For moms, self-care is essential but it is often pushed aside. The concept of daily self-care for busy moms doesn’t register as a possibility. Commonly, self-care means that we need to take a bubble bath, get a massage, spend time meditating, or something else that seems luxurious and unattainable in everyday mom life.
Honestly, many of us don’t have time for all of that. And if we did, it would take a whole lot of work to make it happen (scheduling, finding childcare, etc.)
Those big things are nice and helpful when they are available But thankfully there are easier, more attainable ways to practice self-care. Self-care can happen in daily life anywhere at anytime, with kids or alone.
First, a little storytime:
Once upon a time, there was a beyond-exhausted, highly anxious, and deeply depressed mom sitting in her therapist’s office, looking for something—anything—to help her make it through one more day. Life had become so overwhelming that she felt frozen and unable to do even the simplest thing to move herself in a better direction.
At that moment, all she wanted was a lifeline, some practical guidance on how to keep going. She poured her heart out to the therapist describing the heavy weight she felt and the constant feeling of coming up short. She was desperate for advice that felt real, that understood her world.
The therapist’s response was crushing. He told her she needed “self-care.” He then proceeded to list several options for self-care: a bubble bath, a massage, journaling, meditation, going for a long walk alone, and more things that this frozen-in-overwhelm mom could not even fathom having the time or space to do. In fact, many of these things would cause even more stress because she would have to plan for time away, get a babysitter, spend money, etc.
This was me. I left that therapist and never went back. He was clearly out of touch with what a mom in the midst of mothering actually needed. His advice would have been perfect for some people, but for a woman at a breaking point feeling crushed under the pressure of motherhood, it was useless.
What I needed in that moment was advice on how to incorporate ways to manage the daily stresses into my days. I needed tools to help me care for my mind and body throughout my days so that I could avoid getting to those moments of feeling crushed with overwhelm. As a busy mom, I rarely could find time to check out and get a massage. Meditation sounded lovely, but I’d have to sacrifice sleep to make time for it. And bubble baths were a luxury that took a lot of prep work and were inevitably interrupted and not that relaxing.
5 Easy Daily Self-Care Tips for Busy Moms
Moms need self-care more than anyone. We can’t care for our families if we are stressed and exhausted to the point of depletion. We need self-care tools to be easy, quick, and available anytime, anywhere. Waiting till next Saturday when we can manage an hour and a half out of the house to get a massage isn’t a helpful option when we need relief now.
Moms need quick, easy, and stress-free self-care techniques that can be done “in-the-moment” to care for mind, body, and spirit.
Here are 5 daily self-care tips for busy moms, and how to incorporate them into daily life. These are small, micro-habits, that take just a minute or two and will not add to your stress to do them. And when you start practicing them regularly, you will see that these little habits can help you avoid big overwhelm before it starts.
Tip 1: Push the reset button
I learned this at my daughter’s pediatricians office. My daughter was experiencing high anxiety which was manifesting into some physical problems. Our in-tune pediatritian recognized that anxiety was a contributing factor and taught us some grounding techniques that she could do in the moments that were most problematic. Over the next few weeks, I began practicing those techniques with her and realized how helpful they were to me as well.
When stressful situations arise, it is easy to use these quick grounding techniques to reset your mind and calm your nervous system. It is quite amazing how something so simple can be so effective.
Do the 5-4-3-2-1 check in:
When you feel tension building, try this quick grounding technique. Close your eyes (if you can), take a deep breath, and do a “5-4-3-2-1” check.
- What are five things you can see?
- Four things you can touch?
- Three things you can hear?
- Two things you can smell?
- One thing you can taste?
It sounds simple, but it’s a powerful way to shift focus back to the present and stop the spiral into chaos before it starts.
4-4-4 Breathing:
If you have just a few more seconds, do the “4-4-4” breathing technique:
- Inhale for four seconds
- Hold for four seconds
- Exhale for four seconds
- Repeat for as many breaths as it takes to start feeling more calm and centered
I know, it seems short, but even one deep, focused breath can help bring some calm to your mind.
Bonus tip: Diffuse some calming essential oils to supercharge the calming effects of the breathing exercise. Check out some of my favorite calming diffuser blends here!
Self-care for overwhelmed moms doesn’t have to mean an hour-long meditation; sometimes, it’s just one breath at a time.
Tip 2: Hydrate
Yes, drinking water is self-care, and before you dismiss it as too simple, let me tell you why it matters.
When you’re in the thick of mom life, you barely have a minute to yourself. Hydration can be one of those easy-to-overlook things. But really…if we are overlooking something so necessary and basic for our own well-being, doesn’t that set a precedence of more self-neglect in the other realms of our lives?
Yeah, maybe I’m being overdramatic. But I really believe that those small things add up to big things. And before you know it, you are drained and depeleted and unable to function as your best self.
Be intentional about hydrating. Think of it as a constant reminder to yourself that your body matters, that you matter.
Make it more enjoyable by mixing it up with healthy add-ins. Adding some sliced citrus, essential oils, or other beneficial mix-ins can make it easier to drink more water.
Here are some of my current favorite ideas:
- Add a slice of lemon, lime, or orange
- Add some sliced cucumber and a couple of fresh mint leaves
- Add a few berries and a fresh basil leaf
- Add a drop of pure essential oil. (I only trust doTERRA oils for this). Lemon, grapefruit, and wild orange are all great choices.
- Add a MetaPWR Recharge Electrolyte sachet
- Add MetaPWR Advantage Collagen + mnm
Whatever makes it easier and more enjoyable for you to drink more water, do it. Proper hydration is a fundamental need and unfortunately so often overlooked by busy moms. It is a simple act of self-care that can make a huge difference in how you feel physically and mentally.
Tip 3: Release the brain scramble
Nothing clears my mind better than a good brain dump. This is a powerful practice to release all of the pent-up brain scramble that happens when that mental load you carry starts feeling extra heavy.
If your brain is on a constant mode of thinking about all the things, all the time, you’re not alone.
This brain scramble tends to go on-and-on on repeat and can wear you down and overwhelm you. This is why the brain dump is so effective. You can get ALL of that out of your brain, onto paper, and then into your calender, if necessary.
I set alarms for everything important so that I can release it from my mind. If I have to pick up a kid 30 minutes away at 3pm, I set an alarm for 2pm to make sure I wrap up what I’m doing and leave on time.
Sometimes all it takes to calm the chaos down is a quick brain dump. Open a notebook (or the notes app on your phone) and give yourself a few minutes to jot down whatever’s swirling around up there. It doesn’t have to be neat, it doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to get out of your head.
Once you release all of that onto paper, you can let it go. It’s written down and you can come back to it (or not) later. If its important, you can put it in your calender. If it’s not important, you can release it.
The point is to clear the space in your mind. If you are holding onto thoughts for fear of forgetting something, doing a brain dump every day can help you feel more at peace and organized as you go about your daily life.
Tip 4: Move in a way that feels good
Everyone knows exercise is good and necessary to be healthy, but it can feel like one more thing on the to-do list. Unfortunately, it is easy to neglect in the busy-ness of mom life and its a struggle for many moms to stay in a consistent exercise routine. But here’s the thing: self-care for busy moms means taking care of ourselves. Staying fit and healthy is a basic need, not a luxury.
Here is an idea: Redefine what exercise means for you. Daily movement is what matters and the more the better. You don’t have to make time to squeeze a whole workout session at the gym every day. Do that when you can and create a habit of also incorporating movement that feels good to you into your daily life.
Some days it can be a few stretches in the kitchen while the coffee brews, a handful of squats in the bathroom (yes, it counts), or a five-minute dance party with the kids. Rolling your shoulders, stretching your arms overhead, or doing a couple of lunges—whatever feels good in the moment. Some of my kids have loved putting on some You Tube yoga with me to help us all feel better together.
Tip 5: Disconnect
Are you in the habit of reaching for your phone in any sliver of downtime you get? I’ve been there. Honestly, I still struggle with it. I’ve come to realize that my excessive (for me) reliance on digital input is detrimental to my life and overal function. I don’t read as many books as I used to and my time for creative expression is not what it needs to be for my well-being.
Intentional times of digital disconnection are an important form of self-care, especially for busy moms.
Digital diconnection can mean different things for different people. For some, it may be just limiting time on social media or only focusing on productive tasks during the day time. Some might need to put the screens away during certain hours of the day, while others are good to just decide in the moment when is a good time to take a break.
Whatever it means to you, just know that if being digitally connected all of the time is adding to your overwhelm and sense of chaos, then disconnecting is an obvious self-care task you can do for quick results.
For me, the scrolling was sucking up my time in the little windows I had here and there. Plus I was finding myself getting on social media in the mornings and negelcting my desired morning routine! I now have a time limit set on my phone for social media so that when I reach my alloted time for the day, it shuts down! That’s whats working for me in the moment.
Digital disconnection in any form can be a breather from the constant digital noise and a chance to be present in the real world—your world Taking time to disconnect can be such a gift to yourself. Not only does it free you from excess, it also frees up brain space for more introspective and creative thought. And you might be surprised (or even shocked, as I was) by all the time you were actually wasting by scrolling.
Every little bit helps
Here’s the thing about self-care: it doesn’t have to be big, and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s version. You don’t have to follow a checklist (although I have one here for you if you find a visual reminder useful) or find an hour of solitude (because, let’s be real, that’s not happening). You can practice daily self-care by incorporating small, consistent habits that are both easy and effective.
Taking a minute to reset, caring for your body through simply drinking water and moving, clearing your brain with a brain dump and digital disconnection when needed are great ways to practice self-care throughout your days.
In a life where you’re taking care of everyone else, self-care doesn’t have to be perfect. These little things might seem small, but they add up. So go ahead, grab those little moments whenever you can. You’re doing a lot—and you deserve those few mintues a day to feel better.
If you like this post, here are some others you might like:
Make a list and hyperlink to posts from this blog only. Try for 3 to 5 posts from the same topic.
