Do you sometimes long to have a weekend, a day, or maybe just half an hour or a few minutes for yourself and do something that brings you joy?

Life can be busy and hectic, and when we are particularly busy, we might think that we just don’t have the time to take a little break to rest and recharge. But especially when we feel exhausted, irritated, or just plain tired, a little break is what should be our first priority. It is impossible to pour from an empty cup, and when our energy levels are low—no matter the reason—it is challenging to show up fully for the persons and projects that are important to us. So, instead of feeling guilty for taking time for yourself, you should feel proud to do it as it allows you to show up with passion and energy for what is important for you afterward.

When thinking of self-care, the first things that come to mind might be a weekend getaway, a spa or manicure treatment, or some shopping trip. And while indulging in such activities can be wonderful from time to time, it is even more important to focus on self-care tools that we can easily incorporate into our everyday lives.

Micro-moments of self-care

A while ago, I learned about the concept of micro-moments of self-care for everyday life. This concept emphasizes the importance of making our daily life more joyful and bearable instead of just focusing all our attention on the next vacation or weekend getaway—even though those can, of course, be beautiful supplements.

Micro-moments of self-care can be any activity that you can easily integrate into your day, lasting anything from a few minutes to half an hour or more. And it can be any activity that helps you recharge your batteries. Some examples from my personal ‘micro-moments of self-care list’ are:

• Listen to a couple of my favorite songs
• Read a few pages in a book I’d love to read
• Listen to a podcast episode that I enjoy or watch an inspiring TED talk
• Do a few yoga stretches or some other movement
• Journal for a few minutes
• Take a few deep, conscious breaths
• Play a song on the piano
• Take a short walk in nature
• Call a loved one
• Take a short nap
• Or just prepare a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy it consciously without doing anything else at the same time—sometimes even on the sunchair in the garden

What counts is to take the time to do something you enjoy consciously, focusing your whole attention on the activity and how it makes you feel.

What we can learn from the Japanese in terms of micro-moments of self-care and self-cultivation

When reflecting on the micro-moments of self-care concept, I directly had to think back to the time when I lived in Japan. In Japan, people have turned everyday activities into powerful self-care, self-awareness, and self-cultivation practices for centuries. It is, for example, quite common for many people and families to take a hot bath in the ofuro (wide, deep, and, often, relatively short bathtubs) in the evening. It is a ritual that many people enjoy doing before going to bed. It helps relax the body and mind and to feel clean and purified for the night.

But many other activities can be viewed as self-care or self-cultivation rituals in Japan. For example, ikebana, the art of arranging flowers in beautiful ways. This activity can often have a meditative quality. Similarly, the tea ceremony rituals, chadō, play an important role for many Japanese people. It is a beautiful practice rooted in Zen Buddhism that involves preparing and sharing a bowl of finely powdered green tea. Some people engage in shodō, Japanese calligraphy, to foster a meditative state of mind. During my time in China and Japan, I always loved drawing Chinese and Japanese characters when taking Chinese and Japanese classes. Just learning to write some of these beautiful characters could turn into a self-care and self-cultivation tool for me. There is also the practice of shoyin ryori, a vegetarian cooking tradition, which involves mindful cooking, using fresh ingredients, and not wasting anything. And I know many people who love doing origami, the Japanese art of folding paper in beautiful ways.

What seems crucial is not so much the activity, but rather the ability to fully indulge in the activity and let yourself be taken away by it for a little while. Engaging mindfully in an activity, consciously bringing attention to it, and enjoying it in the process can turn many activities into self-care tools. I admire how children manage to do this quite naturally. For example, when I observe our daughters play, it can be the most heart-warming experience to see how they indulge in the play world they are creating, forgetting about everything else around them for that moment.

What we can learn from the French savoir vivre

The ability to slow down and take a break is something I also observed many times in France. There is a reason why people often talk about the French savoir vivre, the ability to enjoy life naturally. A recent study of the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) found that people in France generally spend more time sitting down to eat than people in other OECD countries. On average, they spend two hours and eleven minutes per day eating and drinking. That is 40 minutes longer than the OECD average and more than twice as long as the average time spent in the U.S. This emphasizes that many people in France take the time to sit down and enjoy a meal, often with loved ones, and talk. Enjoying a meal consciously and taking the time to enjoy it, can also be regarded as a self-care activity. It has been proven that we tend to eat much healthier if we take the time to eat slowly, enjoy what we eat, and listen to our body signals when we’ve had enough.

You can also often see French people sitting in cafés with a cappuccino, reading newspapers or a book, or strolling through little streets, boutiques, or food and antiquity markets. This taking of time for the little things can help us regain energy for the tasks that lie ahead of us.

Choose the self-care tools that work best for you and apply them when you need them

As we are all beautifully unique, self-care tools can look different for each and every one of us. Any activity that helps us get into a joyful, calm, or energized state when we feel that we need a break can qualify as a self-care tool.

What is important is to take a moment for a little ‘micro-moment’ of self-care as soon as you feel that you need it, emotionally or physically. I know that this is easier said than done and that it might not be suitable to turn on your favorite song when you are sitting in an office with your colleagues. But it’s always possible to do something small, like taking a few deep, conscious breaths, going out to take a cup of coffee and really enjoying it instead of drinking it mindlessly in front of the computer, etc. When I feel irritated at home, it sometimes helps me to just change room for a few minutes and listen to some calming landscape sounds on a meditation app. This can work wonders for my mood and turn a tricky situation around.

It really is about listening to yourself and reacting to what you need, even in the tiniest of ways, at that moment. It will bring more joy to your daily life and, as a consequence, also to your entire surrounding.