How do you make time for self-care?

Today’s prompt asked a simple question: How do you make time for self-care?

Before answering how, we need to talk about what self-care actually is because we’ve been sold a lie. Point blank: self-care has been hijacked and turned into a capitalist venture.

When most people hear “self-care,” they picture luxury bath bombs, spa days, mimosas, and sheet masks. If you want to eat your favorite meal or get your nails done, fine. But consumerism has convinced us that caring for ourselves requires spending money to check out of our lives.

That wasn’t the original point.

The Radical Roots of Taking Care

Self-care didn’t start in a department store. In its modern social context, it emerged from the Civil Rights and feminist movements, gaining serious traction through the Black Panther Party in the 1970s.

Back then, self-care wasn’t an indulgence, it was a survival tactic. It was deeply communal and pragmatic:

• Organizing free breakfast programs so families had nutritious food when money was tight.
• Setting up community childcare so mothers can attend medical checkups.
• Organizers like Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins use yoga, meditation, mindful eating, and mental health practices to sustain themselves through relentless pressure and trauma.

Self-care was political, holistic, and focused on basic human dignity: Go to the doctor. Move your body. Feed yourself well. Guard your mind.

When we strip away the commercial packaging, real self-care is about taking your health and sanity seriously. If your heart is racing, you’re paralyzed by anxiety, and leaving the house feels impossible, real self-care isn’t a scented candle—it’s booking an appointment with a therapist or talking to your physician.

How I Make the Time: The Non-Negotiable Monday

If you don’t actively protect your time, someone else will claim it. That’s why I treat self-care as a structured boundary.

For me, Monday is my anchor. It sounds selfish on paper, but it keeps me whole: Monday is the day I do not do anything extra for anyone else.

I work because I have to work, but after that, the evening belongs entirely to me:

1. Movement: I hit a fitness class. If the class doesn’t happen, I walk on the treadmill. Moving my body is non-negotiable.
2. Nourishment: I cook a clean, wholesome dinner to refuel properly.
3. Reflection: I sit down and write a journal. I map out my wins, my losses, and dump my thoughts onto the page to clear the mental clutter.

Setting aside Monday sets the tone. Throughout the rest of the week, things get messy, schedules collide, and I don’t always win the battle. But having that dedicated baseline keeps me grounded.

Practical Ways to Reclaim Your Space

You don’t need an entire free day to start resetting your boundaries. Here is how to make room in the real world:

• Start with 15 minutes: Before the demands of the house take over, take 15 minutes in the morning. Pray, meditate, write in a gratitude journal, or sit in total silence.
• Block out phantom appointments: I used to put fake, urgent meetings on my calendar just to secure “me time.” I’d schedule a meeting on “Bank Street” and label it “Meeting with Banker” so no one could book it. Then I’d sit at the cafe on Bank Street, drink my tea, and breathe. Defending your calendar like your sanity depends on it because it does.
• Release the guilt around asking for help: Hire a babysitter, trade childcare with a friend, or tell your family you’re off duty for two hours. Stepping away prevents you from running on fumes and lashing out at the people you love.
• Encourage your circle to do the same: I tell my partner all the time: go on the bike ride, play basketball, hang out with friends, go find your center. Loving someone doesn’t mean consuming every hour of their free time or demanding they surrender all of theirs to you.

Getting Back to Wholeness

Erykah Badu sang in the song “On and On”. Ms. Badu sing “I was born underwater with three dollars and six dimes/ Yeah, you might laugh ’cause you did not do your math.”  You were already born whole. Self-care isn’t about buying new pieces to complete yourself; it’s about stripping away the noise so you can return to that completeness.

Stop letting marketing campaigns tell you what you need to heal. Build a routine that protects your peace, set boundaries that sting a little if they have to, and treat your well-being like the essential work it is.

Here the post that you can read if you are interested: The Origins of Self-Care: From Radical Act to Consumerist Trap – Mental Health Therapy Blog Post By Brianna Halasa

Until Next Time,

Che Michelle