5 Easy Self-Care Wins

Self-care isn't a luxury—it's essential.

It's about taking intentional actions to maintain your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Most of understand that self care is vital — yet it can often feel overwhelming or indulgent. With busy lives, constant demands, and the pressure to care for others, it’s easy to put self-care on the back burner. Many of us struggle with feeling guilty about taking time for ourselves or feel like there’s just not enough time in the day. But self-care isn’t selfish—it’s the foundation for a healthy, balanced life.

By making it a priority, you’ll be better equipped to handle life’s challenges and support those around you.

Here are five simple self-care tips to help you live your best life:

#1 Put Yourself First

Just like the airplane rule of putting on your own oxygen mask first, prioritise your own needs before helping others. When you care for yourself, you have more energy and resilience to support those around you.

Think of your life as a jar. All the things you do are rocks, pebbles and sand that fill the jar. The big rocks represent your essential needs—sleep, nutrition, exercise, and mental health. These are the non-negotiables. If you don’t put these in first, there won’t be room for them later. The pebbles represent important but secondary things like work and relationships. The sand? That’s the low-value stuff like scrolling on your phone or busy work that fills up your day but doesn't add real value. If you let the sand take up too much space, you’ll have no room left for what really matters.

Action Tip: This week, identify one "big rock" that you’ve been neglecting and make it a priority. Schedule it into your day like an important appointment.

#2 Prioritise Rest and Relaxation

True self-care goes beyond vegging out in front of the TV. It’s about activities that truly rejuvenate you, such as getting enough sleep, practicing deep breathing, taking a warm bath, or listening to calming music.

Action Tip: Pick one relaxing activity (like a 5-minute breathing exercise or a short walk) and incorporate it into your routine today.

#3 Engage in Pleasure and Mastery

Balance is key to self-care. Pleasure activities, like reading or watching a movie, help you unwind, while mastery activities, such as learning something new or pursuing a goal, build confidence and promote growth.

Action Tip: This week, schedule one activity that challenges you (like starting a new hobby) and one purely for fun (like catching up with a friend).

#4 Spend Time Outdoors

Nature is a powerful healer (this is not a woo woo statement, it is backed up by credible science). Whether it's a walk in the park or sitting under a tree, spending time outdoors boosts your immune system, lowers stress, and improves your mood.

Action Tip: Make time to go outside for at least 10 minutes each day, whether it's a short walk or simply sitting in a green space.

#5 Start Small - Shrink the Change

Big self-care goals can feel overwhelming. Break them down into smaller, manageable steps to create lasting change. Start with tiny habits and gradually build them up over time.

Action Tip: Pick one small self-care habit to begin this week—like going to bed 5 minutes earlier or drinking a glass of water when you wake up.

Remember, self-care isn't about being perfect—it's about making small, consistent choices that support your well-being. Start with these tips and see how they make a difference!

With love and great health

Dr Lucy and Dr Mary XX

Dr Mary Barson and Dr Lucy are the founders of Real Life Medicine. They help women who have been on every diet under the sun, optimise their health and achieve long lasting weight loss without feeling miserable or deprived.

They do this with their 3 step framework that

• Improves metabolism
• Develops mindset skills
• Provides tools to implement it easily into busy lives

With this comes increased energy, vitality and confidence.

You can avoid chronic disease and stop living life on the sidelines!