51 Environmental Self-Care Ideas To Help Boost Your Physical and Mental Well-Being

Your environment should excite and motivate you rather than overwhelm or depress you.

Here are 51 environmental self-care ideas to help boost your mental and physical well-being so you can truly thrive.

When I first left the UK last October, I assumed I’d be living somewhere hot and sunny.

I never imagined I’d be in Istanbul for winter having promised myself that I’d never do another winter in the UK again.

If you’re an OG reader, you’ll know that I really struggled with seasonal depression last year and the cold, shitty weather negatively impacted my mood. And it was really hard for me to stay my usual positive and motivated self.

But in Istanbul, I felt different. The snow, wind and rain didn’t upset or depress me, and despite the weather, I was the happiest I’d been in a long time.

I’ve since realised, it wasn’t the weather in the UK that made me feel low.

It was the environment I was living in.

I felt like I couldn’t thrive and I knew there was more out there for me. A world of countries to visit, mountains to climb, beaches to lie on and new cultures to immerse myself in.

So this is your gentle reminder that your environment needs to excite and stimulate you rather than depress you.

If your current workspace makes you feel flat or bored then switch it up. Go and work from a coffee shop for the day.

If you feel like your location is not fulfilling you then put plans in place to take action and change it.

Learn to look after and maintain your environment just as much as you take care of yourself.

“Most people live in a world others have created for them. But you can alter the spaces where you live and work to increase your exposure to positive cues and reduce your exposure to negative ones.”

James Clear | Atomic Habits

Table of Contents

• What is environmental self-care?
• 51 environmental self-care ideas to boost your physical and mental well-being
• Ideas for your physical well-being
• Ideas for your mental well-being
• And idea 51…
• Final notes

What is environmental self-care?

Before I do a deep dive into the 51 environmental self-care ideas to try throughout this year, let’s first recap environmental self-care and what it means.

Environmental self-care simply means designing your environment to work for you.

Your environment needs to motivate you rather than overwhelm you and stress you out. And environmental self-care allows you to create the right environment so you can truly thrive.

If you are working from home separate your workspace from your home space. Put up plants or pictures to make it visually appealing.

Keep your personal spaces organised and clutter-free as a clear space equals a clear mind.

So let’s see how you can practice environmental self-care with these invigorating ideas!

51 environmental self-care ideas to boost your physical and mental well-being

From adding an indoor water feature in your home to remote working in a different country, here is an extensive list of environmental self-care ideas for you to try.

Never feel unmotivated or bored by your environment again!

Ideas for your physical well-being

1. Brighten up your workspace with pretty house plants
2. Declutter your wardrobe regularly
3. Colour co-ordinate your books or bookshelf if you have one
4. Dim the lights and light some candles
5. Spray your pillows and sheets with lavender just before bed
6. Clear out your old make-up and toiletries
7. Buy some colourful artwork and hang it up on your walls
8. Book a flight abroad and head on an adventure
9. Explore an area you haven’t been to before and put google maps away
10. Head to a quiet or bustling coffee shop to work
11. Hang out in the library, either reading, working or catching up on admin
12. Spring clean your home and tidy up your personal spaces
13. Book into a co-working space for a month
14. Spend a month remote working from a different country
15. Feng shui your bedroom or other rooms in the house and embrace minimalism
16. Get rid of anything that doesn’t bring you joy
17. Work from home? Move your desk close to the window
18. Use more reusable and sustainable products and packaging
19. Recycle as much as possible
20. Do the washing up straight after eating
21. Make sure your kitchen and other personal spaces are tidy before going to bed
22. Buy a flower subscription and have a constant supply of flowers brightening up your space
23. Rearrange furniture or reinvent an unused space in your house
24. Go on vacation or staycation more often, because you deserve it
25. Spend the weekends out of your home exploring somewhere new
26. Change your bed sheets regularly and keep them fresh and crisp
27. Add a soothing and calming water feature to your home
28. Put your laundry in a basket rather than throwing it on the floor or a chair
29. Keep a cosy blanket on the couch so you can always be ready to snuggle
30. Rent an Airbnb by the beach during summer, because the sea honestly cures all

Ideas for your mental well-being

1. Keep your personal spaces organised and clutter-free
2. Make your bed every single morning
3. Open up the windows and breathe in the fresh air
4. Add elements to your desk area that impact your mental well-being like candles and pictures of loved ones
5. Use a desktop organiser to keep all of your desktop files organised and clutter-free
6. Listen to calming or upbeat music, whatever gets you in the mood for work or downtime
7. Download Momentum to your Chrome browser for an uplifting image and motivational daily mantra
8. Use Notion to keep all of your notes, ideas, plans, lists, etc, in one place
9. Put your phone on airplane mode for the day and relax
10. Keep track of how much time you spend on your devices and social media
11. Remove all the TVs from your house and limit how much you consume
12. Create a sacred space in your home which is just for you
13. Consciously switch off from work during meals and never eat at your desk
14. Minimise pointless decision making
15. Go on a walk with zero purpose
16. Go away for the weekend to a remote location and completely unplug
17. Simply spend more time in nature. Go walking, wild swimming, camping, hiking, gardening, etc
18. Use a Lumie Desk Lamp for light therapy to help ease seasonal depression
19. Watch the sunrise and sunset every day to remind you how incredible mother nature is
20. Realign with your goals and values to stop you from living a life you don’t want

And idea 51…

Create a reverse bucket list!

Don’t always think about what you can add to your life to make it better but what you can take away to make you feel happier.

It might be the most simple of things like limiting the amount you scroll on social media or stopping watching the news.

Save these environmental self-care ideas on Pinterest!

Final notes

It’s important to remember, self-care looks different to everyone.

It’s about what works for you and what makes you feel good.

So like with all my tips, I encourage you to test out these environmental self-care ideas first before fully committing to them to find out which ones help you to truly thrive.

Try putting together a self-care calendar or tracker to help you track which recreational self-care ideas you enjoyed and which ones you would do again.

Rate each ritual out of 5 stars. Ask yourself, “how did this activity make me feel?.”

And why not go one step further and use the Daily Wellness & Self-Care Planner.

This 18-page planner provides you with the accountability and structure you need to plan rest & self-care so you can wave goodbye to burnout.

Use it to:

• Build a morning & evening routine that works for you
• Successfully build better habits
• Track sleep
• Map out your meals & exercise for a healthy week
• Reflect on the day and practice gratitude
• Plan out a week of self-care activities
• Journal your thoughts & feelings
• Plus much much more.

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Until next week,

♡ Thalia xx

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