Self-Care ideas for women with anxiety

So I have been wanting to figure something like this out for a while now. Why? Because I have had anxiety for as long as I can remember. I’m tired of it because I feel like it’s beyond my control. So, these self-care ideas for women with anxiety are things that are supposed to help.

I have always thought that anxiety is what it is. If you’re dealing with it then I thought that was pretty much the end of it. You just have to deal with it and manage your way through it. Let me tell you, dealing with anxiety is completely exhausting.

For me, it’s something that I deal with on a daily basis. I have anxiety about just leaving the house and going anywhere. But that is partly because I’m always doing things by myself with my son. Half the time I’m worried about getting out of the house and then he all of a sudden starts pitching a fit.

It’s happened on many occasions and I know I should get over it because, for the most part, all kids do this. But when you live in your own head it’s so hard to overcome it. But I’m hoping some of these self-care ideas for women with anxiety will help you just as much as they will help me.

This post is aimed at self-care ideas for women but I don’t see why most of these wouldn’t work for men as well.

Go for a medical check (trust me this is a great self-care ideas for women with anxiety)

So, I say this because there might be underlying things that could be causing your anxiety.

Honestly, this is one thing I need to take my own advice on because I hate going to the doctor. But if you can figure out the root of the problem then you will probably feel so much better.

Also, I do mean that this will make you feel better if you have a good doctor who listens and takes your concerns in. I have been hearing about a lot of women who have crappy doctors who brush off their concerns. If this is the case then I highly suggest trying to look for another doctor if you can.

The main reason I suggest this is because sometimes anxiety presents itself when there are other underlining issues. But most of those issues are manageable.

This is one of those self-care ideas that are sometimes necessary but hardly anyone wants to do. Can’t say that I blame those that don’t want to go but sometimes it is best to go ahead and take that step.

Do something you love (I know I know. This is one of those obvious self-care ideas for women with anxiety)

I know this is kind of an obvious option when it comes to doing things that might help with your anxiety.

But I do have to say that if you are a person who deals with anxiety then doing something that you love can be one of the hardest things to do. At least it can be for me.

Anxiety has a way of telling you that you can’t do the things that you love. It tells you that you aren’t good at what you do which in turn makes you not want to do that one thing. But I promise you that your anxiety isn’t your friend. It doesn’t want you to succeed. It doesn’t want you to make progress.

Instead of listening to that anxiety, push yourself to do that thing that you love. Try to ignore that inner voice and eventually you will no longer hear it when doing this sort of activity.

On top of that, you’ll have to learn to push back the perfectionist that tends to come out when you are dealing with anxiety.

Start a self-care journal and add self-care ideas

So I suggest this because it will help you keep track of the self-care things that you do.

I know there are probably some of you who are wondering why you would want to keep track of that sort of thing. Well, it’s a good thing to keep track of it because next week you aren’t going to remember whether or not you actually did your self-care tasks.

Keeping track of these tasks can potentially help you decide if these self-care ideas are actually helping you with your anxiety. If they aren’t helping you then you can reassess and think of other self-care ideas that might actually help you.

Trust me this will work if you actually put some effort into it.

This is another thing that I actually want to try and work on. I want to push myself to become a better version of myself. If I want to do that then I need to work on figuring out what works for me.

Be unapologetic about your actions

This is one of those self-care ideas for women with anxiety that will really take some time to work on. Trust me I would know.

Every woman deserves to be unapologetic about their actions. That is unless you are being toxic then you really need to reevaluate your actions.

I know there are a lot of women who are very confident about their actions. But it seems like there are more of us who aren’t very confident about it and are constantly apologizing for the things that we do.

I’m one of those people because I’m always self-conscious about if I’m doing the right thing or if I’m saying the right thing. Let me tell you now that you need to stop. Just stop. It is exhausting and it is stressful.

This is one thing you are going to have to work on rewiring your brain for. The world deserves your unique self because this world would not be fun if you were confining yourself to everyone else.

I’m pretty sure most women who are struggling with anxiety are always apologetic about their actions. So, I suggest adding this to your self-care ideas for anxiety because in reality it only makes your anxiety worse.

Forgive your past

Forgiving my past is something that I’m constantly struggling with.

It’s hard to not look at your past and regret all of the things that you didn’t do or all of the things that you did do. I feel like we’re all confined to a little box and that box looks different for each of us. We’re put into that box by those who surround us and it’s hard to break free.

I have to admit that if you’re a people pleaser, like me, then that makes it harder. But we live a short life and it’s about that time to break free of that little box and forgive the things we may or may not have done in our past.

That time in our lives is obviously in our past and we need to stop living in regret. If you’re still living in your past then you’re really not going to have much of a future. You deserve a future without regret.

I also think regretting your past really holds you back. I have noticed that if I regret my past and don’t push myself past it and forgive it then I’m going to continue to repeat it. Then in turn I start regretting that I still haven’t changed. It is a neverending cycle.

Declutter your home

I know this may seem like a weird or crazy self-care idea but it’s really not!

Sometimes decluttering your home and getting rid of things that you really don’t need is a good way to make yourself feel so much better. I know it may not seem like a lot but it really does help out a lot.

Even though the things in your home may not really make you feel bad but getting rid of some things can lift up a weight off of your shoulders. At least doing something like this has really helped me out some. So, I’m sure it would help you out a little as well.

This is actually one thing that I want to work on with our home. I feel like our home is pretty cluttered and there are things around our house that I don’t really know what to do with. This is something that I really want to work on and get our home in a state that I would be happy with.

Take up a new hobby

Taking up a new hobby is a really great self-care idea. It’s something that I really need to look into as well.

There are many hobbies out there and they are good ways to distract your mind if you really have a lot on your mind. This is pretty much the whole reason that I need to look into a new hobby I constantly have negative thoughts on my mind.

I am for the most part always sabotaging myself and wondering what exactly happened afterward. So, figuring out a hobby just for me might help me out with this. I know I really need to get out of this rut and live my life for the better.

If you’re anything like me then a hobby will really help keep your mind off of everything that’s going on in your life and can help distract you.

This is something I really want to work on and figure out something that I would enjoy!

Take a social media break to help with your self-care ideas

This is something that I really need to do. I know this is one of those self-care ideas for women with anxiety that can really help those who are like me.

I have slowly started to realize that I’m comparing myself to other people. I’m comparing my son to other kids on my feed and this really is the wrong thing to do.

Doing this sort of thing is the wrong thing to do because it makes your anxiety rise up. Everyone is in different phases of their lives and you really can’t compare.

I have noticed that social media is what causes me to have anxiety but I struggle to stay off of it in the first place. I worry and get my feelings hurt over people that I barely even talk to. What is even the point?

I want to work on trying to eliminate a good chunk of social media from my life. I want to stop relying on social media and that may be something for you to work on as well. It would be great to get to the point where I stop comparing myself to others because it only makes me miserable.

Try meal planning and Create a menu

So, I say this because I don’t know how many times my husband and I have asked what we should do for dinner or lunch. If we don’t sort of plan ahead then it takes us a while to figure out what we want or we wind up eating out.

I do have to say that we are trying to save money. On top of that, I’m working on trying to lose weight. So, we really are trying to cut back on going out to eat.

Let me tell ya figuring out what we want to eat each week has helped out a lot. We’re no longer questioning what we should eat each week and we’re no longer grabbing fast food because we just can’t think of something.

Pinterest helps out a lot if you’re trying to come up with some ideas of what to add.

It may be a good idea to create two weeks’ worth of meals and then maybe rotate them.

Taking a walk is great to add to your self-care ideas

I know taking a walk may seem like it won’t help much. Why get out of the house? Walking isn’t really all that fun…

To me these are excuses and you don’t really have an open mind when it comes to walking. If you don’t have an open mind about it then it really won’t help you. For the most part, you will still come back stressed out and never want to go for a walk again.

But if you get rid of that doubt, you’ll realize that going for a walk around your neighborhood can really help you out.

Just getting out of your home really does help clear your mind and get rid of the stresses you may be having.

There have been multiple times when I have woken up in a bad mood or I feel like I’m bouncing off the walls with anxiety. When I took a walk I calmed down a little bit.

Get out of the house

I can’t even begin to explain how getting out of the house can really help with anxiety and can be a really good self-care idea.

This is something I have been really trying to work on a lot over the past few months. About six years ago I quit my job and never looked back. I know most of you are wondering why I didn’t look for another job. Well, that’s kind of an easy answer.

I absolutely hated retail. HATED IT. Don’t get me wrong though I did love being able to earn my own money. Plus, getting out of the house and working really helped with my social anxiety. It made me talk to people and it made me get over that fear.

But I hated having to work around the holidays when I really wanted to be around my family. Management makes you feel guilty for wanting to go on vacation and actually try to enjoy your life. On top of that where I was working was super toxic and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

I did not want to experience that again. Then a year later I got pregnant and that really made me not want to go back to work. I kind of want to be the mother that is able to be there for their kid when they are done with school.

But since I have been out of a job I have kind of become reclusive. When I had a job it kind of helped me get out of that and since then I kind of stayed home. Over the past three years, it has only gotten worse because of covid. I haven’t been getting out hardly at all and getting out with my son only makes me more nervous.

This is something that I highly suggest working on because it does really help!

Self-Care ideas for women by turning off your phone

So I say this because a lot of us have gotten to the point where we are always looking at our phones.

I know that’s the case for me. For the most part, I’m always looking at my phone and it distracts me from things that I really should be doing. It’s that time we should all put our phones away and focus on other things.

If you’re anything like me then you probably get a little aggravated when it comes to wanting to get things done but you get sidetracked with something on your phone. A part of me feels like this has to do with my anxiety as well.

We are not meant to look at our phones all day every day. This is something that I want to try and ease out of my daily habits and be able to focus on things that I actually want to do.

As much as I love having cell phones for safety reasons I’m beginning to really hate that they were ever invented.

Even though cell phones were a great invention I do think sometimes they have helped make us a lonely generation.

Plan your day ahead

Planning my day ahead is a really good self-care idea. As I have stated I’m literally home all of the time. We’re trying to cut back on spending so there’s really not a lot I can go and do right now. There are some free options but for the most part, where I live you have to pay for basically anything that you do.

My point is that I have a lot of time at home. I know people tend to say that they would love to be home all of the time and for the most part I do. But I get no interaction with people and there are times when I really do get kind of bored being here.

After so long it’s really not that fun anymore. But after figuring out how exactly to plan my day and trying to push myself to get out of the house has actually really helped. I have been doing some research on free things to do around my area and that has helped out a lot as well.

If you’re anything like me then trust me when it comes to actually plan out your day.

Figure out a morning/nightly routine

This is something that I really need to work on.

I know having some sort of routine might help some but not really help others. But for me, I think having some sort of routine will actually help with anxiety. It will kind of help on keeping you off your phone and not really stress about what you need to be doing with your time.

Time is definitely a part of my problem because I feel like I have way too much time and really not enough of it at the same time. And that’s a completely different topic in itself.

If this is something that has helped you then let me know in the comments exactly how it has helped you

Learn a new skill

Learning a new skill is a good thing when it comes to self-care ideas for women. This is actually something I have been trying to plan out a little bit and figure out what skills I want to learn.

Learning a new skill is a great way to keep your mind off of things that constantly stay on your mind. If you tend to worry then a good distraction really helps with that.

I know that sometimes isn’t a good way to deal with what you’re going through and you need to deal with it head-on. I completely understand that but sometimes we do need that distraction so we aren’t constantly stressing and constantly worrying about things that aren’t even worth it.

Learning a new skill is a great way to kind of help with that so you can deal with whatever is bothering you a little later. On top of that learning, a new skill can potentially benefit you later on when you’re out of this rut.

Write out your stress

Writing out my stress is something that has been helping on some days and makes it worse on other days. If this is something that you want to try out I think it kind of depends on the mood you’re in.

That’s at least the case for me. When I’m overly stressed and dealing with a lot of anxiety I tend to start blurting all of my problems out on paper.

Sometimes doing that really helps. It clears my mind and helps me think a little bit clearer. On top of that, it helps me come up with a solution on how to do better. But then there are days where the stress practically stays on my mind and will not go away.

So, if you do try this take it with a grain of salt.

This is something I try to do because I always feel a little guilty talking to my family about it. I don’t know how many times I have complained to them about it and then they tell me I’m depressing them out. So, to be honest for the most part I feel like I can’t really talk to them.

Practice positive thinking

Practicing positive thinking is something that I’m going to try and work on because I know it will really help. I’m really bad about negative self-talk and I talk myself out of making friends or even doing something that I know may help.

Practicing positive thinking is something that I want to start incorporating in my day-to-day because I’m tired of my mind going straight to the negative.

I know I’m not the only one who does this either. Hopefully, positive thinking is something that we can all really work on and be able to lift our moods from where we are now.

This is one of those self-care ideas for women that I think a lot of women should incorporate into their lives. I know it may seem like they really don’t help, but since I have started including it in my journal my mind really has started to shift.

Start a gratitude journal

Starting a gratitude journal is one of those great self-care ideas for women because it will help you realize that there is a lot more positive in your life than negative.

I think a lot of us don’t realize how negative our mindset may be. We live in our minds every single day. Because of that, we don’t realize how negative our thought process has gotten.

Having a gratitude journal can open your mind and help you realize just how good you have it in your life. Sometimes it takes writing it down to help.

I do feel like this helps with anxiety because anxiety has a habit of making you see the negativity in everything you are worried about.

I do feel like this is one thing that you have to kind of fake until you make it. I’m not really saying you need to fake gratitude but you might need to fake how happy you feel about them. I say this because anxiety and depression really make you downplay how exciting things can really be.

Work on your budget

Working on your budget is something that really and truly does help if you have anxiety and if you’re worried about money. This is something that I have been working on for the past few months. When my husband lost his job I was constantly worried about money.

My anxiety pretty much went through the roof when it came to us not having any income. I was scared as well. Our debt was very high because we constantly ate out and very rarely ate at home.

Thankfully he did eventually get a new job. But he pretty much had to take what he could get so we really cut back on eating out and I started creating a budget. I know for some this may cause their anxiety to go even higher because you see what’s going out. But for me doing it helped out so much! I knew where our money was going and I figured out areas we could cut back on and work around it.

I will never let myself get to where I was when my husband lost his job again. It is no fun when you’re literally that stressed and wondering how things are going to turn out. I will never in my life get to this point again and I will make sure that we have a backup plan.

Plan a self-care day

I know planning a self-care day may seem silly.

If I don’t plan a self-care day then I more than likely will not do it. As a mother and as someone who doesn’t get to spend time with her husband very much, I would regret it if it’s a spur-of-the-moment thing.

Overall I just don’t really do a lot for myself, to begin with, because, in reality, my husband is never really here. So, I primarily take care of our son. Don’t get me wrong though because this was my choice and I love being home with him. But there are times when I feel like I need a break.

If I didn’t try to work on this then I probably would have gone crazy by now.

What are some self-care ideas for women do you think should be added to this list?

I know sometimes coming up with self-care ideas can be intimidating. But using some of these self-care ideas for women can really help lessen anxiety and help you live a better life.

Make sure to check out these bucket list ideas as well if you’re looking for something to do outside of the home.