Feeling Drained as a Working Mom?

At first the thought of motherhood seems to bring so much excitement and anticipation. However, once the kids came along, it was mixed emotions of joy, happiness, frustration, and anxiety. How was I suppose to be myself, a loving wife, and take care of my kids all at the same time. It wasn't until then that I truly understood the meaning of "it takes a village" when raising kids.

After a year or so of motherhood, I finally figured out a way to not feel so drained and spent after my work day. I had many ups and downs and it still isn't easy but when I use these self care tips, I am a much better mom, wife, and me.

Schedule Your Self Care

Before I became a mom, I was all about the self care and time by myself or with my girls. I would go to the spa, get my nails done, go out to lunch solo, walk in the park, hit up my local coffee shop...you name it. I made time for it. Once I became a mom that became more difficult with not only learning how to be a mom but also making sure much of our time was spent with her since I work during the day.

Every week, I work with my husband to go over the business things. Ya know, who is picking up the kids, he has rehearsal this day, I have to stay at work late one day, so on and so forth. Once I know what the week will look like, I plan my time. Whether its a bomb wash day and style, home pedicure, walk in the park, candle light journal time, whichever makes sense for the week.

Make it Work with Your Schedule

As you know gone are the days of unlimited time to do what ya wanna do. Once you have added on responsibilities like being a mom or taking care of loved ones, it gets a little tricky. I believe we first need to change our mindset of how much time we actually need for self-care. Here are various amounts of time I use to squeeze in some me time.

Take time off of work

Sometimes I'll take a half day or full day from work and use a personal or vacation day. I typically try to do it right before or right after a peak time at work. The key is to not clean the house or run errands the whole time. Haha!

Lunchtime

I use my lunchtime for relaxation. Some days I'm eating lunch with my coworkers, catching up on my tv shows, grocery shopping, or other times I'll go for a walk, or sit outside on a bench for a bit. Even if you only get a half hour, there is still some idle time where you can do something to fill yourself back up.

Pick up the phone

If you're an extrovert like me, then ya like talking to friends and hanging out. I'm all about planning a movie night or paint night or something but in the meantime a good ol conversation works. I'll use my commute from work to daycare to chat with my sister or a friend. I'll take some time after dinner to have a quick chat and definitely during their nap time on the weekends. Sidebar: Ooo the countdown till no more naps...I am not looking forward to that day. Haha.

Take a Breather

Sometimes there isn't time for a plan, ya need energy now. Am I right? That's when I say a prayer, journal out my frustrations, or do some deep breathing exercises before moving on to the next task. This gives me some relief and energy to finish out the day. Other times, I communicate with my husband that today isn't the day. Instead of being passive aggressive through the evening, I let him know that I need some space or to bare with me. I do the same for him when he's had a particularly hard day. Ya know its like how we pick up the slack when our spouse is sick... well being stressed and drained on a particular day works the same way.

I hope these tips give you some insights on how to take care of yourself on a daily/weekly basis. Tell me in the comments what tips you use for self care. Will you try any of the tips I mentioned here?

Enjoy!

-Tatiana