Burn out is something I’m sure we have all dealt with at one point or another in our lives. This could stem from a demanding job or maybe a stressful school workload. Another big form of this comes from the demanding job of being a parent. Although becoming a parent is one of the most rewarding things we could ever experience, it is also physically and mentally draining. Taking care of little ones can be hard!! That’s where focusing on self care comes into play.
Self care is crucial for our mental well being. But if it truly is so important, how do we start incorporating it into our busy schedules? It’s actually much easier than you would think! These activities can vary in duration of time, from a few minutes to a few hours a day.
To make it even easier to start adding self care activities into your life I created a FREE self care packet for moms! You can download it here.
Types of self care
There is no rule as to what counts or doesn’t count as self care. The main point is you carve out a piece of your day to focus on something YOU enjoy or what brings YOU happiness. Someone may find that the simple task of making their bed every morning feels like taking care of themselves, while another may find it to be a chore. Or, some may find an exercise routine to be fulfilling whereas others may find the whole experience dreadful. Every one of us is unique, which makes the list of self care activities differ so much!
It may be difficult to find what works best for you at first, but the more you practice incorporating these activities into your daily life, the easier it will get. Practice really does make perfect!
I think it’s also important to note these activities do not have to be done independently. You can easily do something for yourself while incorporating your children too. For instance, I find taking daily walks outside to be an enjoyable activity to practice self care. I can easily bundle up my son and take him along for the ride! It’s an extra bonus that he happens to love going for walks. However, if you find you need some time and space alone, you can always reach out to a loved one and ask for help. Even if it’s calling up a friend to help watch your child for ten minutes! It’s more than okay to give yourself time to recharge. After all I’m sure you have heard of the saying “You can’t pour from an empty cup”.
How to get started
How exactly should you get started? Once again, there’s really no wrong way to go about this. But I will break it down into 4 simple steps.
- Do your research.
- Make a list of different self care activities that sound enjoyable to you.
- Start slowly.
- Select an activity that easily fits into your schedule and begin daily.
- Set realistic goals for yourself.
- You may find it helpful to create a self care checklist to keep track of your progress.
- Reflect.
- Check in with yourself at the end of each day or week to determine if you need to include more or less time for your self care needs.
I want you to know you are not alone if you are finding yourself struggling to take care of your own needs. I have personally struggled with this after giving birth to my son. His needs became the most important thing in my mind and I found that I continuously put myself on the back burner. It wasn’t until after my husband and I experienced a miscarriage (you can read more about our experience here) that I realized I needed to make a change and do something for myself again.
Once I discovered how much better I felt after doing activities for myself again I decided I wanted to try and help other mothers who may be experiencing this as well. It’s never too late to start incorporating a self care routine into your life!
If you’re ready to get started with a self care routine today, check out my FREE self care packet for moms! You can download it here.