The Ultimate Self-Care Guide for Busy and Stressed Out Moms

The baby is crying, the dinner is burning and your phone just started ringing; overstimulation is all too real when you’re a stressed out and busy mom with a lot on her plate. Finding small moments throughout the day to enjoy a bit of self care is few and far between, which can leave you feeling even more exasperated as the days and weeks go by. When you have a busy lifestyle, it can be hard to keep up with self-care, but it doesn’t mean you should give up altogether. In fact, a touch of self love can help you to become a more relaxed and patient parent. If you find yourself at your wit’s end and ready to lose your cool at any given moment, now is your chance to make some time for yourself.

The truth is, as soon as you start prioritizing yourself, you will start to get a taste for what self-care is really like. There are so many benefits of having a self-care regimen when you’re a busy mom. Not just because it’s good to take a break every now and again, but also because you truly need it for your own mental health. If you’re unsure where to begin and how to get the ball rolling with your self-care routine, follow this ultimate guide and you will soon be ready to surpass your own expectations when it comes to enjoying some “you” time!

Make a Non-Negotiable Appointment in Your Calendar

Just like you would make a dentist or doctors’ appointment for your child and add it into your diary, you need to do the same thing for your own self-care days too. Finding a date that works well for you and for the rest of your family is the first port of call. This will help you to stick to your plan and ensure that your much-needed self-care day actually happens. You may need to get organized and do some forward planning in advance to make it happen, but this is the very first thing to tick off your list when planning your self-care day.

Get Some Help With the Children

If your children aren’t at school yet or in daycare, you may need to enlist a little extra help so that you are free to enjoy your self care in peace. Whether you hire a babysitter for the day, send them to their grandparents house or your partner offers to take them out for the day, you should feel confident asking for help in any way you can. Once you have organized your childcare for the day, you can feel a sense of freedom that your self-care day will happen in the exact way you intended it to. If you’re considering more consistent help, exploring options like an au pair might be worthwhile, especially as the au pair cost can be quite competitive compared to full-time daycare. This can allow you to enjoy a reliable childcare arrangement while maintaining the flexibility to schedule self-care time as needed.

Find an Activity You Enjoy

When you find the time to actually enjoy your day of self-care, you need to figure out the best activities for you. Whether you’re keen to try out new games and puzzles such as mahjong or you’d rather get out your arts and crafts set and get creative for the day, there are so many satisfying, calming and enjoyable ideas for you to choose from. When it comes to self-care your day may look very different to your friends and family, so don’t be afraid to stick to what you truly enjoy and make a day of it!

Do Something That Benefits Your Health

Carrying out a self-care activity that is beneficial to your health will serve you in so many different ways. Not only will you feel better about yourself as a result, but you’ll always be able to turn these moments of self-care into regular routines too. In terms of benefiting your health, you could go for a hike, take a yoga class or treat yourself to a wholesome dinner at your favorite restaurant. Marrying self-care with healthy habits is the ideal way to spend your free time as a busy mom!

Do Something That Benefits Your Mind

Enjoying a self-care day will naturally benefit your mental health in a number of ways as it will give you a break from the day to day routines of mom life. You could also take it one step further and consider doing an activity that helps your mind in an even deeper sense. Following a guided meditation or attending a mindfulness workshop could be a brilliant way to provide you with the mental strength you need to enjoy a calm, relaxing and enjoyable life altogether. Creating healthy habits now for your mental health will help tackle the most stressful days ahead as you’ll have coping mechanisms to hand that you’re comfortable with utilizing. Another way to do something that benefits your mind is by unwinding with an Ache-Erasing Soak from Flewd, combining physical relaxation with mental rejuvenation for a holistic self-care experience.

Get Out of the House If You Can

As much as you’d like to sit in your pajamas all day and slob about on the couch (who wouldn’t!) you may want to think about getting out of the house if you can when your self-care day rolls around. As soon as you get out of the house, you will feel a sense of freedom that you can do whatever you want, rather than feeling tempted to get back into bed and waste the day away. You’ll be so much more productive, liberated and happy if you carry out an activity that involves going outside at some point during the day.

Take a Day off Work

You definitely don’t want to feel stressed out with work on your day of self-care, so make sure you schedule a much-needed day off if you can. If you can’t get out of work during the week, you may want to schedule your self care day for the weekend so that you don’t have to think about juggling office life and relaxation life!

Get Your Friends on Board With Your Plans

If you have other mom friends in your local area, why not get them involved with your well-deserved self-care day? Call them up and get them on board with your plans. You could all head to a local spa together, enjoy a quiet coffee date or just get together for a casual chat to let off some steam as a group of tired moms. This will no-doubt help you to re-energize and recharge your batteries as you spend time with like minded people who want to achieve the same goal as you!

Forget About Housework and Chores

If you’re spending your self-care day in the comfort of your home, you need to try and steer clear from household chores. It may be tempting to clean the kitchen, blitz your bathroom and work out other home improvement projects, but this isn’t the ideal use of your time when it comes to self care and it may lead to exhaustion too! Now is the ideal time to take the pressure off and do an activity that you truly enjoy rather than stressing about keeping the house in order.

Don’t Feel Guilty

It is completely normal to experience some mom guilt when you’re spending a little bit of time away from your kids. However, you need to remember that everything you do is for a very good reason. You are investing in your own mental health and wellbeing, and this is going to have a positive impact on the way you feel and act around your children. Having an entire day to yourself to do whatever you need will ultimately help you to feel more positive and energized about everything in your life too.

Stay Consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to self-care, especially because it’s an ongoing process that requires time and dedication. Staying consistent with your regimes and making that all important time in the calendar will help you to reset, recharge and feel a sense of freedom when you’re usually on call 24/7 as a parent. Once you get a consistent self-care regime in place, you will feel so much better and more patient as a person too!

So, the next time you’re feeling a little low on energy, demotivated and generally bored of the day to day stresses of being a mom, make sure you carve out some time for a little self care. Without a doubt, you will have a whole host of people who are willing to help you and provide you with some respite when you need it the most. Remember, you need to stay consistent with your self-care regimes in order to make them worthwhile. Slipping back into old habits can cause you to forget why you are doing it in the first place. Keep your own interests at heart when it comes to committing to your self-care routines. There is so much you can achieve in a short space of time, such as enjoyable puzzles, going for a walk, having a hot bubble bath and so much more. Make the most of this ultimate guide to self-care for stressed out moms, and you will soon feel better than ever about your own mental health and physical wellbeing as a parent.