Is Exhaustion Written All Over Your Face?

I remember the moment when I first realized how others saw me.

It was before my third child was born. I was working full-time, managing house projects in our new home, growing my coaching business, and doing all the things.

My in-laws were visiting and before I could even open my mouth to share about how I was or what I’d been up to, my mother-in-law said, “I know you’re so exhausted.”

I didn't need to tell her. She could see it all over me. And she was right.

Because even though I had been doing so well at work, keeping up at home, and signing new clients, I would have shared all of that news from a place of exhaustion. 

It was then that I realized that everyone else who knew me must see the same thing.

And that wasn't who I wanted to be.

What I actually wanted was to enjoy my life, not be exhausted by it.

• I wanted to be able to relax without feeling guilty that I wasn’t crossing something off my list.

• I wanted to make time for hobbies and activities that interested me and weren’t just what I had to do.

• I wanted to feel rested and well taken care of.

Mostly, I didn’t want my kids to only see me as tired. 

Convincing Myself

After feeling disappointed that this is who I had become, I decided to try and change that image. 

And you know who I had the most trouble convincing? Me.

Being “tired” all the time was comfortable. It’s who I was. It was easier because it was what I knew. 

Who was I if I wasn’t tired? I wasn't even sure.

So I started by doing what I could to minimize the tiredness - going to bed earlier and taking naps on the weekends when the kids napped. 

I started ACTUALLY watching our Friday night family movie, rather than multi-tasking with laundry or bills or some other chore.

And I did what I could to reframe my thinking around rest. 

Changing My Priorities

If I wanted to stop complaining about how tired I was, I needed to prioritize rest.

And an amazing thing happened. I had more energy. 

Technically I had less time during the day to do things, because now I was giving up that last hour of the night to be in bed by 9:30PM, but it was offset by the energy I gained.

I started having ideas again. And feeling creative.

And when I feel creative, I feel interesting. I feel fun.

I started to let go of my beliefs about rest.

I no longer believe that just because you work and have young kids, your life must be exhausting.

I think that’s just a stereotype that we’ve all bought into. And we perpetuate it by trying to do too much.

And because we accept it as normal, we don’t stop to question how we ACTUALLY want to feel. 

Now...

• I believe in sleep.

• I believe in rest.

• And I believe that you can be a great working mom without having to do it all.

Have you bought into the belief that to be a working mom is to be exhausted and tired all the time?

If you have, I want to ask you - does that have to be true for you?

DID YOU CATCH THIS?

This is how I used to view productivity. But not anymore. To see the more balanced pie chart that I strive for, come join the conversation over on Instagram.