Realistic Self Care Ideas for Busy Moms

Are you constantly feeling like you are being pulled in 100 different directions? Maybe you’ve baked 27 cupcakes for the bake sale, tackled homework with a teenager and survived a meltdown with a toddler and now you’re burnt out! Making sure we keep our cup full as mothers is important for our mental health, sanity, and survival, I’m bringing to you six easy & realistic self-care ideas for busy moms.

All moms are busy whether you work outside the home, work from home or you’re a stay at home mommy – our lives and responsibilities do not end when the kids close their eyes at the end of the night. Do you feel like crying at the end of the day? Do you wish you had been born with eight arms? Self- care isn’t a craze or a fad that’s just happening, it’s a necessity in life for all people and especially moms. We cannot pour from an empty cup, it’s impossible to give to others the way we need to when we are running on empty. We live in a society where being the boss mommy and being busy is a blessing but first and foremost we must slow down before speeding up in order to repair ourselves.

Six Easy & Realistic Self-Care Ideas for Busy Moms

Stop The Comparing Game!

It’s 2018 and everything is online and we want to display our perfect lives and the best moments of motherhood. That’s all fine until Susan’s son is walking at 8 months and your little boy Dan is nearly a year old and refusing to move his legs. That is when the comparing starts, and that my dear is where we as mothers fail in caring for ourselves. We spend an insane amount of time on our phones (I’m the biggest offender), and because of this we’re constantly strolling and comparing how we are either better off or worse off as a mother than our online friends. It is in these moments of comparison that we fall short of self-care by mentally and psychologically breaking ourselves down by constantly comparing to others.

Alas, mommas, there is an easy fix for this that is simple and easy for you to do right now. STOP DOING IT! Ha… easier said than done now isn’t it. It’s so hard to stop doing it but when you do you’ll begin to feel happier, you’ll get to enjoy your moments of not being supermom or not have a genius book reading 3 year old. If you have a joyful Joan who posts every five minutes about how much better her baby is then that’s as simple as an unfriending, a block, or notification turn off in your settings. It’s simply annoying and detrimental to you, and nobody needs that type of energy in their lives okkurt!

Unwind & Wine

After a long day of everyday life, we all need to unwind and reset. Don’t like wine? Have a cup of tea or coffee, don’t like any of those drink options then get whatever it is you do like to do and unwind at the end of each night if you can. It’s nice to sit down and unwind yourself to brain dump (writing down everything on your mind) or to sit and watch reruns of ‘Living Single’ on your couch. Whatever you like to unwind from any busy day, do that and make it count.

The importance of this self-care tip is that it is all about you, which is essential in self-care. Unwinding gives you time to relax and allow your mind to be free from worry after a day of busy work, cranky kids or some other activity. If you’re an anxious mom like me then this one is perfect for you to release the anxiety of the day and allow yourself to reset.

Read

Studies have shown that reading for as little as 6 minutes before bed reduces stress levels and improves sleep. Finding time to read has always been a struggle for me because I am always so busy living my life to take time out to curl up with a book but I wish I could do it more.

If you’re a bookie and find this helps to ease your mind and reduce stress then, by all means, take those last couple hours at the end of your day before bed and grab that book you’ve been ‘finishing’ for the last 6 months. Self-care isn’t just about refueling your body but it specifically includes fueling your mind and we all know reading is fundamental.

Audible Book Tip* When I really want to read a book but I don’t have time I get it on audio so it’s easier to listen to in the car after drop off or when working from home. There are all kinds of books in the app and on Amazon including kids books that I like to play when we’re heading off to school in the morning.

Date yourself

Take yourself out for a date – find that day of the week when you just want to treat yourself. As important as it is to spread our positive energy to others, to have family time and to date your spouse it’s even more so important to think of yourself if only for a moment. There are so many ways to spend time alone whether it’s relaxing at a spa, shopping alone or going to the theater.

Here are 10 Ideas for Dating Yourself:

Spa Day
A trip to the Movies
Take yourself shopping – and buy for yourself (not the kids or house)
Join a sip & paint class
Take a walk
Go to dinner alone
Take a cooking class
Tour a local museum
Picnic in the park
Go see a new play
*Bonus: Take a masterclass or workshop

Exercise

If you don’t have a gym membership, you can build your own gym at home! Exercising releases the bodies natural endorphins which means that it’ll leave you feeling happier after. So if you’re not up to working out at home you can take a new yoga class, cycling, Zumba or the newest exercise craze barre.

Self-care can mean so much more than just moments of relaxation, taking care of your physique is a great way to start feeling better about yourself.

Unplug.

Pretty self-explanatory, just sitting and doing absolutely nothing can be the greatest bliss for a mom. That moment when your newborn is sleeping, your toddler is in school and you just sit on the couch and do mindless activities like flipping through a gossip magazine or laying there and letting yourself just fall into sleep.

Put your phone down and lie there doing nothing, you might find yourself falling into meditation or maybe you’ll put pen to paper and write down what’s on your mind. One of my favorite things to do is to put on my favorite playlist and dance alone, it’s fun it takes up no time and I feel much better after. Spending time doing nothing might sound a little boring but doing so allows you to be with your own mind and will free you up to rest, reset and recover!

So there you go, my 6 real & easy self- care ideas for busy moms. There are so many more ways to take care of you and refill your cup on a daily basis. Daily self-care can lead to a healthier and happier mom but I of people know that taking that time daily can be difficult to do so if you cannot daily then you must on a weekly basis. It’s super important to think of you for your mental, spiritual, physical and emotional well being.