Have you ever had one of those days when you just need to do something for yourself? I’m talking about being self-indulgent, not self-care to deal with something bad, that’s a totally different animal. I mean, you’ve just talked too much to too many people, you’ve thought too many thoughts, or just done a lot. You’ve been beyond productive, or maybe you just did that one thing you’ve been putting off forever, and now… Now it’s time to be a little self-indulgent.

Those are my favorite days. Days when I don’t need to talk about a bad day, I just want a little Me Time. Or have a Me Treat. Whatever, it’s all about me me me.

So here are my Top 5 Indulge Me activities:

Read whatever makes me happy.
This may seem like an easy one, but I’m not talking about just any old favorite read. To be honest, many of my favorite books are not exactly feel-good reads. No, what I’m talking about here is giving in to all of the happiest of happy ending books, books that are funny, fluffy, and don’t require deep thought. Or fun fanfiction that makes me laugh until my stomach hurts, even on a re-read. Getting lost in a book works for many occasions, really.

Write like no one is reading.
Another easy one, but again, this all about being self-indulgent, so these stories are running away to join the circus on a magical unicorn, taking a space rocket to a planet made up of cotton candy and hearts nonsense that will never be read by anyone else but has me giggling with the utter ridiculousness of what has been committed to paper or the cloud. Full-disclosure, I once wrote these snippets about a tiny god of skateboarding and his friend, the equally tiny god of pastry, and they set about saving the world. It has been a while since the last update but just thinking about those snippets make me smile.

Watch whatever floats your boat.
Not everything has to have a thought-provoking plot, not all dialogue has to be well-written, and not all acting has to be Oscar-worthy. When I want to not think, not get overly invested because my brain is tired? I go for the movies that are so bad they’re good. Or, a silly episode of a show that is normally a little dark. Those eps are like a nice rain on a hot day.

Eat something yummy.
This is one of the activities that I put limits on because being self-indulgent when it comes to food is about making me feel good, not guilty for eating outside of my calorie budget or overeating to the point of not feeling well. So I get smart while scooping out some ice cream, I don’t have bubble tea after a big meal, or I grab an Easy Mac individual cup rather than make a whole box of mac n cheese and end up giving into the temptation to try and eat the whole box. (Spoiler: It never ends well.)

Take a nap.
This might be a no-brainer after a long day, but I always feel like I am getting away with something when I deliberately take a nap. Not the kind where I fall asleep on on the couch without meaning to, those are necessary for recharging. A deliberate nap, where I tell my taller half, I’ll be back in a half hour. I do set an alarm, just because a daytime nap means I have a hard time falling asleep later, but keeping it to about 30 minutes? I do end up falling asleep because I am taking that time for myself, and I darn well deserve it.

There they are, my top 5 fave ways to do a little self-indulging after a long day. I should probably add a number six: blog about whatever thing comes into your mind… since that is exactly what this post is.

So what do you do for self-indulgent fun after a long day?