71 Ways to Recharge Your Social Battery
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Welcome to a weekend of glorious and energizing alone time. You’ve had a busy week. Too many meetings. Too much high-energy socializing the weekend before. Now, nothing sounds better than some alone time to recharge.
I typically enter these weekends with the best intentions. Then, by my third-quarter of the day I start to forget what I can do with my time other than veg on the couch.
This list is for those moments when I need a little inspiration of low-lift things I can do that make me feel better, help my life, and recharge my social battery. For those of you, like me, that love a weekend to invest in yourself, feel introspective, and be happy to spend time alone to re-energize, here’s a list of 71 ideas of things you can do to recharge your social battery and take care of yourself. The items on this list are at no added cost, are away from screens, and have specific little touches with huge potential to snowball meaningful changes.
71 Things You Can Do This Weekend To Take Care of Yourself
Make a new playlist. Make one for a specific mood, celebration, friend, or aspiration.
Organize your bookshelves. By color, by alphabetical order, or my favorite, by the books you want to read within eye-line.
Go for a walk. Take a different route than you’re used to.
Bake something and give it to a neighbor without a heads-up. Knock on that door and offer them something sweet.
Give someone a call. But only those that leave you feeling good, that don’t guilt you, or shame you. The goal is to laugh, connect, and feel love.
Create a Bucket List. Think about all the things you want to do in your life big or small! Sometimes the small give you more fulfillment, so don’t be embarrassed to put them down.
Do art. Sketch, color, and make a collage.
Get out in nature. Sit in a park, the beach, or your yard. Feel the air on your face. Hear the sound of critters, the voices of your community, and the chirping of birds.
Take a drive. At every fork, take the road you don’t go down. See where that leads you.
Read a short book in one sitting. Get cozy. Let the story wash over you.
Take care of your plants. Clean their leaves, rotate them, and give them some water.
Propagate your plants. Pick your favorite plants and learn how to propagate them. Some are simple. Today’s the day to step foot into the world of propogation.
Do some stretches. Focus on your breathing and slowly breathe into each stretch. I love hearing all the crunches and cracks.
Do some push-ups. Get your heart pumping! If you’re like me, feel free to immediately squeeze your bicep after to see if it produces any results.
Try at-home pilates. Firing up your core feels so good.
Dance hard. Volume up. Silly moves out. Give the moment full body moves. I put headphones in to really bring my focus on the music.
Look up new easy recipes to try this week. Put the meals you want to eat this week on your calendar. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Meal prep. Cut up those veggies, cook those meats, and prep your sauces.
Reorganize your refrigerator. Is there a better system for your space? Dividers, shelves, ways to make more room and declutter. I am personally looking into a lazy Susan for all our sauces.
Plan the next few months of your social calendar. All the big, concrete plans with friends first, then pace out the things you want to do for yourself throughout the next few months, then add in a few “could be nice” items.
Follow a guided meditation.
Take a shower. Put eucalyptus oil in the air and on the walls so the steam ignites and spreads the smell. Play sound bath sounds on Spotify. Ahhh relaxation. Maybe at the end douse yourself in cold water for a Wim Hof moment of recharge and all the delicious benefits.
Give yourself a self-breast exam. Check for abnormal lumps. Here’s how.
Write 500 words straight. No editing along the way.
Make a “Things to Buy” list. Whenever you think of something you want before impulse buying, add it to this list first. It helps slow down the pull of impulse buying.
Do that big load of laundry. Clean all your house towels, mats, and sheets.
Iron your clothes while listening to your favorite audio book.
Make a list of possible side hustles ideas. What are things you could do to earn another stream of income?
Write a book review for the last book you read. Or an album you listened to. Or a movie you watched. Think through what it brought out in you and work on putting your opinion into words.
Find a new book to read. Think back on the last few books you read, what did you like about them?
Research new investment opportunities. Commercial real estate? Index funds? A specific product/mission/company you believe in? Add the cost of a recurring investment into your budget.
Make a list of thoughtful gifts for people’s birthdays and holidays.
Learn a new word and use it in a sentence. Here’s one I just learned, “recalcitrant.”
Go for a run outside. Whatever pace you want is fine!
Do 10 mins cleanup. Don’t stop for 10 mins. Even in a clean space, there’s always magically 10 mins worth of work you can do.
Go outside and Superman-pose toward the sun with a smile on your face for 5 mins.
Alter your clothes. Try to avocado-dye your clothes, give that hot pink dress you never wear a new life by dying it black, hem your pants, turn those jeans into shorts, and sew that lost button back on.
Make your own music - sing or play an instrument.
Rearrange a small space where you can display things you love. Reminders in your home of your motivations can subconsciously recharge you.
Reach out to someone who inspires you and let them know. It can be someone you know personally or a hero of yours.
Mail a nice “thinking of you” letter to a friend or family member.
Write a letter to yourself from the point of view of yourself as an 80-year-old describing your life and what you learned and are glad you did.
Write a letter to someone you’re holding anger toward. This one you don’t need to mail. The catharsis of writing it is what we’re going for.
Unsubscribe from your unused monthly subscriptions, playlists you don’t listen to, and emails that aren’t good to see in your inbox.
Unfollow 20 accounts on your social and follow 20 that are inspiring to you in a creative way.
Clean your makeup brushes.
Implement a system for your photos, drive, and documents. Give some method to the madness.
Are your walls bare? Go get some crafts and paint! Paint a chair, paint a tree, paint the outline of a landscape. Easy and artsy.
Moisturize your whole body. Oils for your nails and hair. Masks for your face.
Take a walk around your neighborhood and bring scissors and cut plants you see that you can propagate or flowers you like for a vase.
Reorganize your spice rack or pantry. Is there a better way to display your goods?
Make a list of your values, and the things you love and care about. What you look for in a partner, friends, and your work.
Say your values allowed to yourself in the mirror.
Make a Pinterest mood board. Here are the ones I like: Fashion, Art, Home, Textiles, and Limits pushing.
Write a joke about an experience and try to make it five minutes long. Practice adding a few beats throughout. Try different inflections, add a few immediate pay-off jokes and a couple full circle ones.
Learn how to draw a face - it’s handy.
Make a vision board. Think through your visions of finances, community, friendship, family, religion, professional, and health.
Set a sleep timer on your phone, an audio limit, and screen use limits.
Find an online group of people looking to do what you want to do (beach volleyball, crochet, travel).
Personalize your space. Look around are there things you can move or change to make it more of a reflection of you? An area that has never quite felt right?
Do a guasha-type face massage.
Name five things you see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you can taste around you. This is my preferred method of feel joy and present in the moment.
Look far away at the clouds, at the stars, or the ocean, or anywhere that will let your eyes see far away and gain “big sky” perspective.
Go to your room and move things around to make your sleep better. Cut out any lights, noise, and clutter.
Hand wash your car. Give that loyal steed a little love.
Fill up a cup of water with lemons or some sort of infusion and drink a few cups.
Make a list of people that inspire you in any way. Reflect on the qualities about them that inspire you. Write those reflections down.
Listen to a funny podcast while you’re on a walk. I guarantee when you smile publicly strangers smile back and it’s beautifully connective.
Organize the clutter drawer. Take things out, organize the things, contain the things, and keep them maintained.
Clean your phone screen and your laptop keyboard.
Read this letter from Kurt Vonnegut to his students and let your soul grow.
Recharge Your Battery
The more I read, the more ways I’ve found I can take care of myself. This list has grown and will continue to grow as a reflection of that. Share with someone who needs it. Take care of yourselves.
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