Self-Care Wheel
Spin for one small thing to do for yourself. If it does not fit right now, spin again.
No spins yet. Each pick is listed here in order.
Small things on the wheel, by group
Body (12)
- Drink a glass of water
- Stretch your shoulders
- Stand up and reach for the ceiling
- Take a warm shower
- Wash your face with cool water
- Rub lotion into your hands
- Change into comfortable clothes
- Put on warm socks
- Make a snack and sit down to eat it
- Dance to one song in the kitchen
- Take a short walk without your phone
- Lie on the floor and stretch out
Rest and quiet (12)
- Step outside for ten minutes
- Sit by a window with nothing to do
- Close your eyes for five minutes
- Put your phone in another room
- Lie down under a blanket
- Read a few pages of a book
- Listen to the sounds outside
- Make a warm drink and sip it slowly
- Sit in the sun for a few minutes
- Watch the sky for a little while
- Dim the lights and sit quietly
- Take a short nap
Tidy and order (12)
- Tidy the top of one table
- Put fresh sheets on your bed
- Clear your nightstand
- Clear everything off one chair
- Put away the laundry that is waiting
- Lay out clothes for tomorrow
- Write a short list for tomorrow
- Wash your favorite mug
- Clear the kitchen counter
- Delete ten old photos from your phone
- Close the tabs you no longer need
- Sort the mail and recycle the junk
People (12)
- Call a friend
- Text someone you miss
- Send a thank-you message
- Ask someone how their day went
- Tell someone one good thing about today
- Go for a walk with someone
- Say hello to a neighbor
- Play a quick game with someone
- Send a funny picture to a friend
- Plan something small with a friend
- Leave a kind note for someone at home
- Share a snack with someone
Small joys (12)
- Listen to a song you loved years ago
- Draw the view from your window
- Look at photos from a good day
- Doodle on scrap paper
- Put a flower or a leaf in a glass
- Watch the sun go down
- Go out and look at the stars
- Write down one nice memory
- Wear your favorite sweater
- Take a photo of something pretty
- Work on a puzzle for a while
- Lie in the grass and look up
About the self-care wheel
All 60 ideas are on the wheel when the page opens. Each one is a small, free thing you can do for yourself in a few minutes, such as “Put on warm socks” or “Call a friend”. “Choose a list” keeps one of 5 groups: “Body”, “Rest and quiet”, “Tidy and order”, “People” or “Small joys”.
The ideas were written for this site and are listed on this page under their groups, so a parent or a teacher can read them first. The wheel is not medical or mental health advice. Anyone who feels unwell or overwhelmed for more than a short while should take that to a doctor or another qualified person, not to a wheel.
Make the wheel yours before the first spin: delete the lines you would never do and add the small things you already like, one per line. The page keeps your version in this browser, so it is waiting at the end of the next long day.
When to spin the self-care wheel
- After work or school: one spin, one small thing, and the rest of the evening is yours.
- Classroom break: a teacher trims the list to what works in the room and leaves the wheel open on a tablet.
- Weekend morning: choose “Tidy and order” and do the first three picks.
- With a child: spin together and both do the pick, such as “Watch the sun go down”.
How to use the wheel
- Type or paste your options, one per line. The wheel redraws as you type.
- Press Spin, click the wheel, or press Ctrl+Enter while you are in the list.
- Read the pick. Remove it from the wheel if nobody should be picked twice, then spin again.
How the pick is made
Before the wheel moves, your browser draws one slice at random with crypto.getRandomValues, the same generator browsers use for security keys. Every slice has the same chance. The spin you watch only plays that result out.
Nothing about the animation changes the outcome: not how hard you click, not how long the wheel turns, not the size of your screen. The pointer always stops inside a slice, never on a line.
Your list stays in your browser. A link you copy carries the list inside the link itself, so nothing is uploaded.
Questions about the self-care wheel
- Is this the printable self-care wheel with areas of life?
- No. A printable chart split into areas of life goes by the same name, but this page is a spinner: it picks one small thing for you to do.
- Do I have to do what the wheel picks?
- No. Each pick is an offer, not a chore. When it does not suit the moment, press “Spin again” and see what comes up next.
- Can I make a favorite idea come up more often?
- Yes. Write it on two lines of the list. It then has two slices, so it is twice as likely as an idea written once.
- Why did I get the same idea twice in a row?
- Each spin is independent, so repeats can happen: with all 60 ideas on the wheel, every one has the same 1 in 60 chance each time. Tick “Remove the winner after each spin” for a different idea on every spin.