12 Quick Self-care Ideas to Lift Your Mood
**This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only suggest products I love.
You know the days… we all have them. We get in a funky mood and just want to run away and join the circus or curl up and take a nap. I am very familiar with the feeling. Often I can't tell you why I'm in a cranky mood. And, for me, my mood can be difficult to shift. The annoying feeling lingers under the surface of every conversation and task, bubbling away in the background, waiting to explode, usually with tears.
Thankfully there are a lot of things we can do to proactively find our happy place again. Here are 12 self-care ideas that help lift my mood when I am feeling down or frustrated.
Music
Put on some music. The wonder of Spotify and other similar streaming services is we can play almost any song ever recorded without having to own an album or brush off the cassette player (do we still have those). And we can put together playlists of the songs that do our hearts good (remember the old mixed tape).
I have a couple of worship playlists that lift my mood and get my attention to my loving God. I have also recently begun revisiting the albums I listened to in my youth. The first album I ever bought was Michael W. Smith's 'Eye to Eye'. I still know every word of every song, and the familiar tunes lift my spirits almost instantly.
2. Appreciate Beauty
There is beauty all around us when we take the time to notice it, and when we appreciate beautiful things, we feel better. There is a chapter about this in John Eldredge's book, "Get Your Life Back". It resonated with me so much I haven't been able to get the idea out of my head. Beauty heals our soul.
There is so much beauty in nature—from the smallest dandelion, the most majestic tree, or clouds in an ever-changing sky. Take some time to take in some natural beauty. I used to often buy an inexpensive bunch of flowers with my weekly grocery shopping. They were an indulgence, but they gave me so much joy.
We can fill our homes with beautiful things. Focus on a lovely painting or print, a beautiful bed cover, or the pattern on a piece of fabric you love. Surrounding ourselves with beauty changes the way we think and feel.
3. Deal with what You're Dreading
Sometimes we are in a bad mood because we are anticipating something unpleasant. We practice a difficult conversation, an apology we need to make, a phone call we've been putting off, or any other unpleasant task. I have found that the actual task is usually not as bad as I have built it up in my mind, and the best thing to do is just to get it done. If there is something on your list that you are dreading or avoiding, usually the best thing to do is to get it out of the way.
4. Plan something to look forward to
Having something to look forward to can sometimes be just as helpful as the event itself. Even if you don't have time today, plan a time to catch up and have coffee with a friend whose company you enjoy. Plan a date with your spouse or an outing with the kids. Invite a friend to see a movie with you or try out a new brunch venue. Having that appointment on your calendar will lift your spirits, even if you have to wait a few days.
5. Get outside
It's incredible how much better I feel after just a few short minutes outside. Walk around the block or through a local park. Spend a few minutes watering plants in the garden. Feel the ground under your feet, the breeze in your hair and sunshine on your skin.
6. Vent
Sometimes it's great just to get things off your chest. Finding a safe friend or colleague you can verbally process with can be helpful. A word of warning though— choose your friend wisely. Don't share with someone who won't keep your confidence. Don't talk to someone who will always agree with you and validate your frustration. vent your frustration with someone who will listen well and give you a better perspective. Talk to someone who will pray with you and help you turn your eyes to Jesus rather than focus on your problems.
7. Journal
This one is huge for me. I don't always understand how, but writing things out helps. Just grabbing a pencil and notebook and articulating in sentences what I am feeling and thinking somehow brings order to the chaos, and once it is in black and white on a page it is out of my head and I find more peace.
I often find I follow a similar format to many Psalms. I start with a cry of frustration, grief, anger or pain. Then I remind myself of the goodness and faithfulness of God, and I get to a place where I can praise Him by the end. I walk away from just a few short minutes of writing feeling lighter and happier.
8. Laugh
Laughter gets all the feel-good hormones flowing. It's hard to laugh and be in a bad mood. Pop on a funny podcast, TV show or movie and have a good laugh. (I hear YouTube has some cat videos that might do the trick.) Take a few minutes to have a good laugh and see how you feel. This idea works particularly well if you have kids underfoot. Having fun with your kids and laughing together can turn the mood in the house around.
9. Mindfulness
I underestimated the effectiveness of mindfulness until I had my panic attack last year when it became a crucial part of my recovery. Rather than saving it for our worst days, practising mindfulness is most effective when we make it a regular practice.
I love an app called the One Minute Pause. It turns our attention to God's presence in our hearts and mind and focuses on our relationship with Him. The recordings run for one, three, five or ten minutes, and the longer ones give you options to focus on, such as worship or healing. If you are looking for something that isn't faith-based, I have also used Headspace. It is simple, straightforward and helps me relax and let go of stress.
10. Achieve Something
I feel better when I get something done, but I don't feel like doing anything when I'm in a bad mood. One of the best pick-me-ups is to achieve something, even if it's something small. When I'm a bit cranky, I usually try and do something with my hands that doesn't require much brain processing power. It usually involves cleaning something.
Tidy the top drawer of your desk at work, or put all the documents on your desktop into folders. Clean your kitchen window, fold a basket of laundry, sweep the patio or bake some cookies. Get something done and see how it makes you feel.
11. Give your Brain a Break
I feel better when my mind, busy with worry, has something else to focus on for a while. Now that we live in an RV, I have had to give up my giant jigsaw puzzles. I bought a puzzle book from Family Circle and am learning how to do all these different kinds of puzzles such as crosswords and code crackers. Most of them I looked at in horror when I began, convinced that I would never be able to work them out. I am getting much better and find that doing a puzzle at the end of the day helps me wind down my mind before bed.
12. Do Something Creative
There is something very therapeutic about spending time using our hands to make something beautiful. You don't have to be good at art to enjoy being creative, and the options for creative expression are endless.
I have tried many different crafts over the years—folk art, patchwork, knitting, beading and scrapbooking. In this season I am crocheting a lap rug, following a simple pattern I downloaded from Pinterest. I can pull it out and spend a few minutes or a whole rainy afternoon making the blanket incrementally bigger, row by row. As my fingers are busy my mind has time to wander and process.
I have also begun bullet journalling. I don’t have all the stamps and stickers—I am very minimal. I have just a few brush pens and a couple of rolls of washi tape. I enjoy the flexibility of creating different spreads and including little drawings, verses and quotes. I follow some bullet journal Pinterest boards and Instagram hashtags for inspiration.
There are my 12 quick self-care ideas that all help lift my mood when I am having a less than perfect day. I hope you find something helpful for you.
I know there are many other ways we can improve our moods. What do you do to cheer up when you are feeling down or frustrated? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.
