12 Days of Christmas Self Care: A Seasonal Guide to Self Love

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12 days left until Christmas, can you believe it?! This time of the year is usually very busy for most of the people. There are a lot of things to do: decorations are waiting to be hung, the house needs to be cleaned, Christmas dinner won’t prepare itself… The list can go on and on.

It’s easy to forget about taking care of yourself during this busy time. You might even think about it as a waste of time, but actually, it’s the other way round. Self-care is productive. It allows you to have plenty of energy to tackle everything coming your way.

Make sure to always fill your cup first. To help you do that, I’ve created this list of 12 days of Christmas self care – 12 short and sweet ideas to take care of yourself before Christmas. Let’s dive in!

Follow me on Instagram to see my 12 days of Christmas self care in action – I’m going to show up on stories every day and share what I do.

How do you take care of yourself for Christmas?

Christmas can be a wonderful and magical time of the year, but it’s important to continue taking care of yourself so that you can fully enjoy it. Make sure to prioritise your physical and mental health by maintaining a regular self-care routine, and don’t be afraid to say no to things that might overwhelm or stress you out.

If you’ve never paid attention to taking care of yourself, it might be overwhelming to just think about it. Starting new things, especially during a busy time of the year, can be difficult. If you don’t know how to what to do, don’t worry. In this post you’ll find 12 Christmas self care ideas, one a day from 13 December to the holidays.

How can I practice self-care during the holidays?

Self-care is an important part of maintaining your mental and physical health, and it’s especially important during the holiday season when you may be feeling stressed or overwhelmed. You can easily sprinkle some self-care acts throughout your day, even if you’re very busy. Here are my favourite ones:

• Make a hot chocolate and sit down for a few minutes to drink it while it’s still warm
• Limit social media
• Journal
• Close your eyes and meditate

There’s a lot of different self-care acts you can do in 5-10 minutes.

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What are 5 things you can do for self-care daily?

Here are five things you can do for self-care on a daily basis:

1. Take care of your physical health by exercising, eating well, and getting enough sleep
2. Take care of your mental health by practising mindfulness, setting aside time for yourself, or connecting with others
3. Practice self-care activities by taking a relaxing bath, meditating, or journaling.
4. Set aside time for relaxation and fun, for example, for reading a book, watching a movie, and spending time with friends and loved ones
5. Prioritise your well-being by setting boundaries, saying no to things that don’t align with your values, and making time for activities that nourish you mentally and emotionally.
   
   
   

12 days of Christmas self care

Day 1: Take an evening off

Let’s start with the big one – take an evening off! I know, I know. You’ve got a lot to do. I do too, and evenings are usually the only time when I can do something without my little one interrupting me every two minutes.

Taking an evening off can be a great way to relax and recharge your batteries before you head into one of the busiest times of the year. You’ll be much more efficient after taking some time for yourself. Trust me, even cleaning the kitchen seems to be easier and less daunting when you aren’t overtired.

Day 2: Create a morning and evening routine

I suck at creating routines, truly. For the very long time, I believed I don’t need them at all and that’s where I was wrong.

According to Cambridge Dictionary, routine means a usual or fixed way of doing things. So, if you do something repeatedly, you create a routine without even realising that.

Lately I’ve been spending evenings by watching Netflix, catching up on messages, and stuff like that. I’m used to it. I do it every day and have troubles with switching things around. As silly as it sounds, it didn’t really occur to me that’s my evening routine right now. Does it work for me? Does it make me feel better about myself? Does it truly support me and make me a better person? Well, that’s debatable, but I can always improve it!

Day 3: Make a to-do list and plan ahead

You don’t have to do everything on your own; you know? Holiday season together with the upcoming new year can be busy and overwhelming. There’s a lot of stuff to do, especially if you host a Christmas dinner at your house this year. I bet you want to prepare for a new year too, create new goals, review the current year… That’s a lot!

Make a list of all the things you want to get done, no matter how small or big they are. Then, choose ones you can ditch, delegate, and those you want (or need) to do by yourself. Finally, let’s schedule them out. Don’t put more than 3 “big” tasks in one day, though, as you need to have some time to relax and recharge too.

Day 4: Listen to relaxing music while doing housework

There are a lot of playlists with calm, relaxing, festive music on YouTube. This playlist is my go-to every time I need to focus. I’m even listening to it right now, while writing this blog post! It helps me feel more festive too, which is a nice bonus.

Some of them have really cute animations too, so you can put in on TV to create a cosy environment for you to work in.

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Day 5: Take a break from social media

Have you ever checked how much time you spend on your phone daily? Especially in social media apps? I bet you’ll be surprised to see your daily average.

When you’re bored, you scroll reels. When you have a few minutes to yourself, you check Instagram stories. Going to the toilet? Let’s watch TikToks! Lol. I might exaggerate, but you know what I mean.

So today, block all notifications, uninstall social media apps, and reconnect with yourself. Every time you’ll notice the urge to check Instagram, focus on your thoughts and how you feel about them. Instead of scrolling through your phone, make a coffee and sit by the Christmas tree. While limiting social media usage can be difficult, it has plenty of benefits. You might notice being less anxious, improving your mood and sleep, and many more. It’s worth it, truly.

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Day 6: Go for a walk

Yup, you read that correctly. Go for a walk, no matter if it’s sunny, snowing, or freezing cold. Trust me, you’ll survive! I remember going to school when it was -20°C and I’m still alive.

Winter isn’t the best time to go outside, is it? It’s a difficult time of the year overall, with short days and early sunsets. Your mood might be negatively affected by that, and going for a walk can be a successful countermeasure.

It’s been proven that walking is the easiest way to get more active and become a healthier version of yourself. It can reduce stress, cheer you up, increase self-esteem.. So, don’t overthink it. Dress warm and just go. If you need more motivation, what about getting those last ingredients for your favourite dinner you forgot to buy yesterday?

Day 7: Treat yourself

When was the last time you bought something nice for yourself? Often we spend lots of time and money on gifts for our close ones, but forget about ourselves.

Go to your favourite coffee shop and get a festive drink. Buy that thing you’ve wanted for so long, but it felt like wasting money. Don’t overthink it and just enjoy the experience.

Day 8: Take a relaxing bath

I used to think about taking a hot bath like it’s a waste of time. I should do something productive instead of wasting time like that! Or not. You can’t work, clean, take care of others, etc. 24/7 even if you want to. You need to take some time to recharge your batteries so that you can continue being the best version of yourself.

Dig out those bath bombs you’ve been saving for a special occasion, and enjoy yourself. Take a drink, book, or your laptop and spend this time reading or watching a holiday movie. Leave your phone outside the bathroom if you can. Your mind we’ll thank you!

Day 9: Read a holiday themed book

There’s plenty of books with holiday theme but if you don’t fancy reading a long novel, what about a children’s story? It sounds silly, I know, but those stories can be really magical and if you know them from your childhood, they might trigger some long-forgotten memories from your past holidays. I’ve read Christmasaurus with my daughter earlier today and we both loved it! I forgot how great it is to read a fantasy Christmas story.

Day 10: Have a movie night

We took an evening off, read a story, took a bath, created routines that support us.. But we haven’t had a movie night! Now it’s the perfect time for that. We’re just three days away from the holidays, so turn off the big lights, turn on your Christmas tree, and put a holiday movie on. Pick one you’ve already seen or choose something completely new. I’m going to watch “Love, Actually”, as I’ve heard many positive comments about it but I’ve never seen it!

Day 11: Drink plenty of water

Today’s task is quite easy – keep yourself hydrated as you should do every day, no matter of what time of the year it is.

While drinking water comes to you naturally during the summer, you might need reminders to keep yourself on top of daily intake during colder months. I hate drinking water during winter, especially now when the temperature inside my home doesn’t get above 18 degrees, no matter how long I keep my heating on. That’s why I’m more than thankful for mobile apps than send notifications to my phone regularly throughout the day. It also counts how much tea I drink and that’s not something I’m proud of, for sure.

Day 12: Center yourself before the Christmas Day

Last day before Christmas, can you believe it?! I can’t. I truly can’t.

I bet there are a lot of things you need to do before tomorrow, but it can wait. Spend at least half of your evening on relaxing and recharging your batteries. Center yourself before the storm hits and make sure you’re truly rested so you will have enough energy to tackle everything you need to during holidays. It’s going to get crazy busy, after all.

Take some time to journal, meditate, and do everything else that fills up your cup. It’s important that you take care of yourself before everyone else.

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For me, celebrations begin on Christmas Eve. We have a traditional dinner, give presents, and watch a Christmas movie at the end. It’s a truly magical time and I know it will get even better if I’ll be prepared mentally for it. So a calm morning routine without my phone is a must!

12 days of Christmas self care – final words

With just 12 days left to Christmas, it will get crazy busy, I know. But that’s exactly why you should spend some time on self care and making sure that you’re at your best during that time. You won’t be able to take care of everything and everyone if you’ll be tapped out emotionally and mentally. Remember that you’re not alone, and you can ask for help whenever you need it. You really should do that! Christmas time is a family time, after all. So allow your family to help you out instead of overworking yourself.

I hope these 12 Christmas self care ideas will help you fill your cup and stay the best version of yourself not only at this time of the year.

Don’t forget to check my Instagram Stories for my 12 days of Christmas self care.

Merry Christmas!