Self-Care Tips for Busy Moms: Five Easy Tips

For decades, society has taught us that in order to be amazing moms, we have to put ourselves last.   We have been programmed to take care of our own needs only after we’ve worked tirelessly around the home.  That has caused many moms to put their careers and businesses, health, and even their lives on the line.  Incorporating some simple self-care tips for busy moms will make it easier to put your well-being on your to-do list.

For far too long, moms have neglected their self-care leaving themselves overworked, stressed, unkempt, and sleep-deprived.  The vicious cycle of making breakfast, keeping the house clean, doing the laundry, and keeping up with a busy work schedule has moms feeling like they’re running in circles without knowing how and when to stop. 

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How can I make time for myself as a busy mom?

To strike a balance and achieve success in your career or business and parenting without losing your sanity, you have to start incorporating self-care into your daily life no matter how busy you are. 

Be intentional about finding gaps in your schedule that lend themselves well to a little downtime. You may even have to be a little creative and find ways that you can multitask to make sure that you sneak in some activities that will help you to recharge so that you can get back to being the amazing mom that you are! Even a few minutes a day can make a big difference.

Why do busy moms need to focus on themselves sometimes?

Simply put, if you don’t take the time to take care of yourself, you’re more likely to be cranky, irritated, unhealthy, and overwhelmed. These are all characteristics that make it even more difficult to juggle your busy schedule. You can’t take great care of your family if you’re experiencing burnout and if you’re overly frustrated.

Taking some for self-care as a busy mom helps you to feel reinvigorated and, in turn, you are better able to take care of the people and things you’re responsible for. If you want to be your best self, you have to make time for self-care.

Also, when you take the time to focus on yourself and your overall well-being, you are sending the message to your family that self-care is important. It helps them to better understand and respect your need to honor your physical and mental health, and it models for them the importance of doing the same for themselves.

How can I fit myself into my busy schedule?

1. Put YOU on the List

Self-care is all about putting YOU on the list and caring for yourself as much as you care for the rest of the family. The perfect mom is constantly tasked with helping every other family member strike a balance in their lives, but most of the time, no one does the same for them.

This is not a complaint; it’s merely me pointing out the obvious.  Most moms wouldn’t have it any other way!  I know I wouldn’t.  However, we have to carve out some time for ourselves so that we can continue to take care of our families.  

If you don’t find yourself important enough to put YOU on the list, then who will? You’re expected to put your children’s basic needs, health, and appearance ahead of your own.  Think of it this way; if you break down from dealing with loads of tasks, you may risk not doing the very thing you want to do:  take care of your family. 

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2. Create a Work Schedule/Routine

The truth is that you will never have enough time to manage your daily activities and still have time to care for yourself.  A mother’s job is never done.  The tasks are neverending.  Having a well-structured routine is crucial as it is the only way to ensure that you will get all of the important things done. 

Make a list of things you want to do each day and stick to it religiously. If doing the laundry feels comfortable only on Mondays, there is no need to go through the stress of doing it on other days of the week. And, while we’re on the topic, if you have older children, go ahead and delegate some of those responsibilities to them!  

3. Seek Help and Support

As simple as this sounds, most busy moms do not think of seeking help or support as a way to get more time on their hands. Why is it that most moms feel that doing everything around the home all herself without help is the way to go? In reality, that leads to moms being worn out, overwhelmed, and bitter. 

Listen, I get it.  The “if you want something done right you’ve got to do it yourself” mentality was my thing for a long, long time.  But I had to let it go! It was wearing me down and having a major impact on my mood. 

4. Learn to Say No

As a busy mom, you may think that saying no will make the world go up in flames!   We have to learn how to stop saying yes to every demand, especially when they are not that important and take you away from your family. 

Oh, and it also takes you away from time you could be using to care for yourself!  It’s time for us to be honest with ourselves and evaluate some of our commitments.  

Sometimes, we have to say no to some things in order to say yes to ourselves. Lysa Terkeurst’s The Best Yes is a helpful resource for decision-making and thinking carefully about when to say yes and when to say no.

5. Learn to Love Yourself

Instead of feeling bad about leaving the house a mess or not packing up the toys in the living room, accept your flaws. Know that you’ll never achieve perfection no matter how hard you try.   

Practicing self-love doesn’t mean that you are selfish or unconcerned about others. It means that you don’t want to attract disappointment and stress to your life by making improvements based on others’ judgment. The bottom line is that you need to start loving yourself enough to care for yourself. 

Read Next: 10 Ways to Be Heavy on the Self-Love

Final words

I want you to walk away from this article feeling empowered to create a life of self-care.  Moms are busy.  I get it!  I’ve been doing this for almost 21 years. (Yikes! My oldest is almost 21!)  But moms are also worn out!  I know this because I’ve seen it, and I’ve heard it over and over and over again. 

Our jobs as moms are not going to get any easier. Therefore, we have to be smarter about how we navigate our responsibilities.  We have to learn to put ourselves first sometimes. We can do that by creating a schedule, seeking help and support, learning to say no, and learning to love ourselves so that we can be the best moms that we can be!  Use these self-care tips for busy moms to start your self-care journey today.