When you’re a young mom, you may feel like your own needs and desires have to take the back burner in favor of those of your family. And of course, you’re partly right. But only partly. Because it’s imperative for you to take care of you as well. So you need to learn how to ditch the guilt, and take some time for yourself!
Here’s how:
Start by organizing your day
If you want to be able to take some time for yourself and enjoy it, you need to be organized
If you’re not, you’re going to constantly have a little voice on your shoulder telling
Related: read about 10 ways to organize your day as a young mother here!
Having your tasks organized will go a long way towards ditching the guilt.
You don’t have to have all the items on your list ticked off before you take some time for yourself. Just make sure they’re written down and scheduled, so that you know when you’ll get around to doing them.
Block out some “me” time
You may not be able to take an hour to yourself every day, but you for sure can manage 20 minutes.
It’s not a lot of time.
So block out 20 minutes during the day that are only yours. During that time, you can do whatever you want. Whether it’s watch your favorite Netflix show, nap, or go for a walk, do what makes you feel good.
Try to find the best time to do so; if you’ve got a baby, then it might be during nap-time. If your children are older, then when they’re at school would be a good time.
Even during vacation, take that time for yourself. Send your kids to play outside, or to their rooms for 20 minutes (this obviously isn’t to punish them, they should be allowed to play or do whatever they want while they’re there).
But block the time out. (TIP: print out the free “contract with myself” at the bottom of this post to help you remember!)
Stop putting yourself last
Yes, of course your children need to be put first. A lot of the time.
But not all the time.
Yes, I know, I can hear you all gasping, shocked. My god, she’s a terrible mother! She doesn’t put her children first!
Yes, I do.
But once again, not all the time.
Of course I’ll put them first if it’s urgent, or if they need something. Notice I say need, not want. This is important. If they need something of course I’ll do that right away. But want something?
Hmm… If I’m in the middle of something, they’ll just have to wait.
It’s going to seem weird to you in the beginnig, especially if you’re used to dropping everything the second your child calls. But do it. It seriously makes such a big difference in the way you can manage your day, and your me time. You have to reprogram your brain to know that it’s ok for them to wait every now and then, and that it’s ok to put your own priorities first.
So do it. Practice putting yourself first every now and then, and see how it feels!
Do it
It’s not enough to just read about it, and think oh yeah, I should totally do that.
You need to take action, and DO IT!
So make a deal with yourself. Starting now, you take at least 20 minutes for yourself. Every. Single. Day.
You need this for your mental health. In the long run, this is going to be win-win for both you and your family, believe me. It is SO important to take care of yourself.
So take action now.
Print out the PDF at the bottom of this post. It’s a contract with yourself. Print in out and sign it, then put it somewhere where you will see it every day. Look at it, and hold to it.
Take some time to yourself.
What about you? Do you take some time for yourself already? Do you find it necessary? I’d love to know, so drop a comment below!
And in the meantime, take care,
Jen
P.S. Don’t forget to pin this for later!
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