11 Amazing Bullet Journal Ideas That Cultivate Self-care

How to use bullet journal to better take care of physical and mental well-being? Here are some of the best self-care bullet journal ideas to try.

What is the last time you do something to spoil yourself? What is the last time you feel good both physically and mentally? Self-care is not just a slogan. In times when a global crisis shifts the way we live, self-care becomes a necessity.

But honestly, self-care is never my priority. It doesn’t stand a chance competing against my deadlines and schedules. Throughout the years, I operated like a machine. Every once in a while, the heavy workload got to me. I was not able to focus on my job no matter how much I wanted to. I call it “being tired”. Now I know it was burnout. I lost focus and motivation.

And the importance of self-care is never that real until you suffer from burnout. Trust me on this, I learn it the hard way. That’s why I began to use a bullet journal to turn self-care into a habit. If you are too busy to take care of yourself, here is a list of self-care bullet journal ideas that boost your well-being and happiness. But first, let’s talk about self-care.

According to Psych Central, self-care is anything you do deliberately to take care of yourself. That includes anything you do that makes you feel good mentally, physically and emotionally.

As individuals, we have different needs. Thus the self-care activities we need may vary. This can be as big as leaving a toxic relationship or small like taking a warm bath.

If you haven’t started a self-care routine, here are a few questions to ask yourself to identify your self-care needs:

• What makes me happy and relaxed?

For me, music has been a bit part of my life. I can turn into a different person with an uplifting track. That’s why I make sure I take the time to explore new songs. This has been one of the most rewarding mental self-care routines I’ve tried. And it doesn’t even need to cost a penny.

• What do I need to feel complete?

Learning a new skill, taking a dance class or baking a cake from scratch. Find that one thing that spikes your sense of accomplishment and put it in your self-care routine.

However, self-care doesn’t always mean a spark of joy. Sometimes we need to make difficult decisions to take care of ourselves in the long-term. For example, tracking our personal finance might not sound like a fun thing to do. But in the long run, it gives us a sense of clarity and may help us to achieve life abundance.

• What are the things that consume most of my time and energy?

If browsing through social media is causing you stress, put your phone somewhere you can’t reach during your self-care routine. If it’s the kid that is the biggest distraction, ask your spouse to help.

• What is stopping me from taking care of myself?

The common self-care challenges are time, money or not knowing how to do it. Keeping a self-care bullet journal will definitely help with the first one. Here are more affordable self-care ideas to start with.

• What are the things I am already doing for self-care?

Self-care can be as simple as stretching your body, reading a book or doing yoga on Sunday. List out things that you are already doing that make you feel good.

Start tracking the frequency and making it a regular with bullet-journal. These little self-care activities you’re doing will be a solid foundation of a fully functional system.

Answering these simple questions with not only help to identify the most needed self-care activity for you, but also boost your self-awareness.

Combine your answers with the following self-care bullet journal ideas to create and implement a feel-good routine.

Read also: A Printable Self-care Checklist 

Self-care Bullet Journal Ideas

Here are different ways of using bullet journal for self-care that are covered in this post:

• A happy list
• Self-care to-do list
• Mood trackers
• Things to love about yourself
• Water log
• Bad day checklist
• Gratitude log
• Sleep log
• Brain-dump list
• Meditation diary
• Entertainment list

A Happy List

We are so obsessed with making to-do lists and rushing through items to accomplish. But how about a list of things that we actually enjoy doing?

When work and stress are pouring down on our shoulders, it’s such a relief to have something that can cheer us up instantly. Do you have your personal go-to? Do a quick scan and start writing them down.

Don’t limit yourself to physical items. A good read, a movie or a song can all be a great mood-booster.

Need some inspirations? Here are some of the Happy lists that may bring joy to you as well:

Via Pinterest

With a happy list, you’ll never run out of ideas to enlighten your spirit when anxiety strikes.

Via breeeberry

Via stephanie_fleming

Via emilyjournal

Read also: 14 Genius Bullet Journal Ideas For A Better You And A Happier Life

A Self-care To-do List

It’s an obvious option to include a daily to-do list in our bullet journal. But taking care of yourself also deserves a top spot on your agenda. 

So why not make a self-care to-do list to go together with your daily schedule?

Via Stacy Spensley

Via misslouie

I love the idea of a “stressful-day-go-to” list. It is like a mental first-aid kit and brings back the peace even when things are rough.

Via Pinterest

Self-care can be a REALLY big concept to work with. And you don’t need to aim for a complete list of self-care activities from the get-go. Start small. Make room for trial and errors and you’ll eventually find what works for you best.

If you have trouble coming up with self-care things to do, try to start from listing the categories like the following: 

Via bulletbyx

Taking care of yourself can start right here, right now, at the comfort of your home. Most of the ideas listed on this self-care menu are perfect for homebodies. And they can be the perfect at-home boredom killers, too.

Via @mayawdesign

Self-care sometimes gives way to busy schedules and deadlines. If you need something fun to hold yourself accountable, give this self-care bingo a try! I have also created a free printable version you can download. Pick what suits you and start today.

Via @painted_illustrated

A Mood Tracker

Getting your emotion in check is so important. If you are taking good care of yourself,  you will be seeing more and more “good days” in your monthly mood tracker.

Here are some of the best bullet journal mood tracker ideas to give you some inspirations.

Via isabelhoops

Via journal_junkies

Via explorejournaling

Via: rachelbujo

Via: explorejournaling

Read also: 36 Mood tracker ideas that will make you feel better even in bad days

Self-love and self-awareness spreads

Cultivating self-love is a huge part of practicing self-care. When we love ourselves enough, we will stop feeling selfish to make time for self-care.

While self-love can be a rather abstract concept, learning to appreciate the little “shining spots” of ourselves can be a great start. That’s why I’m in love with this “what I love about myself” list from @shaizasuhail. This self-care bullet journal spread will work like wonder when you forget how amazing you are.

source: shaizasuhail

Self-love and self-care aren’t just about knowing how good you are but also means being aware of your flaws and embrace your vulnerability. This amazing bullet journal spread from @ashleyecreates sets a great example of self-exploratory. Making a “things I’m good/bad at” list can be a much-needed mindfulness exercise for when you feel overwhelmed and anxious.

source: shaizasuhail

Read also: 19 Self-love quotes to lift up your spirit when life gets hard

A Water Log

Keeping your body hydrated is simple yet so many of us just completely neglect it. It’s the basic of basic when it comes to taking care of yourself. 

So if you tend to forget your 8 glasses per day, it’s time to track your water intake using the bullet journal. 

Via sharonajournals

Via textiles4you

A bad day checklist

Not all days are good, but there is something good in each day. When you are having a bad day, self-care can be the last thing on your mind. That’s why a bad day checklist page can come in handy.

List the self-care activities that require minimum effort. Whenever you have a bad day, you can go auto-pilot on the list to take care of yourself both physically and mentally. A little bit of self-kindness can be key to turn a bad day around and turn your down-time into chill time.

Via chantalkathleen167

A Gratitude Log

Practicing gratitude is a great way to bring inner peace and positive vibes to our lives. When you are thankful for what you have and appreciate life as it is, you’ll have less stress and more joy.

Documenting things to be grateful for is a good start to practicing gratitude. Take some time to review your gratitude list every week and it may just wash away any anger, anxiety and frustration in your mind.

Here are 4 different styles of keeping a gratitude log in your bujo:

Via littleolivebujo

Via Reddit

Via Instagram

Via evieandsarah

Read also: 34 Gratitude Quotes To Find The Joy In Life

A Sleep Log

We all know that sleeping is crucial for our mental and physical health. But do you know how much and how well you’ve been sleeping? 

Keeping a sleep log bullet journal will help you to find out the answer.

Via bujode3

We also love the following idea of combing a sleep log with a mood tracker. It makes it more clear to see how our mood is affected by the amount of sleep we get. SLEEP MORE:)

Via seras.bullet.journal

A Brain-dump List

Self-care does not only mean to do something more to stay in our best form. Sometimes we need to declutter to make room for positive vibes.

So here I’ve created a brain-dump list template. Feel free to download with the link down below:

Download the printable template here

A Meditation Diary

Meditation cultivates mindfulness and relieves stress. But some find it hard to turn it into a habit. If you just start meditating, keeping a meditation diary would be helpful to track your progress.

Here in the meditation tracker down below, Dan @pacificnotation uses the thickness of the line to mark down the duration of each meditation practice.

Via pacificnotation

But you can also use different colors, words or index to keep track of your meditation sessions like these two down here:

Via Tumblr

Via Space and Quiet

Read also: 17 Mindful Habits To Track On Your Bullet Journal

An Entertainment list

What’re your favorite things to do in your me-time? Movies? Netflix? 

These are the things to kill time with but they are also relaxing. So dedicate a page in your bullet journal to the songs, movies, TV series or books you love. You will never run out of relaxing ideas when you need to take a break.

Via studydrug

Via Pinterest

Find it helpful?

So here are the self-care bullet journal ideas. If you find them helpful, don’t hesitate to give them a try or share them with a friend who may need a little inspiration.