Are you stressed and overwhelmed all the time, momma? Are you wearing too many hats and juggling too many responsibilities.
This is where I found myself this past year. And by continually putting myself at the bottom of the list, I was depleting my own cup without taking the time to replenish it.
Maybe you can relate.
Why is self care important
I found a great quote in one of my favorite goal planners by Plan Like a Mom. It really struck me as profound and I hope it helps put self care into perspective for you as it has for me.
Everything works better after being unplugged for a while. Even you.
– Anne Lamont
There you go momma. Power down and reboot.
This is so important for us as moms because we are constantly caring for everyone and everything else. It can be way too easy to forget about ourselves…until it’s too late. So don’t wait for burnout to creep up on you.
Take charge and check out these 27 small habits you can start to implement into your daily routine.
Self care list
So, as you are starting to think about creating self care habits, it is a good place to start with brainstorming. You want to figure out exactly what self care looks like to you. If you work outside the home five days a week, then your morning shower is probably already a non-negotiable.
But if you are a stay at home mom with very little ones at home, then your morning shower probably happens around late afternoon during naptime. Or it might only happens every third day when the stars align allowing you 10 minutes of free time!
Is this just me? I hope not!
So daily showers were high on my list, I love to wake up to a hot shower. But in order to do this, I have to get up around 5:30am. And sometimes NOT getting up that early IS my self care! If one of the kids was up sick in the middle of the night, then I will simply change my alarm and allow myself those few extra precious minutes of sleep.
So, grab a piece of paper and let’s start making our list of what self care looks like for YOU! Yes, I “shouted” at you momma! See, I can tell you my list, but self care might look completely different for you.
But to get you started, here are some ideas from my own list – and some I found off Pinterest:
- get up earlier
- go for a walk
- take a shower
- enjoy a hot beverage
- enjoy an adult beverage
- sleep in
- journal
- do a brain dump
- say positive affirmation
- read a good book
- watch a TED talks
- listen to a podcast
- sing loudly
- dance party
- unplug from tech for the day (hour/weekend)
- take a nap
- diffuse oils
- do yoga
- smile
- do some coloring pages
- take a hot shower
- shave your legs
- give yourself a facial
- give yourself a mani/pedi
- open all the windows
- take your vitamins
- drink more water
Make it a routine
When it comes to making changes, I have found that I need to take the need for me to use willpower out of the equation. What does this mean? I can’t rely on myself to simply start doing something brand new that I have never done before without some sort of routine built in.
I learned this from FlyLady and it works for self care as much as it does for keeping your house clean. In fact it works for just about anything, but you can read more about routines here.
When I say “routine” what do you think of? I spent my entire childhood and teen years enjoying being part of dance team and gymnastics. So when I hear routine, I tend to think of a dance routine.
And how do you learn a new dance routine? One simple section at a time. You don’t set out to learn the entire 2 minute song at once. You break it down into many, many weeks learning one small section at a time.
So I do the same with my routines. I start very small. My original self care routine looked like this: set my alarm 15 minutes before I have to get the kids up so I can have some quiet time….and drink my first cup of coffee while it is still hot!
The small things in life really do matter!
Then I started getting up 30 minutes early so I could have a quiet shower in peace without an audience – know what I’m saying?!?!
Daily self care checklist
I have written numerous times about habits here in the blog. I have found that when trying to turn around the Titanic it is much easier to make lots of teeny tiny changes then to try to turn it around on a dime.
So when I started researching self care, it wasn’t any different. I made a list of lots of tiny habits I wanted to start creating. And then I spent a number of weeks (3-6 is pretty typical when building – or breaking – any habit).
You can check out my daily self care checklist here, feel free to print out the free printable included. Then spend some time building in these daily habits into your normal every day routine.
Remember, you need to unplug and recharge on a semi-regular basis. Without it you will start to feel the effects of constantly depleting your own cup without stopping to refill it.
Use this list to pick a FEW small habits you can incorporate into your own daily routine. This will help you to put self care at the top of your list without breaking the bank. You don’t need to spend an entire day at the spa…but if you can, go for it!
But for the rest of us, we can still unplug and recharge by simply taking a short walk in nature. Or perhaps a bubble bath and a great book are what you need to be able to face tomorrow. Pick your thing and make it a priority.
Because “when momma ain’t happen, nobody is happy” and we need to take care of ourselves just as much as we do for others.