inspiration as you create a powerful habit that restores, heals, and gives you happiness.
4. My Self-Care Plan for the Day
Are you just starting to explore ways to take care of yourself? This template is ideal for beginners on the journey toward self-care.
When using this template as the foundation of your self-care routine, you need to set aside at least 20 minutes each day to do an activity on the list of suggestions. Do this as often as necessary for your well-being.
5. Self-Care Routine Planner
This set of printables provides everything you need to establish daily, monthly, and yearly routines for self-care. But what should these routines be?
Some suggestions for daily self-care routines include:
Meanwhile, for a monthly self-care routine, you can:
Do these activities on a regular basis and record your impressions about them in your journal. Eventually, you’ll notice their positive effects. We guarantee that you’ll be healthier and happier.
6. Weekly Self-Care Tracker
This template allows you to track your self-care routines for the week. There is space for you to fill with the activities you plan to do or have already done that promote self-care in the following aspects of your life:
Furthermore, you can take note of your goals for the week and the things you are proud of. A large portion of the template is allocated for a “brain dump,” where you can jot down your thoughts and reflections for the week.
Finally, the bottom right portion of the template is reserved for notes on things you need to get done during the coming week.
7. Self-Care Corner
This sample shows how you can track your self-care routine through your bullet journal. When you keep a record of your self-care habits, it deepens your commitment to take care of yourself better and motivates you to keep doing these activities.
Furthermore, this type of spread shows which parts of your self-care routine you can improve on. It also tells you which activities are working and which ones are not.
8. Self-Care Tracker
If you constantly feel stressed out by what’s happening in your life, you need this self-care tracker to remind you to take some time out and focus on you before you become overwhelmed.
The tracker is printable in letter, A5, and A4 sizes. You can also resize the images according to your preferred specifications. Use it in your bullet journal or daily planner to remind you that your well-being is also a priority.
9. Self-Care Bingo
Here is another example of a self-care routine tracker. This one is made to look like a bingo board. The concept is to mark the self-care activities you did for the day. If you are able to do at least four activities in a row or a column (or even did all the activities on the board), you win.
You can choose to reward yourself for accomplishing this essential routine. For ideas on how to reward yourself for accomplishing your goals, you can check out this post.
10. A Day of Rest
Life has become hectic, and many of us are focused on productivity and getting more done with our short 24 hours each day. We have goals to meet, and being sick is not an option.
This journal idea reminds us to set aside time for rest. The spread allows us to list down things we can do during our rest days. Ideally, those things are not related to work, but instead are activities that nourish, pamper, and rejuvenate us.
What self-care ideas come to mind?
11. The Hare That Cares Self-Care Journal
This handmade journal is ideal for introducing kids to the concept of self-care. The whole world is facing a new and challenging period in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we need to be aware that this affects our children as well.
This journal can serve as an outlet to help them process and regulate their emotions and begin their journeys of practicing self-care.
12. Self-Care Master Plan: A Workbook for Feelin' Good
This self-care “master plan” is your personalized guide to staying centered and grounded even with all the challenging things going on in life. It consists of a set of cards that contain writing prompts related to self-care.
Some prompt topics include “My Strengths,” “My Ideal Sleep Routine,” and “My Imaginary Advisory Board.”
The cards can be easily detached from the book for you to display prominently, or you can keep the cards intact and use the book as a portable personal reference when you need extra motivation and encouragement.
13. The Self-Care Checklist
This planner provides everything you need to strengthen your self-care habit, including information, prompts, and trackers. It comes in an attractive design that’s ideal for all ages.
The planner’s overall design encourages you to be consistent with habits that promote self-care. You’ll be prompted to look for the things you can be grateful for each day.
14. Self-Care Doodled Icons
This cute journal idea for self-care serves as a reference whenever you need some time off to prevent yourself from being overwhelmed by work, school, or other demands on your time and attention.
Select an item or two from this list and do them without feeling guilty. The activity you choose may only require 15 minutes of your time each day. Allow yourself the time to regroup and recharge.
15. Self-Care List
Perhaps you’re searching for a simple self-care template that reminds you to focus on regaining your balance when you’re feeling stressed out. If so, you might want to consider this template.
The template has space allocated where you can list up to six things that make you happy. On the right-hand side of the template, you can write down things related to self-care.
You can also write your personal affirmations and things that inspire you. Finally, a quote reminds you that “Balance is not something you find, it’s created.”
Final Thoughts on Self-Care Journal Ideas
There you have it—ideas for your next personal journal dedicated to self-care. Have you found a favorite among the ones featured today?
We all have numerous responsibilities and priorities that compete for our attention. However, we must remember to make ourselves a priority as well. Only by taking the time to rest and rebalance will we be able to do more and give more of ourselves to others.
If you need more ideas for your self-care routine, check out this post featuring over 200 self-care ideas and activities or read articles from the best self care blogs online.
Meanwhile, if you love recording your thoughts and ideas, you might want to check out a couple of journaling resources:
Finally, if you don’t know the “right” way to journal, then check out this seven-step process for building a journaling habit that sticks.
