5 Ways A Busy Mom Can Practice Self-Care Every Day

It can be an uphill battle to get any time for yourself if you are a busy mom, let alone have any time to practice self-care.  However, running on empty while trying to look after everyone else is not a good long-term solution and will lead to you feeling stressed out and depressed.  Here are some ways a busy mom can practice self-care every day.

Develop a Self-Care Routine

A routine takes approximately 66 days to become a habit so start by working a little self-care into your routine today and in two months’ time, you won’t know how you ever went without doing it.  The trick is to schedule some self-care time into your everyday life and make sure you stick to it.  Do you have some time in the afternoon while the baby is napping, perhaps you have a little while to think about your own needs once the kids have gone to school? Use this gap in your schedule to take care of yourself.

Do Something for Yourself

Self-care is about saying ‘me too’ rather than ‘me first’ so don’t think it is selfish to want to spend some time doing things for yourself.  It does not have to be time-consuming but fitting in time to take a walk, a hot shower, or speak to a friend on the phone will make a whole world of difference to your stress levels and it means that you will have more energy for your kids too.

Treat Yourself

Treating yourself occasionally is good for the soul.  It doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money either.  Making sure you have a really good brand of coffee in the house such as Kopi Luwak Direct’s coffee for the times you need a caffeine fix or treating yourself to a new shade of lipstick will make you feel good and help you take on the world.

Eat Properly

It can be easy to skip meals or snack on junk food when you are a busy mom, but that won’t help you in the long run.  Snack foods are often full of sugar and this is great for a quick boost of energy but after a while your energy levels will drop, leaving you feeling worse than you did to start with.  Making sure that you eat enough fruit and vegetables and have three meals per day will make a big difference to your self-care routine.  The great news is that you don’t need to find extra time to do this.  Make your own healthy food at the same time as you prepare everyone else’s, and you will find that the whole family starts to eat healthier.

Learn to Relax.

Relaxation should be part of your self-care routine every day.  Whether you have enough time to take part in a yoga class or you can only squeeze in some deep breathing exercises between meetings you will feel better for it.  When you are stressed or anxious you tend to take shallow breaths, which do not help you relax.  Taking deep breaths will expand your diaphragm and give your body more of the oxygen it needs to stay calm.  This will help you to relax, which will make it easy for you to stay on top of your schedule.

Remember that you are very important too and although you have a busy schedule and kids to take care of, taking some time to practice self-care every day is essential for your own happiness and well-being.  Follow these tips and don’t feel guilty about doing so.