Create Your Personal Self-Support Checklist

This list goes beyond the basics of self care.

By: Shannon Siriano Greenwood

When the world is going crazy, it can feel like the only answer is to dig a hole, bury your head in it, and hope it blows over soon. But for many of us, that isn’t an option. We have to wake up, go to work, lead our teams, and pretend like our rights aren’t being taken away (among other atrocities).

Brands, politicians, and social media executives know, the more stressed people are, the more they are willing to spend to get extra hits of dopamine. And sadly, this is the reason that the “self-care” movement has become commodified.

So what is one to do in these uncertain times?

create a Self-Support Checklist

This list goes beyond the basics of self care which, if you are doing it right, is a practice that you go back to again and again. 

To create a self-support checklist, we ask the question, “What do you need to feel supported when things are difficult?”

Here is my list that I have refined over time to include things that make me feel good with no negative after effects.

• Spend time with friends.

• Make something with my hands.

• Complete a project.

• Nap.

• Watch silly television.

• Eat chocolate.

• Move my body.

• Loud music in my earbuds.

Nothing on the list requires significant investment, nor are they things that take a long time or require significant planning. This is completely by design.

Here are the questions I used to compile my Self-Support Checklist:

• What worked to make me feel better in the past?

• What can I do without advanced planning?

• What will make me feel better right now?

• Are these healthy or unhealthy avoidance activities?

• Have I hit all my important areas: mental, physical, social, and spiritual? 

• Is this list too aspirational?

One of the best things about having a list of things you know will make you feel better is that you can pick and choose from this list, or pile it on when you are seriously stressed.

Now is the time to make your own list and share with the people you care about so they can feel supported, too.

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