Beth Kanter Happy Healthy Nonprofit Self-Care Plan Template - Create a Written Self-Care Plan

Sep 22, 2026

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Writing Your Self-Care Plan outlines a practical strategy for sustaining self-care goals and turning positive routines into everyday practice with accountability. The plan emphasizes daily scheduling, calendar commitments, and treating self-care as mission-critical to reduce and potentially eliminate the destructive effects of chronic stress. It includes a template structure by five spheres of happy and healthy living—Self, Others, Environment, Work and Money, and Tech—so users can list focused practice goals and monitor actions over time.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Writing Your Self-Care Plan

Self-Care Planning Principles

Self-Care Plan Template Structure

Practice Goals by 5 Spheres

Writing Your Self-Care Plan A Self-Care Plan identifies self-care goals or behaviors that you want to sustain and is your strategy for making positive behaviors routine with some form of accountability. Self-care is something that you need to live and practice daily. Schedule your self-care activities. Put it on your calendar. Make a commitment to yourself, and prioritize self-care as mission-critical. A written Self-Care Plan spells out daily activities that will reduce your stress and revitalize you. Writing down your plan helps you articulate and define your routines and rituals for self-care. The goal is to help prevent and potentially eliminate the destructive impact of chronic stress. Self-care is meant to help you cope better in the face of workplace stress and life challenges A Self-Care Plan is your road map to Happy and Healthy. Self-Care Plan Template A written Self-Care Plan does not have to be a long document. In fact, the shorter, the better to start. You can always add to it as you progress through your self-care practices. Make a list of your Practice Goals or the specific actions you plan on taking to attend to your self-care. Tie your actions to the 5 Spheres of Happy Healthy Living, and identify only a few practices related to each category. | Self-Care Category
Sphere 1: Self
Sphere 2: Others
Sphere 3: Environment
Sphere 4:
Work and Money
Sphere 5: Tech | Practice Goals
• Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables every day.
• Get to 10,000 steps per day walking.
• Make a regular date with my partner and/or children – one-on-one – to give my relationships attention.
• Divest myself of negative influences, moving consciously away from people who bring me down.
• Stop what I’m doing at least once a day to go outside.
• Check my home and office for toxic materials and chemicals that can be eliminated and bring in healthier alternatives.
• Take comp time when I’m attending work-related evening events.
• Stand up from my desk every 15 minutes to stretch and walk around.
• Set up a charging station at the front door for all of my/my family’s digital devices.
• Keep all my digital devices out of my bedroom and off my dinner table. | | --- | --- | Excerpted from The Happy Healthy Nonproﬁt: Impact without Burnout by Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman © 2018 Wiley | [http://bit.ly/happyhealthynpbook](http://bit.ly/happyhealthynpbook) Your Self-Care Plan | Self-Care Category
Sphere 1: Self
Sphere 2: Others
Sphere 3: Environment
Sphere 4:
Work and Money
Sphere 5: Tech | Practice Goals | | --- | --- | Excerpted from The Happy Healthy Nonproﬁt: Impact without Burnout by Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman © 2018 Wiley | [http://bit.ly/happyhealthynpbook](http://bit.ly/happyhealthynpbook)

FAQs

What is the purpose of a Self-Care Plan?

A Self-Care Plan identifies self-care goals or behaviors you want to sustain and provides a strategy to make positive behaviors routine with accountability.

Why should self-care be scheduled?

Scheduling self-care activities and putting them on your calendar helps create a commitment and makes self-care consistent in daily life.

How should practice goals be organized in the template?

List specific Practice Goals and tie actions to the 5 Spheres of Happy Healthy Living, then select only a few practices related to each category.

Sep 22, 2026

Upload by Aria