Life Balance

How To Make Decisions When You Feel Stuck

September 19, 2022

If you are preparing for a career transition or another big event in your life, you may feel stuck. You may feel like you can’t take the first step. Maybe you don’t feel courageous. Maybe you feel hopeless about your current situation. You could just be feeling too drained to make that first move. However, there is one thing that stops people time and time again from achieving their goals. This one thing makes us play small and stay in our comfort zones.

How to make decisions when you feel stuck

You probably think I’m going to say fear of change, but while that is a factor, it’s only part of it. The one thing that stops us in our tracks is the difficulty with or inability to make decisions.

Do you ever have this problem? You are thinking about something for weeks or months. You want to make a decision, but you just can’t. You haven’t picked an end date, you’re asking everyone you know what you should do, you’re going back and forth and this decision is hanging over you like a dark cloud. Moths or years will go by and you still haven’t taken action. Why not? Well, because you’re afraid of making the wrong decision. You want to please others and be well liked. You are placing too much emphasis on what others think. Then where does that leave you? It leaves you stuck and with unfulfilled dreams. In this post, I’ll give you several strategies to help you make decisions when you feel stuck.

I’m capable of making decisions that are best for me

Follow Your Intuition

The most important thing is to follow your intuition. Some of us don’t trust us and have fears of this because we don’t trust ourselves, but this is the only thing in the end that really matters.
If we can feel that a decision is good for us in our body, that is so important. That means it’s a healthy decision for us. If there is negative tension in our body around this decision, we may need to rethink it.

Set a Deadline

The second most important thing to do is set a dead line. Pick a date to make a decision by and stick to it. Market on your calendar if you have to. Meanwhile you can use the strategies listed below.

Do Research

Do your research. If it’s something you’re deciding such as which product to buy, how much to spend on certain items, which school your kids should attend, which classes you want to take etc. Google is your friend. Other times research may involve calling a company, driving to different locations, interviewing people, visiting a library etc. Write down the results of your research if necessary. If something doesn’t seem right, don’t be afraid to keep investigating. Your intuition will serve you well here. For example, if you are making a career decision, Talk to people who work for the company you are interested in. Visit their website, check out the company culture and values, look for salary information, look at reviews etc.

If you do the proper research, you can make your decision not only on your intuition and feelings, but the hard facts as well. Using both of these methods, you will make a decision you feel comfortable with.

I believe in my ability to make decisions

Meditation

Meditation can work as well. If you were questioning something major in your life, maybe you want to meditate over it for several days or weeks. Let your intuition guide you. After each meditation, you may want to write down your thoughts and or feelings about what came up for you. Then using what you wrote down, you can use this information to guide your decision.

Pros and Cons List

A simple way is to make a pros and cons list. Which ever list is longer is the one that is your deciding factor. This may be a good strategy for simple decisions, but if it’s something more complicated where you have to weigh all the factors, this might not work for you.

Deciding between healthy and unhealthy food

Ask for Advice

Finally, you may want to ask someone for advice. However, if you have a pattern of struggling to make decisions based on what other people think or fear that they will not like you depending on the decision you make, I would use this sparingly. It should be someone you trust, someone that can keep an open mind and someone who can keep things confidential. Especially if it’s a sensitive topic. Again, someone that is trustworthy is key. I would also suggest against asking too many people for advice. The more people you involve, the muddy or the waters. Unless the decision directly affects someone, you don’t have to involve them. unless you feel good about doing so.

Some questions you should ask yourself in the decision making process:

Am I calm and thinking clearly?
Do I need to step away from the situation before making my final decision?
What are the consequences of either side of my decision?
Does my decision align with my values?
What would I tell a friend if she came to me asking for advice?

How to make confident and clear decisions

To summarize if you are having decision fatigue or you are struggling to make decisions because of fear or people pleasing,, there are several strategies that can help. Following your intuition, setting a deadline, meditation, using a pros and cons list, doing your research and or asking others for advice. What strategies do you use to make decisions? Tell me in the comments.

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Productivity

How to Adjust to a New Routine

September 12, 2022

I’ve been talking to my audience and one thing that keeps coming up is the struggle with adjusting to a new routine. It’s September, so that means back to school. That means getting up earlier, rushing out of the house and having to be on your kids about getting dressed and doing anything to get them out the door. If you struggle with this, you are not alone. Here are several strategies to adjust to or create a new routine that your family will love. If they don’t love the new routine, it will be at least tolerable. Maybe even enjoyable.

The Purpose of Your Routine

First, look at your why. Why does this new routine need to happen? It being September, the most obvious reason would be the kids going back to school, but there may be other reasons to start a new routine such as a new baby, a move, the start of a new job etc. Looking at the reasons behind any new routine will help you stay clear and focused.

Planning Your New Routine

To begin creating your new plan, ask the following questions. Write out the answers and share them with family if necessary.

What needs to happen in the morning?
What needs to happen at night?
Who needs to get up when?
What could you do to speed up your morning routine?
Who will do which tasks?

Routine Tweaks and or Suggestions

Create a schedule for use of the bathroom if you have to.
Maybe kids need baths at night instead.
Create a chore chart for the kids.
Set out clothes the night before.
Pack lunches the night before.
Start the routine a couple weeks before the actual change needs to happen.

Practice Gratitude

In order for change to be welcome and to stick, you have to find some benefit in it. It can take at least 21 days for new habits to stick, so don’t get discouraged if anyone in the family slips back to their old ways of doing things.

What are the benefits of the new routine?
What are you grateful for?
Will it give you more time to yourself.
Will it give your kids more structure?
Will you get more work done?

Relieve Your Anxiety

Is there any anxiety around your new routine? Change can be scary if it is a large change. Humans are creatures of habit so even small changes can be bothersome. If you find yourself resisting, it’s time to look at any anxiety you have around the new routine. Here’s a list of some examples, but you may have some that are different.

I’ll be late for work.
We won’t get enough sleep.
I’ll have to get up earlier and I’m not a morning person.
I won’t have enough time to myself.
I’ll be yelling at my kids.
I’ll feel rushed.
My kids can’t do enough for themselves yet and I’ll have to do everything.
I’ll be busy looking for things. The keys, a pair of shoes, the child’s homework etc.

Get Organized

One way to beat some of this anxiety is to get organized. Find places to keep things and make sure they are kept there. A basket by the door, a place for the backpack, a hanger for keys, Organize drawers so that clothing or personal items can easily be found.

Have a morning routine you love.

Do you feel stressed and hurried in the morning? If so, you will want to create some nonnegotiable rituals. Some examples may be Meditation, exercise, journaling, a cup of tea or coffee, watching the news, watching cat videos etc. Whatever gives you a boost, relieves some stress and can be done in a short amount of time, do it! Even if you have to get up a few minutes earlier. You may have to delegate some tasks or do them the night before. Doing something for yourself in the morning is so worth it. It starts your day on a more positive note and it may only take a few minutes depending on your rituals. If possible, do this before the kids are out of bed. This way you have some quiet time to yourself.

To summarize, get clear on why your routine needs to happen if it isn’t obvious. Then create a plan. Who does what tasks and when? Figure out what makes you anxious about the change and then get organized. Decide what you can let go of and what are your non negotiables. Through this process you will create a new routine that you love. If it’s not something you love, it will be a routine you can tolerate. Did I miss anything? What helps you get adjusted to a new routine? Tell me in the comments!

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Motherhood, Personal Development, Self Care

How To Accept Your Uniqueness

December 10, 2020

I had a plan for this week. I was going to talk a little about self-care and do a list of stocking stuffers to pamper the moms in your life. While gift guides are great and we all need to take care of ourselves, I wasn’t feeling compelled to put it together. Right now, there is something more important in my heart. It is still a form of self-care, but it’s not the tangible measurable kind. It’s the kind that you feel in your heart and soul. It’s the kind that helps you feel at peace and at ease with yourself.

Accepting Uniqueness

Today I want to share an amazing strategy for working on self acceptance. Some people say these things are flaws, imperfections or quirks. I prefer to see it as your uniqueness. It’s the stuff that makes you who you are. The stuff that makes you like no one else. The stuff that makes you interesting!

Embrace Yourself

Last weekend, Rosebud really wanted to paint, so I decided to let her paint while I worked on Instagram posts. By the time she was done, there was paint everywhere. It was all over her, her tray and dripping off the paper. It was the kind of painting I couldn’t keep. I lifted it to put it on the counter to dry and the paint poured off. It upset Rosebud, but it went straight to the trash. Honestly, I was bothered by the mess. It took me forever to clean it up and while I know messy play is important for kids, I hate dealing with it. I clean up after kids all day at work. I don’t want to do it here too. It’s not fair to Rosebud, but it’s a fact. I do set up messy play opportunities for her, but they are few and far between.

The No Paint Mama

My anxiety about clean up goes through the roof and I hate feeling that every time. At first, I started thinking about what a failure I am as a mom. How my child needs this and maybe I’m depriving her of something, but am I really or am I too focused on the shoulds and coulds. In that moment, I decided to embrace the fact that I’m not a messy play mom. I told one person on Instagram that I’d be the no paint mama.

When I thought about it, Rosebud enjoys many forms of sensory play like water, the rice bin, kinetic sand, play-dough,, water beads, shredded paper etc. She does drawing, water colors, gluing, cutting and decorating with stickers, so she gets plenty of exposure to arts and crafts. Even after all that, why was I hung up on the paint? She doesn’t need to do messy finger painting every day to be a well rounded child. Those voices popped up in my head. Those annoying shoulds.

What They Tell Us

Then today during a coaching call, I had this amazing break through. This is why I love coaching so much. We were talking about marketing strategies for my business and how to make the best use of my time. I told her how I felt I was making the most of my time by using Instagram, but there are the shoulds. The experts saying that you need to be on all forms of social media and be doing all things. You need to post videos, write blog entries, send out a newsletter, create podcasts, schedule multiple posts on every platform etc.

In real life, this is too much for one person. This involves hiring tasks out. While this is possible for a successful business owner, you can’t always do this when you are first starting out. I need to simplify, so for now I am focusing on one social media platform. While so many people recommend Facebook for this purpose, I had to choose the one I’m having the most fun and best interaction with. Even if it goes against the advice of the so called experts who don’t know me or my audience. I need to follow my own path.

Living in the Present

My next battle with the shoulds was about creating a marketing plan. The experts say to create a 60 or 90 day marketing plan. While this works great for sales, tracking income etc, it wasn’t working for me with social media marketing. I have a 90 day plan laid out in a spread sheet and you know what? I used none of it. You might be wondering why. It’s because I need to create content around what I’m feeling in that moment. What am I struggling with? What can my audience relate to? How can I be the most authentic?

If I’m focusing on something from three months ago, I may not be feeling that way today. Everything surrounding children and motherhood change so fast, that I have to scrap my plan. This is a metaphor for motherhood, right? Nothing goes as planned. As soon as you have something figured out, it changes.

The Strategy

Speaking of metaphors, that is the strategy. My coach asked me what I took away from our sessions, but she asked me if there was one image that I could hold in my mind that embodied everything I’ve learned. It didn’t make sense at first, but the first image that came to mind was a fluffy white cloud floating along in the sky. The more I thought about it, a girl floated on top of the cloud. As I explained the cloud metaphor to my coach, it started to take shape.

I am embracing my uniqueness and every cloud has its own shape. Clouds are floating. The wind is carrying them, but they have an energy of their own. They are not listening to the other clouds, they are on their own path, reaching their own destination. Their shapes may change over time. They may rise or fall. They may come together to touch other clouds or break away on their own, but in the end, they have their uniqueness. Isn’t that why we look at them? Isn’t that where we find the beauty?

Chipping Away

This strategy isn’t an easy fix. Accepting yourself is life long work. It changes from day to day. I see it like creating a sculpture. Each day, you chip away and get one step closer to where you want to be. The beautiful sculpture starts to take its shape and then is revealed over time.

What is Your Metaphor?

What do you need to embrace? What is your image or metaphor that can help you accept your beauty? Your uniqueness. The things that make you interesting, authentic and wonderful. If you need help with this process, let’s jump on a

discovery call. I’d love to help you celebrate your uniqueness.

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Personal Development

How To Create Positivity from Missed opportunities

September 16, 2020

I had an experience last week that got me thinking about missed opportunities and the things that we participate in that we think are beneficial, but it turns out they aren’t. The question is what do we do with those missed opportunities? What do we do when a door closes? We pick up and start over. Here’s how to turn a missed opportunity into something positive. As the saying goes, turn lemons into lemonade.

When One Door Closes

This story is such a first world problem. It’s so inconsequential when we look at the big picture, but sometimes the smallest things can teach us the greatest lessons. I was apart of a Facebook group for bloggers where we can promote our blog using the daily threads. I have been a regular participant in this group for a while and always did my best to give more than I take. I’d always engage with the other bloggers on the threads. Whether it be liking social media posts on their accounts, commenting, or sharing their blog posts.If you know me, you know that I always try to go above and beyond to do things the right way. Especially when it involves helping other people. It was a shock to me that I was suddenly muted and could no longer respond to the other comments or post. There were days when I couldn’t respond until late in the day because I’m a busy mom. I make my original comments in the morning and then go back throughout the day to help the other bloggers. That is what’s always worked for me.

At first, I got mad because by doing that, they were basically accusing me of dropping my link and running. Then I was disappointed because I couldn’t participate for another month, but I quickly realized that maybe that group wasn’t the place for me anyway. When I thought about it, most of the bloggers in that group aren’t apart of my niche. While their content is great and they were super helpful, there wasn’t much of a connection. They aren’t the people that will become my clients. I could’ve waited a month and then tried to figure out what I had done wrong. Then I could spend time making sure I followed every rule, but for what?

I had to ask myself, how is this benefiting me? Is it helping my blog or coaching practice grow? How does it make me feel to be apart of this group now? It wasn’t giving my blog that much of a boost and I no longer felt welcome in the group. In the past, rejection hit me hard and while I felt a touch of that, I turned it around to something positive.

How To Move On

I started looking for groups that were geared towards busy moms, coaches and female bloggers. I found several that I have joined and so far, they’ve been wonderful groups. The best part is that they’ve given my blog a boost and the women are awesome. There is a supportive environment where we help each other. If you are interested in joining any of these groups, find their links at the end of this post.

Journal Prompts

How about you?
Are there any doors that have closed for you lately? How are you feeling about these experiences now? Here are some prompts to dive into if you use journaling to get your thoughts out. If you aren’t much of a writer, don’t worry about it. Just answer these questions in your head. The answers are all within you.

Describe your last missed opportunity.
Is this a positive or negative thing for you?
Did a better opportunity open up as a result?
If not, how can you turn it into a new opportunity?

List your first three steps for creating your next opportunity.

Finding Clarity

This process also works if you are trying to decide if a. New opportunity is right for you or if you need to get out of a situation. This could be a relationship, friendship or anything work related. Of course, we have to do things we don’t want to do at times. It’s a fact of life, but we can change our mindset. When deciding if something is right for you, answer these questions to get clarity.

How does it make you feel in your body?

If you let this thing go, what will happen?(pros and cons)

What are you giving up by moving on?
What are you giving up if you stick with it?
What are you gaining from moving on?
What are you gaining by staying where you are?

When thinking about doors opening and closing in life, I try to remember this quote. “What is meant for you won’t pass you by.” This applies in business, relationships, purchases, friendships etc. What doors have opened or closed for you lately? Tell me in the comments. If you’d like to talk about creating amazing opportunities in your own life, feel free to book a discovery call to see how we can work together. I’d love to hear from you!

As promised, here are the Facebook groups I mentioned above.

Mom Blog Network Personal Development and Wellness Bloggers

Successful Mom Entrepreneurs Women’s Side Hustle Network

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Personal Development

Are You Valuing You?

August 26, 2020

Are you valuing your value?

Let that sink in. Do you really see your value and are you allowing others to see it?

To figure this out, reflect on how you respond to people and the boundaries you set. In friendships or relationships

Are people respectful of your time and how do you respond?

Do you drop plans for people or do you expect to be contacted in a reasonable amount of time?

If people flake out on you, do you bother to get back with them?

Once in a while is fine and understandable, but if this is a patern for you, you may have some work to do.

Valuing Your Time

If you value your own time, others will as well. Of course, being flexible is a wonderful trait to have. There may be times when people contact you last minute to get together or people may make you wait. If this is a constant for you, you may want to look at your schedule and how valuable your time is. This is one way to create boundaries and know that your time is valuable. You don’t have to say yes to everything especially if it interferes with your schedule.

Ask yourself these questions to know if the request is that important.

Do I really want to do this or do I feel obligated?

Is this person/activity a priority?

Will it fit in with my current schedule?

Will doing this make me feel good or will I feel tired or drained?

Surrounding Yourself with Positivity

Do those closest to you respect where you are in life?

This is important. Are your family and friends interested, excited or positive about what you do? Of course, not everyone is going to be interested in everything, but if your friends can’t show some positivity or encouragement, maybe it’s time to rethink the relationship. If you feel dragged down, devalued or drained after a meeting with this person, perhaps they don’t see your value.

This goes for relationships as well. Does your partner value your characteristics? If you are driven, successful, inteligent etc, is your partner turned off by that. If he or she is the right person for you, they wouldn’t be. I’m speaking from experience here, but if your partner doesn’t value your goals, who you are and the path that you are on in life, it’s definitely time to move on.

Make Yourself a Priority

Finally, do you value you?

I mean do you really? Do you give your goals and dreams the time and attention they deserve? Do you make time for these things in your schedule or do you put them on the back burner because you are too busy taking care of kids, being a wife/girlfriend, cooking and cleaning or doing a meaningless job that you are constantly on the verge of quitting? If you are, it’s time to look at your values.

Grab a notebook and start brainstorming with these four questions.

What are your top five goals?

What are your values?

How do your goals reflect those values?

What is one step you can take today to move you towards accomplishing at least one goal?

The step can be very small. For example, if your goal is to start a blog, one step would be to brainstorm name ideas. Step number two could be to purchase a domain. If you don’t know what a domain is, then your step number two would be to research on domains. If one of your goals is to read four books per month, then your first step could be to choose a book. Next step, read five pages. You get the idea. It doesn’t matter which goal you choose to work on, but make it something valuable to you. Once you start seeing the value in yourself, others will follow suit.

Are you an overwhelmed mom who doesn’t know where to start? Have you lost yourself and don’t even know what your goals or values are anymore? If so, I’d love to help you. Schedule a discovery call with me and we can discuss strategies that will help you feel like that valuable mama I know you are!

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Productivity

Delegate or Delete

July 15, 2020

Whether you are a working mom or a stay at home mom, there are never enough hours in the day to complete that never ending todo list. It’s filled with work, cooking, cleaning, running Aaron’s and the endless tasks that come with having children. Is your todo list as long at the end of the day as it is in the beginning? Are you overwhelmed by clutter and kids toys? Are you tired of feeling like you do it all? If so, it’s time to delegate or delete! Keep reading to learn why you should delegate, the benefits of deligation and how to get some much needed free time.

Why Delegate?

If you’re anything like me, you feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment from achieving your goals. My number one goal is to ensure that my daughter is well loved and has everything she needs. Part of that goal includes maintaining a clean home, cooking relatively healthy meals and running errands. Then there’s my regular day job, blogging, the coaching business etc. Not to mention the time that we spend playing because a life without play is not worth living. While playing is wonderful, it can come with the guilt of not getting to all those annoying tasks on the todo list. Giving up some of that control may feel uncomfortable, but discomfort is what helps us grow. If you’re not filling your day with time wasting tasks, you can spend your time doing things you actually enjoy.

Sometimes, there is no one else around to help, but even if there is, it’s difficult to hand over that control. The task may not be done to perfection and that can be hard to accept. My mantra has always been if you want it done right, do it yourself. Needless to say, that hasn’t served me well in the mom game. I am a single mom, so I don’t have a partner to delegate to, but there are other options. If you are a single mother as well, we may have to think outside the box, but there are ways to delegate those mundane tasks and free up some of our time. We may not have partners, but our kids can help us do many of the household chores.

Benefits of Delegation

Less stress,

More free time,

Family working as a cohesive team,

Teaches children responsibility,

Gives family members a sense of pride,

Teaches children life skills,

Responsibilities are shared making for better relationships.

How to Delegate

1. Grab a notebook and for 5-7 days write down each task you complete.

2. Put stars next to anything that can be done by someone else.

3. This is where the delete comes in. Look at your list and then put an X next to any tasks that aren’t either absolutely necessary. Especially the unnecessary tasks that you don’t enjoy. There, doesn’t that feel better?

4. Assign tasks to family members. Make a schedule or chart to help everyone remember.

5. Make a weekly schedule for things like errands, meal prepping etc. If you know you will have a busy evening coming up, plan your menu ahead of time so that you save time knowing what’s for dinner or have freezer meals prepared ahead of time. If you have errands to run, have the person go who will be closer to the store, bank etc to save on driving time.

6. If it is in your budget, you may want to hire out some of your work tasks if you run your own business.

7. Depending on your budget, you may want to invest in a cleaning service or meal delivery service.

Tasks to Delegate

Cleaning children’s rooms,

Cleaning common areas,

Organizing toys,

Shopping,

Work/office related tasks,

Children as young as 18 months old can be taught to pick up their toys. It is especially helpful for children if bins or shelves are labeled with a photo of the toys. That shows them exactly where the toys should go. Bins are great because they can be covered and stacked to save space. Depending on their age, children should be able to make their own beds, put their belongings away, put dishes in the sink or dish washer, throw trash away, take care of their personal hygiene, pack their school bag etc.

Delegating will be hard at first, but the hard road is usually the right road. Not only will you be a more productive mom, but you will be a less stressed and happier mom. Meanwhile, your children will be learning to take pride and responsibility for their belongings and home. The best part is your family will be working together as a team! What could be better than that? Do you delegate chores at your house? What chores were you able to delete from your list? Tell us in the comments.

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Personal Development, Self Care

How To Show Self Compassion

May 6, 2020

How are you doing? Where are you in this strange world we are living in? Maybe you are one of those people who is maximizing your time by taking courses, organizing your home or being productive with your work. Maybe you are on the other end of the spectrum and it’s all you can do to get out of bed and get dressed. Chances are, you are probably somewhere in the middle. Especially if you are a mom trying to hold down a job, homeschool kids and take care of the house. Where ever you are at this moment, I want to remind you to show some self compassion.

I’m writing about self compassion today because it is a struggle I am having. Chances are, I’m not alone in this. When the stay at home orders first started, I was thankful that I had some extra time to put towards my coaching and this blog. I was excited to have extra time with my daughter. I always wanted to stay at home with her, so I was looking atthis as an opportunity. For the first couple of weeks, things were going great. I had lots of motivation and my daughter was loving having me at home.

As time passes, I have lost the motivation to write which leaves me discouraged. I’ve also noticed behavioral changes in my daughter. She’s angry that she can’t go back to school and she misses her friends. She always tells me that she’s scared, but when I ask her what is scaring her she tells me, “monsters.” I’m wondering if it’s really monsters she’s scared of or is it something else. Is she scared that we may get sick? Is she scared of something she can’t put into words? She’s only four, so much of this is beyond her comprehension, but she is piecing things together and trying to make sense of it all. I’m trying to help her stay motivated with her learning, but she can’t focus. Quite frankly, neither can I.

Is it time to get back to the drawing board? Probably. We need to take a new approach. I’ve started with toy and book rotation, more snuggle time and a lot more going with the flow. As a coach, it’s my job to help others stay motivated and working towards achieving their goals, but I am only human and I am definitely feeling overwhelmed, sad and frusterated.

Your Challenges

What are your struggles?

Is it a lack of motivation?
Is it work/life balance?
Are your kids having trouble adjusting to the changes?
Are you unemployed and or in a career transition?
Is it cabin fever?

Whatever your challenges are, let’s start by being kind and compassionate with ourselves. We are in extraordinary circumstances.

What is self compassion?

The definition of self compassion is is the extension of kindness, care, warmth, and understanding (instead of beratement and criticism) toward oneself when faced with shortcomings, inadequacies, or failures.

When I think of self compassion, I picture this situation. When your friend is going through a tough time, what do you tell them? If your friend tells you she let the kids eat junk food because she didn’t feel like cooking or that they sat in front of the tv for too long, what would you tell her? You would probably tell her to be kind to herself. You’d tell her to try again tomorrow and not to worry so much. You wouldn’t tell her that she’s a terrible mother for not feeding organic or putting the kids in front of the tv so that she can get a moment of peace. If we are kind and compassionate with our friends, why do we criticize ourselves for the same actions?

Tips for Self Compassion

1. Say kind things to yourself.

If those negative statements pop into your head when you lose motivation, snap at your children or forget to take care of yourself, try using a positive statement instead.

I will use calm words with my children.

I may be overwhelmed, but I am a good mother.

I will start fresh tomorrow.

I have achieved these goals and will achieve my goals in the future.

Whatever your negative self-talk is, think of positive statements to challenge these beliefs. Write them down if you have to.

2. Stop and practice gratitude.

Whether it is in your head, on paper or in your phone, stop and write a few things you are grateful for. It may bring you joy and help you feel centered again.

3. Practice self-care.

If you are able to take just a short break to something for your self, it can make all the difference. Here are some ideas.

Journaling,

Meditation,

Taking a walk,

Take a bubble bath,

Have your favorite drink or comfort food,

Read a book or maybe just one chapter.

4. Connect With Others

If you can’t seem to give your self any compassion, reach out to someone who will lift you up. Call a friend, a family member or others in your network. Sometimes, it helps to talk things out. You may come away with a new perspective or will feel better in knowing that someone else understands and has your back.

Where ever you are at this point, it is okay. If you are on fire with ambition, that’s awesome! If you are feeling down, be kind to yourself. If you and your kids are driving each other crazy, take a break if you can and find something you can enjoy. That’s what I’ve been doing this week. I’m taking care of myself so that when I come back, I will have more positive energy and a renewed sense of purpose. Most importantly, I am showing some self compassion and I hope these tips help you do the same.

How are you and your children coping with all of this? Tell me in the comments.

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Personal Development, Self Care

10 Self-care Tips for the Busy Mom

April 22, 2020

As moms, we are always jumping from one task to the next and taking care of ourselves is an after thought. What do you picture when you hear the term self-care? Maybe you picture days at the spa or a weekend at home in your pj’s with your favorite comfort foods. What if I told you that self-care can take 10 minutes or less? Here are my 10 self-care tips for busy moms that can be done in under 10 minutes.

You may be thinking 10 minutes is too short to make a difference. You might be dying to have a whole weekend to yourself, but let’s be realistic. A refresher is better than nothing and during this pandemic, most of us aren’t leaving the house anyway. If you regularly schedule these five to ten minute breaks in your routine, they will become a habit and it will start to add up and make a huge difference in your outlook, health and wellbeing. Okay, I know your busy, so let’s get to those self-care tips now.

Journaling

Journaling is one of my favorite self-care routines. I don’t journal as much as I’d like to, but journaling has so many benefits. Personally, it has helped me work through feelings, visualize my future, keep track of goals and ideas, remember my dreams and preserve memories. With all these ways that journaling can help you, why wouldn’t you want to try it? The great thing about journaling is that there is no right or wrong way to journal. You just write from the heart. If you are not much of a writer, you can make lists or even sketch instead. The best part for us busy moms is that you can journal in less than ten minutes. You can include it in your routine first thing in the morning or before you go to bed or maybe you find it more beneficial to jot down notes throughout the day. Here are some ideas to get you started.

A gratitude journal; make lists of what you are grateful for.

Write using journal prompts.

Write down your dreams when you wake up.

Write down your goals and big dreams each day.

Write about your day.

Make a journal using photos.

Meditation

Many people use meditation as their form of self-care. There are numerous benefits of meditation. There are so many forms of meditation out there, so try several and figure out which meditations work best for you. Even if meditation is hard for you, just try to find a time to be in calm and stillness. We are always juggling and rarely get to stop to sit with our thoughts. There are many meditations that can be done in ten minutes or less like these.

Stretch Routines

If you are working at home now like I am, you may be sitting for hours at a time. It’s really important to get up and move around. A quick five to ten minute stretch routine is the perfect way to do that.

Workouts

If you have the energy and motivation, why not schedule a ten minute workout? If you are low on energy, doing even a short exercise routine is a great way to beat fatigue! If you have an exercise machine at home, do that, but if you don’t have any exercise equipment, I’ve got you covered. There are many strength based workouts that you can do from the comfort of your home that only use your body weight and can burn just as many calories.

Favorite Snack

What are your favorite snacks? This will look different for everyone and that’s okay. For some people self-care is grabbing their favorite comfort food and for other people self-care includes eating something healthy for their body. Whatever the case may be for you, prepare some of these snacks for you and your kids so you can have them throughout the week.75 Healthy Snack Ideas

No Bake Blueberry Protein Balls

Strawberry Granola Yogurt Bark

Looking Good to Feel Good

Maybe you don’t have time for a spa treatment or to do your regular makeup routine, but it’s so important to feel good about how you look. Since we are staying at home, many of us are not even bothering to get dressed or do our makeup. I don’t know about you, but when I’m not dressed and ready for the day, I don’t feel very motivated. Here are some ideas to help you look and feel good that take only a few minutes.

Put on your makeup.

Wear jewelry.

Do your nails.

Do a facial.

Style your hair in a different way.

Reading

Reading is one of my favorite activities because I learn new things or I can escape into the book depending on what I’m reading. Those are just a couple of benefits of picking up a book or listening on Audible. Reading doesn’t have to take up a lot of time. You can just read a few pages at a time, but if you totally get absorbed, that’s okay too.

Outside Time

How about taking that book outside and enjoying the peace that comes from being in nature? These days it can be harder to get out with our social distancing practices and stay at home orders, but as long as you keep these things in mind, you can still safely enjoy the outdoors. If you have a dog, take him for a walk. The dog needs to get out, so why not take this time for yourself as well? If you have a baby, it can be nice to just put them in the stroller and go enjoy the fresh air. Maybe you’re working and you can take your laptop outside. Being outside for a few minutes can bring some calm not only to yourself, but to your kids as well.

Creating a Peaceful Environment

This may be an aspect of self-care that you haven’t thought of. If you are working at home, think about the environment that you are working in. Is it uninviting? Is it complete chaos? One way to make your day more peaceful and or motivating is to change your environment in subtle ways. Here are some ideas.

Put pictures on your desk.

Add motivational quotes or affirmations where you see them.

Use crystals.

Add fresh flowers.

Use peaceful sounds like these.

https://youtu.be/UJZxtO9XNno

Social Connection

During this time of isolation, it’s so important to reach out to others. What’s better than a good chat with a friend? Maybe you want to reconnect with someone you haven’t talked to in a while or maybe you want to make some new connections. Whatever the case may be, reach out. It could make your day or someone else’s. It can also help us to slow down and listen and or be heard.

Self-care is so important, especially during these uncertain times. What are you doing to take care of yourself? Tell us in the comments.

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