It’s safe to say that self-care is IN these days. #SelfCareSunday is trending on Instagram and women everywhere are posting pictures of themselves being pampered. While I think it’s amazing that the popularity of self-care is on the rise, I also think many of us are missing the real idea behind it: to care for your mind, body and spiritual health each and every day.

Self-care is more than spending the day at the spa and doing juice cleanses with your best girlfriends once a month. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about that too! But real self-care doesn’t have to be luxurious, expensive, or something you do only every now and then. Sure, the spa is more fun to post about on Instagram, but it’s the simple things you do to care for yourself everyday that are going to make the biggest difference in your life.

Here are the easiest and most effective ways to practice self-care every single day:

Set social media limits.

How much time do you waste mindlessly scrolling through social media each day? Probably a lot. How often do you log-off Instagram feeling BETTER about yourself? Probably not often. But now you can set limits on how much time you spend on your favorite apps by going into your phone’s settings and clicking the Screen Time icon. Then you can choose which apps to set limits on and the time you want to allow for each. You’ll be amazed at how much extra time you have for yourself (and how much better you feel!) when you cut-down on your screen time.

Get enough sleep.

This is an easy one, but one that so many people have trouble with. By now, you know your body and how much sleep you need to function at your highest level. Do the math! If you know you have to wake up at 6am, count backwards the amount of hours you need. Then add an hour. This should be the time your phone is turned off and you are in bed/getting ready for bed/doing some sort of relaxing activity. Sure, things comes up and it’s not always possible, but it’s a good goal to shoot for every night.

Say no. 

You don’t have to accept every social invitation you receive. Saying no to things that don’t make you happy is one of the best skills you can learn and one of the easiest ways to practice self-care. You don’t have an infinite amount of hours in your day! Spend your free time doing things that fill you up instead of drain you.

Eat well.

Eating bad food makes you feel bad, it’s that simple. And with all of the grocery delivery services these days, you can no longer use the excuse of not having enough time to go to the store to buy healthy foods. There are literally no excuses anymore! Pack your lunch the night before and meal prep on the weekends if you need to. Self-care is as simple as eating right.

Set aside “me time.”

I know, everyone is so busy that there just isn’t enough time in the day for “me time.” At least that’s what we get in the habit of telling ourselves. If you find that your day tends to get away from you, CREATE some time for yourself! Get up earlier, take a lunch break, spend 30 less minutes browsing social media, or turn off the TV. Use this time to do something for yourself! Every. Single. Day.

Self-care doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s time to trade in #SelfCareSunday for #SelfCareEveryday. Notice the difference it makes in all the areas of your life!