You know those moments…your shoulders are tight, your mind’s racing, and your energy’s flat.
You’re running on empty, and even figuring out how to recharge your battery feels like one more decision you just don’t have the bandwidth for. That’s exactly why I believe in creating a Self-Care Menu – a pre-prepared, personalised list of go-to actions you can turn to when you’re out of sync. No thinking. No planning. Just choosing.
The concept is simple. Much like ordering from a menu, you get to choose what’s going to nourish you (mind, body, or soul) based on how much time and energy you have in the moment. While it sounds light-hearted on the surface, the science behind this approach is solid. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that decision fatigue, the mental drain caused by making too many choices, can erode our ability to make good decisions and increase stress. By taking decisions off the table in moments of depletion, a self-care menu becomes a psychological aid. It gives you structure without rigidity, and choice without pressure.
For your mind, having quick reset options like breathing exercises, journaling, or even a two-minute digital detox can have phenomenal effects. Studies have shown that deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, calming the fight-or-flight response and reducing cortisol, our primary stress hormone. Likewise, writing down your thoughts, a process often referred to as a ‘brain dump’, can increase cognitive clarity and reduce mental overload. These are micro-practices that, over time, create macro shifts in how we manage stress and stay centred.
Your body carries your stress too, often before your brain even notices. Movement, even in small doses, releases endorphins, our body’s natural mood boosters. A short walk, stretching, or even hydrating can interrupt that stress loop and help reset your nervous system. Research out of Stanford even suggests that walking boosts creative thinking by up to 60%, so what feels like a break might also be the moment your best idea surfaces.
And then there’s your soul, the part of you that craves meaning, joy, and connection. These are the actions that remind you who you are outside of your responsibilities. Listening to music that lifts you, calling someone who gets you, or stepping into the sunshine for a few deep breaths are all things that tap into your sense of belonging and joy. Neuroscience backs this up – positive social interactions and sensory pleasure activate the brain’s reward system, helping us shift out of survival mode and back into a space of possibility and wellbeing.
And here’s the real magic….it doesn’t need to be fancy. A self-care menu isn’t about indulgence, it’s about intention. It’s about knowing, in advance, what supports you best, so that when the going gets tough, you don’t have to figure it out from scratch. You just pick something. And start.
So take five minutes. Fill in your menu with real, doable things that serve you. Keep it somewhere visible. And when life gets heavy (which it will) don’t try to fix everything. Just choose one thing from your list, and begin.
If you’d like a copy of our Self-Care Menu template to help prompt your ideas, download it here.