Staying Grounded in Self-Care When You’re a Social Hustler

Self-care and relaxation allows you to enjoy being there for the ones you care about most. Enjoy our favorite alone-in-the-world rituals to recharge your mind, body, and spirit, any time you need it.

You’re all about the other people in your life: You show up when it counts, network like a boss, and serve as a social supercenter for your crew. If you’re not recharging regularly, though, you’re missing out on half the magic. Take a moment (or two) to center yourself, relax, and reflect on all the wonderful things that you love most about your wonderful life.

Self-care and staying a little more relaxed makes you a better friend for those around you and allows you to enjoy being there for the ones you care about most. Enjoy our favorite alone-in-the-world rituals to recharge your mind, body, and spirit, any time you need it.

1. Have a Chat with Future You

Sometimes heavy socialization comes with a side of feeling swamped by inadequacy or anxiety. Your journey is your own, and you may need to tune into it a bit to remind yourself of this mantra: “You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, doing what you’re supposed to do, to learn what you’re meant to learn to be who you’re meant to be.” Fast forward 10, 20, 30 years into the future. What reassurances can that wise, wonderful person you’re becoming offer to you right here, right now? Ask that person to send you a little love and confidence for everything you’ve got ahead of you. Your friends will thank you for taking this time to tune into your own truths.

2. Soak in a Warm, Watery Paradise

Don’t scoff, oh rugged ones, hot baths make every-body a little happier. Light some candles, pour in some epsom salts, and grab your favorite essential oils — you’re taking a replenishing soak in your happy place. You don’t have to be a kid or rom-com starlet to enjoy the sweet smell of nostalgia, relaxed muscles, and a long rest for your body and mind. In this quiet time, meditate a bit: Let your thoughts roam free, but encourage all those built-up worries that cross your mind to float on by. It can help to keep a notebook nearby to jot down those “can’t forget” alarms that inevitably go off when you settle down solo. Getting them out of your head makes room for peace, creativity, and restoration. Even if you had a great time socializing, it’s important to give yourself a few quiet moments alone in peace to process and integrate your experiences.

3. Take Some Time to Journal or Draw Your Thoughts

Another wonderful way to reflect and relax is to spend some time with your journal. Some people write down their experiences, some express their feelings through poetry. And for some of us, sketch starts to form the moment the pencil hits that beautiful blank page. Journaling is a great way to let everything built up inside you free as you think the thoughts you only think when you’re alone.

4. A Quick Aromatherapy Meditation

Not taking the whole evening off? If you’re an introvert leading an extrovert’s fantastically social life, then sometimes you need just a few minutes to recenter before diving back into your social plans. Rather than using self-care as a reason to stay home for the day, just grab a few minutes of relaxing aromatherapy meditation. Turn off the lights, light a scented essential oil candle and let your thoughts rise with the tiny trail of smoke. Relax, center, let your stress float away. Then remember how awesome your friends are and that they’ll be so glad to see you rejoin them in a few minutes.

Fabriq: Communal by Nature | Sarah Louisignau

The Superpower of Being Alone and Enjoying It

You can’t find happiness with an outside-in approach, it has to originate within you. When you master your inner thoughts, you can feel like an ordinary everyday superhero. 

5. Spend a Little Quality Time with Your Pet

Feeling humaned out? Try a little quality time with your favorite pet. Don’t have one? Borrow one for the day! Lots of humane societies and shelters offer programs that’ll let you get your snuggles in while giving back to attention-needy animal friends. Spending a few minutes in the backyard playing fetch with your sweet puppy or watching a movie and chilling with your cat are often the best possible ways to shake out all that built-up stress. Your pet can give you all the comforts of your own private thoughts without actually being alone at all.

6. Take a Walk, Ideally in Nature

Get back to your roots. Walk barefoot on the earth. Dig your toes into the sand. Doing lots of connecting tends to result in a little disconnection from the peace and beauty of nature all around us. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that’s just as true about time in Mother Nature as it is about time with your people. 

7. Revisit Your Boundaries, Withholds, and Stories

With any human interaction comes some level of grappling with our own growth. Notice the stories you’re telling. Are you comparing? Judging? Holding grudges? This doesn’t have to be a heavy journaling or therapy session, so if you’ve got something to get off your chest, just give yourself a few minutes to put it into words for yourself. Try to name whatever you’ve been ruminating on lately — does it boil down to an insecurity you’re clinging to? Identifying what you’re afraid of helps you see the situation and relationship from a few angles, instead of that position of fear. If you’ve been feeling your boundaries overstepped or you’ve frozen a relationship in its tracks because you’re withholding a story you’ve made up, give yourself the attention you need to level with it and figure out what it’s going to take to move forward. Your truth isn’t the only truth, but it’s the only one you’ve gotta own. There’s magic in getting it off your mind.

8. Cook Yourself a Date-Night Dinner

You’ve been investing your attention and energy in others a lot lately; time to do the same for yourself. Skip your go-to leftovers-in-a-tortilla burrito, and bust out your best cheffin’ skills instead. Set the mood! Take a special trip to the store to wander your favorite section with your headphones and some soulful tunes. Clear your kitchen so you can really see the magic happening, and then make yourself a dinner worth savoring. Pro tip: Don’t try multitask because you’re home and there are 110 million things to do. Just settle in for the little ritual of taking care of your body and save that pile of laundry for later.

Keeping up an active social lifestyle keeps you happier and healthier, longer, but it also builds up background stress, even more so if you’re an introvert. That doesn’t mean you’re obligated to stay in or miss out! Both extraverts and introverts just need to take time to integrate their social experiences and recharge their batteries. Keep an eye on your calendar. If you’re running full steam ahead without any down time, block it off and don’t just pencil yourself in. You are the great commitment here. Honor thyself, friend.

About Fabriq

Build Better Social Habits

Fulfilling relationships are scientifically proven to keep you happy and healthy — boosting your immunity and longevity. When you prioritize the people that matter most, even when life gets full, you naturally show up better for them and yourself.

Science-backed and the first of its kind, Fabriq is designed to improve your social health and make building better social habits easy, so you can focus on what (and who) really matters.

Recent Articles

Put Better Friendships in Your Inbox

Strengthen your relationships by signing up for articles, activities, and social challenges from Fabriq.