Self Care Checklist
“Self-care” got sold as bubble baths and scented candles. The unglamorous research version is a set of basics — sleep, movement, daylight, people, pauses — that keep mood and energy from quietly draining. Sixteen of them, in four groups. Check what your week actually contained; your progress is saved in this browser as you go.
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How to read your checklist
Resist grading yourself on the total. A 14/16 week with an empty “Connection” column feels very different from a 10/16 week spread evenly — and the checklist is built to show you the pattern, not a score. The four groups map to the four accounts self-care actually draws on: the body (sleep, movement, light, food), the mind (pauses, worry management, attention), other people (contact, asking, giving, boundaries), and the environment you rest in (order, offline time, pleasure, wind-down). Most persistently bad weeks are not “everything is broken” — they are one account at zero while the others get overdrawn to compensate.
Use it as a weekly rhythm: check items off as they happen, save a snapshot to My Results at the end of the week, then start fresh and compare. If a group stays empty for weeks, treat that as data for a bigger conversation — with a friend, a manager, or a professional — rather than a reason to try harder at checklists. And if the basics are genuinely in place but you still feel persistently low or anxious, that is exactly the situation the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 self-checks exist for: self-care is maintenance, not a substitute for assessment or care.
This checklist is general self-care education, not medical or mental-health advice, and no checklist substitutes for professional help. If you are struggling persistently, please talk with a qualified professional — crisis resources are in the footer of every page on this site.
Frequently asked questions
What actually counts as self-care?
In the research sense: the repeatable basics that maintain mood, energy, and health — adequate sleep, movement, daylight, food and water, real social contact, rest, and boundaries. Products can support those, but a purchase is not itself self-care; the behavior is. This checklist sticks to behaviors for that reason.
How many items should I check off?
There is no passing grade, and 16/16 every week is neither realistic nor the point. Most people find one group chronically empty — commonly Connection or Body basics — and a realistic goal is two or three deliberate items in that group next week, chosen small enough to actually happen.
When does the checklist reset?
Whenever you say so. Your checks are saved in this browser as you tick them; save a snapshot to My Results when the week feels complete, then use 'Start a fresh week' to clear the boxes. Snapshots stay on My Results so you can compare weeks.
I do all of this and still feel awful. Now what?
Believe the feeling, not the checklist. Self-care maintains people who are basically well; it does not treat depression, anxiety, burnout, or physical illness. Persistently low mood deserves a real assessment — start with the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 self-checks here, and take a high score to a professional in person.
Is my checklist data private?
Yes. Checks and snapshots live only in your browser's local storage on this device. Nothing is uploaded, there are no accounts, and the My Results page can delete everything at any time.
Keep going
Your results from every tool are saved only in this browser — see them together on My Results.