4 Ways to Prioritize Your Self-Care

You have your list. Of all those things you think you “need” to do. 

Everything from running the kids around, work, the dishes, laundry and other household tasks, appointments, and family stuff

The list goes on…

So, where are YOU on your to-do list?

Take a moment and REALLY look at it.

Where can you find the space that is a NECESSARY part of your day?

That’s right - not selfish, extra, or bonus time - but NECESSARY. 

Maybe it’s only 5-10 minutes… but when it’s intentional, it can be exactly what you need. 

Whether you take a walk, grab a coffee, call a friend or just sit and enjoy 5 minutes in the car by yourself. 

This alone isn’t ALL of your free time or self-care - but it’s a start.

Some days it may seem harder than others, but keep looking.  

It gets easier to find the more you PRACTICE prioritizing YOU in your day. 

Let’s look at 4 easy ways to prioritize your self-care and even some actionable ways to start integrating it  - every day. 

Make Self-Care Something that Happens Every Day!

In order to make self-care happen every day, you might need to integrate it in different ways. You have to think differently about what it might look like on a given day. 

By making it happen every day, you rethink self-care as not just a spa day or a getaway. Maybe it is a facemask you do every day, a special lotion you put on, or perhaps it's taking that moment during your coffee; it's probably the way you dress, and that's part of what gives you confidence during your day. 

Maybe it's the way you decorate your house, so when you walk in, you feel a sense of calm, just for coming into your home, like with different candles, plugins, things like that. 

I know the way you sleep can be a huge pain point. For many people, it can be a trigger for a lot of things and, that's definitely its own thing. But thinking about the way you sleep, how you find time to sleep, the way you think about money, the social connections you have, making the time to connect with people and have those emotional breaks during the day are just a couple of ways you can look at making self-care happen every single day.

Start Small

 If you think about any new habit, the bigger you make it, the harder it will be to stay consistent, follow through, and just find the time to do it every day. 

It might not seem like a long time, but 10 minutes is enough to go for a walk and be out in nature, fit in a workout, or text or call a friend. Even a quick 10-minute nap could also be that small way, and if you attach it to something you already do regularly every day, you'll find it's so much easier to stay consistent with it.

If you haven't already, grab your copy of the Mommy Needs A Minute Cheat Sheet. You’ll get 20 ideas on how to get just 10 minutes a day to yourself and what to do with your newfound time!

Respect Your Time

So many times, we haven't carved out time for ourselves. We often just wing it and think, "Oh, I'll fit it in when I have a chance or when I have a free minute." 

If it's not already ingrained as a habit, it's not going to be front of mind, and it's not going to be something you think to do. 

So, set aside a time, whether, in the morning, you set the alarm on your phone to remind you to take a water break or take an extra lap. It's some of those little things you need to respect the time for it. 

When you prioritize it, not only will you make sure it happens, but you'll think, "Oh my gosh, I scheduled an appointment at the gym," or "I told somebody I was going to call them back at four o'clock so that we can catch up," but you're also showing everybody else around you that this is important, this matters, this is something that I'm going to do, that I respect this and I need you to respect it too. They're going to help support you in making sure that happens.

Give Yourself Grace

When people start to try something new, whether it's New Year's resolutions, or different habits and routines, they often start off super strong, but eventually, they feel like, "Oh, I missed a day here," "I didn't get to it," and they kind of fall off.

It's understood that this is not a “one-and-done” or a quick fix. By giving yourself the grace to build up that consistency, to maybe back up and see where we can tweak it and how we can relook at how you're approaching it, is how you then can stay on track and not beat yourself up over it. 

You won’t have the guilt from thinking, "Well, here's another thing that I started that I didn't follow through," or "I should be with my kids," "I should be cleaning the house." 

Acknowledging that having that guilt doesn't help us move forward. It keeps us stuck in the same routines, leading to limiting beliefs and negative thought patterns. 

Taking these four simple steps, and expanding on them in different ways, is how you begin that overall mindset shift.  Where prioritizing self-care doesn't feel like a heavy lift or an effort, but rather, becomes a natural part of how you go about your day, how you live, how you talk, and the way that you like.

This will lead to getting rid of the overwhelm, fatigue, stress, and burnout that so many working moms experience from trying to juggle doing it all, prioritizing everybody else, and not taking a moment for themselves. 

I hope these four ways to prioritize your self-care every day and put self-care at the top of your priority list are things you can start integrating.

I would love to know your questions and comments.