10 Low-Effort Ways to Treat Yourself

Sometimes the best way to treat yourself doesn’t involve spending money or making plans. It’s the small stuff. The things you could do right now if you just gave yourself permission.

These are for the days when you’re tired, when you’ve had a long week, or when you just want to do something nice for yourself without it being a whole thing. Some of them take a little effort, but it’s the good kind.

Stay in bed for the day. Watch something, scroll, nap, stare at the ceiling. Don’t let the voice in your head tell you you’re being unproductive. Even cars need a service to keep running; this is yours.

An everything shower is when you do it all in one go: wash your hair, exfoliate, shave, deep condition, the works. It’s the opposite of a quick rinse before work. Do the whole skincare routine afterwards, put on clean loungewear, sit down, and do whatever comes to mind first.

Walk to the kitchen as many times as your appetite decides and eat whatever you fancy without counting a single calorie. Toast at 11am, a bowl of cereal at 3pm, cheese on crackers at 9pm. Eat guilt-free and enjoy every bite.

Sit down and put on one of your favourite childhood films or cartoons. Close the curtains, dim the lights, and make your room feel like a cinema. Ours is Toy Story 2. The song by Sarah McLachlan, “When She Loved Me,” brings back so many lovely memories. Second pick is Anastasia, which also has some brilliant songs. You’ll know within the first five minutes why you loved it.

Make yourself something in your favourite mug, then choose a spot in your house you don’t normally sit in. A different chair, the floor by the window, a corner of a room you never really use. You’d be surprised how different the same drink feels in a different spot.

Pick somewhere you’ve been meaning to walk to, or just head out and let your feet decide the route. Put your headphones in, listen to music or a podcast, and take as long as you want. Some of the best thinking happens when you’re not trying to think.

A whole day where you follow whatever you feel like doing in the moment and just let the day unfold. That might be sitting in the quiet with a coffee, picking up something creative like knitting or journaling, doing some yoga, playing an instrument you haven’t touched in months, or genuinely just existing.

Go into town and just look. Leave the shopping list at home and browse with zero intention of buying anything. It’s a good day to find new things to like, new places you didn’t know were there, and new ideas for when you do want to spend money later.

If you’re a bath person, run a hot one with bubbles and read in there. If you’re not, the sofa, the bed, a park bench, wherever you feel like. Hey, it’s your treat, you get to decide.

Pick something online that catches your eye and follow it start to finish. Baking or cooking, sweet or savoury, doesn’t matter. Bonus points if you can make it with what’s already in your fridge. There’s something about making food for the sake of it rather than because you have to that changes the whole feel of it.

Every one of these is a settle and kettle moment waiting to happen. The effort already happened, that’s why you’re here. Now go enjoy the other side of it.