4 Steps to Start Prioritizing Self-Care as a Busy, Working Mom
Do you ever fall asleep at night without brushing your teeth?
Are you ever so tired that the thought of getting up off the couch or out from under the covers to wash your face is just TOO much?
You're not alone! I hear this all the time from clients and community members.
Whether it's brushing your teeth, drinking water, taking vitamins, washing your face, or getting enough sleep, finding the energy for these healthy habits can feel hard.
When you're busy every single second of the day, taking care of everyone and everything else, these are some of the first things that get cut.
Even though they're small and don't take much time, it's still such a challenge to fit them in.
But you want to.
You know you'll feel better if you do.
And at the very least, or maybe most importantly, you can stop thinking about how you're NOT doing them, because that's exhausting.
But how?
How do you fit these things in?
How do you find the energy?
How do you follow-through or recommit to something when so far, you just haven't?
Well, I have some ideas.
I walked through these exact strategies with two clients in the last week who wanted to drink more water and take their daily vitamins.
Here's what we did...
First, identify the healthy habit that you want to have in your life - new or old.
Have one in mind Katelyn? Now you're ready:
1. What About This is Important for You?
What about drinking more water, for example, is important for you?
Is it because you think it'll make your skin not feel so dry, it might help relieve the headaches you've been getting, or because your doctor is encouraging you to drink more water for health reasons? What do you hope you'll gain?
Now, wouldn't it be helpful to know if those assumptions are actually true? Don't you want to stop wondering? Drinking water is the only way for you to get that data. If it works, great! Now you feel better. And if it doesn't, well now you know that you can cross it off your list and look for other solutions.
2. Where Are You Getting Stuck Now?
For my client, as we dug into the nitty gritty of where she was getting stuck in not drinking water, it was that her water bottle was too clunky and cumbersome. It also wasn't leak-proof and so she was opting not to bring it with her to work and defaulting instead to coffee or drinking nothing throughout the day.
It might be hard to be that honest with yourself, but there's always a reason behind your inaction. What is getting in your way, and are you willing to remove that obstacle (get a new water bottle, in this case) so that you can follow-through on your healthy habit?
3. Set Your Future Self Up for Success
In the same way that an Executive Assistant might prepare paperwork for signature by putting a post-it note on the dotted line and leaving a pen on top, how can you prepare the tools that will make it easy for your future self to follow through?
This same client realized that she drinks more water when there's lemon in it. But in the hustle of mornings with two kids, she never has the time to slice and squeeze lemon into her water bottle. So she decided to add lemons to the grocery list, slice them in advance, and store them in a container in the fridge. Now each morning she can just grab a lemon wedge and drop it into her bottle to help herself drink more water.
4. Let Go of How It Used to Look
Maybe you used to be really great at your healthy habit. Maybe you used to drink lots of water before life got busy and it was no big deal to carry a big water jug with you wherever you went. But that was before diaper bags and pump bags and managing lots of other people and things in your life. Your life looks different now and so the way you set yourself up to follow through on these healthy habits also will look different.
And that's ok. If the way you used to do things is no longer working, it's time to try something new. Seasons change and so must our tools and strategies.
Remember that coaching is about having someone else catch your blind spots. Someone with a fresh perspective to help you see where you might be stuck and brainstorm ideas, changes, and shifts that will make following through so much easier.
Do you feel like you never have enough time?
Download the Working Moms Ultimate Guide to Getting It Done to learn how to manage your to-do list so you can create more space in your days.