Finding Time for Selfcare in Everyday Life
When life is already full, it's easy to assume that making time for yourself means finding a decent chunk of it first.
But how long is long enough?
Five minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour?
There isn't one right or wrong answer.
Selfcare doesn't become more legitimate the longer it takes.
Somewhere along the way, self-care picked up a scoreboard. An hour to yourself counts. A long bath counts, candles optional. Five quiet minutes at the bathroom basin barely rates a mention.
But the clock was never really the point.
Self-care is less about what you're doing or how long you're doing it for, and more about whether it gives you something back.
Ask yourself:
Do I actually enjoy this or do I just think I should?
Do I feel better afterwards?
Does it give me something back rather than becoming one more job?
And that's probably the question I like most: do I actually enjoy this, or do I just think I should? If meditation makes you want to climb the walls, you don't get extra self-care points for doing it anyway. If sitting quietly with a coffee makes you happier, have the coffee. Your version doesn't have to look impressive enough for Instagram.
If the answer's yes, I'd say it counts. Whether it took two minutes or twenty.
And sometimes the smallest things are the ones that are easiest to come back to. Here are six of them.
1. Drink the Coffee Sitting Down
The coffee you already make every day, just drunk sitting down, for once, instead of standing at the bench refreshing three tabs. It was never really about the coffee. It's the two minutes of actually being where you are.
2. Turn an Ordinary Shower Into Something You Look Forward To
Sometimes it's simply staying in the shower a little longer because something smells incredible and your skin feels ridiculously silky afterwards.
Our Invigorating Body Scrub is one of my favourite versions of this, the scent alone feels like you've briefly gone somewhere else.
3. Five Quiet Minutes With Your Skin
It doesn't need twelve steps or an elaborate ritual. Sometimes it's simply five minutes where you're not doing anything for anybody else, just you, the basin, and whatever your version of a proper skincare ritual looks like.
Mine's the Go to Glow Set, three steps, five minutes, no audience.
4. Walk Without Turning It Into Exercise
No step count. No fitness goal. Leave the phone inside, or at least face-down in your pocket, and walk until you feel like turning around. The point isn't the distance.
5. Do Absolutely Nothing for Ten Minutes
No scrolling. No washing. No mentally writing tomorrow's list. Just ten minutes where nothing is required of you.
6. Give Yourself a Five-Minute Facial
A few slow minutes with a gua sha tool or the Face Gym, working through your jaw, your cheeks, the tension you didn't realise you were holding. It's not going to change your skin overnight. It just feels like someone, finally, is paying attention to you.
The Gua Sha and the Face Gym Set are both built for exactly this, five slow minutes, not a routine.
Small Still Counts
Self-care doesn't need to earn its place by taking an hour. It doesn't need candles, a journal, or a morning routine worthy of TikTok.
Sometimes it's a walk. Sometimes it's skincare. Sometimes it's drinking your coffee while it's actually still hot.
If it gives you something back, it counts. However long it took.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does self-care have to take a long time?
No. There isn't a minimum amount of time something needs to take before it “counts.” What matters more is whether it genuinely gives you something back.
Can skincare be a form of self-care?
Absolutely, if it feels like one to you. For some women skincare is purely practical. For others, those few quiet minutes and the textures, scents and ritual are something they genuinely look forward to. Neither is wrong.
How can I fit self-care into a busy day?
Rather than adding another activity to your list, start with something you already do and make a little more room for it. Drink your coffee sitting down. Take your time applying your face oil. Walk without measuring it. Small moments count too.
Merindah Botanicals is a Tasmanian-owned, Australian-made natural skincare brand. All products are 100% natural, including the preservatives.