The 5 Types of Self-Care (& Why You Need Them All)
When I say “self-care”, what do you think of?
workouts, eating right & sleeping more?
You’re not alone in thinking that! Most people do…hell, I was one of them. Until I started putting together my burnout quiz way back when. Oh my God - that was like 3 years ago now! That’s so crazy to think about…
But, anyways, I knew self-care was important. Yet, I also knew that there were different types of burnout, so couldn’t there be different types of self-care that could help “treat” the different types of burnout? Absolutely! So, let’s get into what I found…
The 5 Types of Burnout
Physical self-care. I’m not going to belabor this one too much because, frankly, you know what goes into this.
How to know that you need it? If you’re struggling with your energy levels. Additionally, if you’re finding that you’re getting sick more frequently. If you found “physical burnout” was your result on the burnout quiz and/or the things the physical burnout results page resonated, this is likely the type of self-care you need most.
What to do? You already know. It’s all the things that go into taking care of our physical body. It’s sleep. It’s exercise. It’s nutrition. It’s hydration. It’s all that stuff we typically think of as self-care.
Mental self-care. This is likely a new one for you and how I think of this one is that we need to work our mind in the same way we work out our muscles. This is about doing things that are intellectually stimulating.
How to know when you need it? When you feel like you’re going through the motions in your life and in your work, it might be that you need more mental stimulation. Another sign might be if you're feeling bored. In fact, if “boredom burnout” was your result on the burnout quiz and/or the things the boredom burnout results page resonated, this is likely the type of self-care you need most.
What to do? Incorporate more intellectually stimulating activities like reading, professional development, simple games like Sudoku, or learning a new skill.
Emotional self-care. This is my favorite type of self-care because it’s often the one we most need. This type of self-care is about your emotions, but, more so than anything, it’s about your negative emotions. Why? Because positive emotions aren’t the things that burden us. This type of self-care is about having habits, routines, and behaviors that help you to better manage your negative emotions: anger, sadness, frustration, apathy, grief, etc.
How to know when you need it? If you’re feeling apathy or disinterest or you’re finding that you’re quick to anger or to tears. Additionally, if you’re finding yourself numbing with alcohol, movies, or other things more frequently. In fact, these are all signs of “emotional burnout". So, if this is the result you got on the burnout quiz and/or the things the emotional burnout results page resonated, this is likely the type of self-care you need most.
What to do? Some of my favorite emotional self-care tips and habits are things like journaling, emotional processing (whether to yourself or into a voice memos app on your phone), a vent session with a good friend that gets it, or therapy. Regardless of what form of emotional self-care you choose, the biggest thing here is that you have to be consistent about engaging in it.
Spiritual self-care. Now, I’m going to say right out of the gate that spiritual self-care does not have to be about religion or spirituality. I actually think of this one as connection. It can be connection to a higher power OR it might just be connection with yourself.
How to know when you need it? Have you ever had that feeling of being lost? Disconnected? Unsure of what you need or want in life? If you’re religious, simply put it might feel like you’re disconnected from whatever higher power you believe in. Now, this type of self-care is harder to classify inside of the 4 types of burnout. I would say it likely falls under “emotional burnout". So, if this is the result you got on the burnout quiz and/or the things the emotional burnout results page resonated, this is likely the type of self-care you need most.
What to do? Some of my favorite spiritual self-care practices are very simple. If we’re taking someone who is religious or spiritual, this will likely take the former of prayer or Bible study. Perhaps even attending church. However, if you’re not religious, spiritual self-care does still have a place in your life. I don’t necessarily believe I fall in the religious or spiritual camp. However, I do find that, for me, spiritual self-care takes the form of meditation. I love meditation because it’s the one time of day where I have no expectations of myself. It gives me stillness, solitude, and—more than anything—it turns up the volume on my intuition. I used to be someone who joked that I had no intuition. That my mother was the intuition I didn’t have. Meditation allowed my intuition to find its own voice. Plus, meditation keeps me from being overly reactive to my thoughts and that, in and of itself, is a blessing.
Social self-care. Social self-care is exactly like it sounds—it’s about your social life. It’s about simultaneously spending time with your loved ones—friends, family, significant others, etc.—and giving yourself the space you need from people, which we talk about more in the discussion of social rest here.
How to know when you need it? If you’re feeling disconnected from your loved ones, or, on the flip side, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and overcommitted socially, social self-care might be out of balance. Similar to spiritual self-care, this one is harder to classify inside of our 4 types of burnout. I would say it likely falls under “overwhelm burnout" OR “emotional burnout”, depending upon if you feel over socialized or under. So, if this is the result you got on the burnout quiz, this is likely the type of self-care you need most.
What to do? This is really about finding the right balance for you. So, part of what you might do here is spend a little time in self-awareness: are you getting enough social time OR too much? Once you find what your new balance might need to be, it’s about taking the proper approach for you. For example, I’m more introverted than I might appear (just check out my Insta!). So, I don’t need much time each week in the way of socializing. For me, a night a week or a day a week spent with friends and family is enough. More than that starts to feel quite exhausting for me. So, step 1 is to learn your balance, and step 2 is to put that into practice.
There you have it!
The 5 types of self-care…
It’s easy to look at this list and think that, depending upon what type of burnout you might currently be experiencing, that you only need one. If you’re emotionally burned out you need emotional self-care, right? Well, not exactly.
I personally believe that one of the best ways to stave off burnout as a whole is to proactively incorporate each type of self-care into our lives. I call this a “self-care plan” and it doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, I think the best way to approach creating a self-care plan is to start small and simple with the most straightforward daily minimum it will take for each type of self-care. So, if I were to take the examples I’ve given in the “What to do” steps above, my self-care plan might look like the following:
Physical self-care: A minimum of 30 minutes of movement a day and 7.5 hours of sleep each night
Mental self-care: Read for 15 minutes each morning
Emotional self-care: Journal at least 1x a week, use my Morning Mindfulness Journal at least 2x a week, and do a weekly review
Spiritual self-care: Meditate for 5 minutes (minimum) each morning
Social self-care: Spend time once a week with friends or family
Each is a simple and straightforward step and each helps stave off some aspect of burnout. Physical self-care helps to prevent physical burnout. Mental self-care helps to stave off boredom burnout. Emotional, social, and spiritual self-care help to prevent emotional burnout and overwhelm burnout.
Each has an important place in our lives and that’s why it’s so important to incorporate each type.
