Imagine each day feeling a little bit better than the day before. Imagine recognizing the simple yet impactful steps that led you there. Each positive step, each healthy action, no matter how small, can improve your mood for the entire day. As these actions stack up, you experience long term change. Let’s delve into improving your self care activities through self-care tracking, a simple yet transformative tool.

With this article and my free improving self care activities chart download, you’ll be empowered to not just identify the self care activities that uplift you, but also monitor their impact, building the path to a healthier, happier you.

If the term self care came up 30 years ago we’d probably have been talking about basic hygiene like tooth brushing and showering. While they still fall into the self care activities camp, we’re thinking a little more holistically now. For self care we’re not just talking about physical health but also mental health.

In order to achieve optimal (or even basic) physical and mental health we need to be thinking of several prime factors: sleep, nutrition, exercise, connection to others, and meaning in life. When one of my clients is suffering from low mood, anxiety or stress, the first question I have for them is, “What makes you feel even a little bit better?”

This is what we want to capture—these small self care activities that make us feel a little bit better. Someone suffering from depression may list getting dressed in the morning, having a shower when they wake up, or getting outside for a moment. If you are not suffering from depression, these may seem like small things, but they can result in a subtle shift in mood that then makes someone feel well enough to complete a task or to get themselves off to school or work that day.

Someone dealing with anxiety may find that doing breathing exercises for a few minutes makes them feel better while another person might say that getting some exercise helps.

What is important is to become aware of the self care activities that help you feel better physically and emotionally. But you shouldn’t stop there. List your activities and track them. And while you’re at it, track your mood each day. This takes very little time and can make a huge shift in your health.

I have created a free self care activities chart for you to download. It has a place to list your top self care activities and rows for each week where you track your activities on a daily basis as well as your mood for that day. Keep it beside your bed and fill it out just as you are turning in for the night. It only takes a minute or two to fill it in for the day!

Treat this like an experiment. It allows you to see what is working for you, what makes you feel better, and even what seems to have little effect. With this information you can refine your self care activities.

I have designed this chart based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) principles. This chart is working on the “B” or behavior part of CBT. The behaviors being the activities you use to elevate your emotional and mental health. By tracking your mood each day, you can see if the activities are helping. It’s important to do the mood tracking since sometimes we give up on something because we are not sure it is working, but with this you have a clear indication of where you started and how your mood is changing from day to day or week to week. Give this practice a week or so for it to start working. Sometimes it takes a bit of consistency for your mood to begin to lift.

Research has shown that even just tracking your mood daily improves your mood. My theory on this one is that when you take the time each evening before bed to rate your mood, you end up contemplating your day, considering the elements that went well and not so well. You subconsciously become more aware of specifically what is lowering or increasing your mood (Negative interactions with a certain person? A compliment from a friend or co-worker? Feeling rushed or late for work? Being in nature?).

After a few weeks of mood tracking, I believe your mind simply begins to head more towards the people and things in your life that are improving your mood, more towards healthier paths and habits. Researchers have found that after a couple months of mood tracking, the benefits continue to last even after someone stops doing this tracking. However, my belief is if it’s working, keep going with it.