The Case for Self-Care: Why Tending to Your Needs Is Essential

blog written by Abby Jo Vanderfin, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo undergraduate intern, supervised by Dr. Hannah Roberts

In a world where “self-care” is often marketed as expensive spa days or the latest wellness trends, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly nourishes us. However, self-care isn’t a luxury… it’s a practice of maintenance. It’s about tuning into your needs and choosing habits that help you feel grounded, balanced, and supported in your day-to-day life.

Whether you're in a season of change, healing, growth, or just trying to stay afloat, self-care can be a powerful tool for resilience.

What is Self-Care?

I like to think of self-care as taking care of my “sim bar needs.” 

Figure 1. Visualization of self-care needs inspired by The Sims' interface. From What Playing The Sims Taught Me About Self-Care & Productivity, by B. Brighter, 2019, Work Brighter (https://workbrighter.co/the-sims-self-care/). Copyright 2019 by Work Brighter.

In case you haven’t played the Sims, it is a game where you control the lives of your Sims, or little human characters. In the corner of the screen, you can see how fulfilled your different Sims are in each of their needs. These bars deplete over time, and if you don’t engage in tasks to increase each of these things, your character may become uncomfortable or not be able to function as normal. For example, a very tired Sim won’t cook for themself or go to work. 

The Sims is meant to simulate real life, so this is a good way to visualize your own personal needs. The game simplifies real life, of course, so you may need to add a few needs, such as mental health, physical, and potentially cultural. Every so often, I like to take inventory on my needs bars, and do a few simple tasks to fulfill these needs. These actions are self-care! 

Why Self-Care Matters 

Chronic stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion are all too common, especially for women navigating multiple roles and expectations. Studies show that individuals who regularly engage in self-care practices report higher levels of resilience, better mood regulation, and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression (Slavich, 2020; O'Connell et al., 2019).

Self-care has also been linked to better physical health. For example:

• Getting regular, quality sleep helps regulate cortisol and immune function (Hirotsu et al., 2015).
• Physical movement, even gentle forms, can enhance neuroplasticity and reduce stress hormone levels (Moyers & Hagger, 2023).
• Meaningful social connection has been shown to buffer the effects of stress and support long-term mental health (Umberson & Montez, 2010).

When we neglect these needs, the results are cumulative. Emotional depletion, decreased cognitive function, and physical symptoms like fatigue and chronic pain can all stem from our unmet psychological or biological needs.

Self-Care Should Be Specific, Not Vague

While self-care is often talked about abstractly, it works best when it’s concrete. It helps to be able to plan or reflect on your self-care in ways that are quantifiable–where you can see more directly what self-care you want to or have been engaging in! Not just “rest more,” but “go to bed by 10 p.m.” Not just “take care of yourself,” but “practice breathwork.”

That’s why we’ve created a printable self-care checklist, not to add more pressure, but to offer a structured way to reflect on your daily habits. This checklist includes four key domains: biological, psychological, social, and cultural. You can use it to track what’s working in a quantifiable way and identify unmet needs, or even just remind yourself of some simple things that you can do to support your wellbeing. You can also see over time what may be working best for you! 

Download the Self-Care Checklist here! 

Start Where You Are

You don’t need to do everything. You don’t need to overhaul your routine. Self-care can be small and simple intentional actions: moving your body, giving yourself rest, spending quality time with loved ones. 

As you explore what self-care looks like in your own life, ask yourself:

• What self-care activities tend to make me feel more whole or at peace when I engage in them? 
• What area do I need care in today (biological, social, etc.)? 

Self-care isn’t a reward for productivity. It’s the foundation that makes your growth and healing possible, and your everyday life sustainable. We are able to maintain the best version of ourselves much easier when our bodies and minds are being taken care of. And you are worthy of that care, every single day.

References

Brighter, B. (2019, January 10). What playing The Sims taught me about self-care & productivity. Work Brighter. https://workbrighter.co/the-sims-self-care/

Hirotsu, C., Tufik, S., & Andersen, M. L. (2015). Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions. Sleep Science, 8(3), 143–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.slsci.2015.09.002

Moyers, S. A., & Hagger, M. S. (2023). Physical activity and the stress response: A systematic review. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 147, 106063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106063

O’Connell, B. H., O’Shea, D., & Gallagher, S. (2019). Examining psychosocial pathways underlying the relationship between self-care and health outcomes in caregivers. Journal of Health Psychology, 24(11), 1505–1515. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317718927

Slavich, G. M. (2020). Social safety theory: A biologically based evolutionary perspective on life stress, health, and behavior. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 16, 265–295. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045159

Umberson, D., & Montez, J. K. (2010). Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1_suppl), S54–S66. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510383501