Is your schedule so full that you struggle to take care of yourself?

As Moms, we often stretch ourselves so far between family, friends, home, and work. You’re too busy dedicating all your time to everyone else but yourself. You need more hours in the day.

Well, that’s a sure-fire sign you need to take time out for yourself. Self-care is an essential part of a happier life, especially when you’re a mom.

Self-care is the general term given to different aspects of our life. Including the physical, social, emotional, spiritual and mental things.

Although that seems like a lot, just small acts of self-care in these areas can give you a greater sense of happiness. Plus it dramatically improves your overall health and wellbeing.

Check out my tips to help you squeeze some self-care into your life as a busy mom.

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9 Ways To Free Up Time And Take Care Of Yourself

1. Wake up Early

Set your alarm clock 30 minutes earlier than usual. Hopefully, this means you’ll be up before your family and have all that time to yourself.

Take this time to do something just for you. Get ready at your own pace, read, meditate or just drink a coffee in peace. You’ll feel much more relaxed when the usual morning chaos starts.

Waking up early is a technique a lot of successful people use to be more productive during the day.

You can dedicate a few minutes of the day to write a ‘to do’ list. Tasks will help keep you organized for the day and make you feel accomplished as you tick of each one.

2. Technology Ban

Dedicate a section of your day where you unplug from all forms of being online or a cell phone. Technology, and social media, in particular, can be a huge time suck.

When you have so much information at your fingertips, it can keep your mind racing or distracted. Switching off can help you re-focus on you.

Even 30 minutes a day less will give you extra time for self-care activates. You’ll find yourself engaging better with your time without regularly checking for notifications.

A big reason why we always update is our fear of missing out.

After a while, you’ll notice that regularly switching off will squash this fear. That in itself is a huge revelation to help re-balance your mind.

3. Be alone

Look out for opportunities to spend time on your own. You’re probably always surrounded by your family or colleagues. You certainly spend very little time away from everything.

When you take your breaks at work aim to get away from your workspace. If you have a park nearby, you can get some exercise at the same time.

When you are at home, try to spend time alone in a room for even 30minutes. Tell your family not to disturb you and read a book in bed or run a nice bubble bath.

If you have young kids, try to do it when they are napping.

4. Make an appointment

As a mom, you’re probably used to scheduling appointment for everything. Now it’s time to free up those spaces for yourself.

At least once a week, you should clear a slot in your day for self-care. Once it’s in your diary, it makes it easier for you to commit that time to yourself.

Scheduling an appointment for yourself means you are regularly making time for yourself.

Try to make it at the same time and day each week. That makes it easier to stick to.

Say you block off an hour every Saturday morning; you’ll know never to make other plans for this time.

5. Ditch the Guilt

Spending time with yourself can make you feel selfish. The truth is that without this time, you’ll quickly burn yourself out.

When you run yourself into the ground, you’re no good as a partner, parent, employee or friend.

In fact, making time for yourself can have a positive effect on those around you. You act as a role model for others to do it for themselves.

Teaching others that self-care is essential to a good life will benefit everyone around you. Once others see the benefits that self-care is having on you, they will soon want to embrace it.

6. Make a list

Have you ever had a bit of free time and didn’t know what to do with yourself? Make a list of things you want to do or learn.

When it comes to your free-time, you can just choose something from your list.

It’s similar to having a bucket list. Once something is written down it compels you to want to ‘tick it off.’ Once you start to work on your list, it can spur you on.

You’ll soon see what you can achieve, and how much you are growing, with setting time aside for self-improvement.

7. Start a journal

If you want to ease yourself into self-care, start with a journal. All you need is 5 minutes a day, before bedtime.

It helps you to sum up your day and do a bit of self-reflection. Journaling is a fantastic way to focus on your emotional self.

You can start with simple prompts such as ‘How did I feel today?’ It’s important to focus on negative feeling just as much as positive feelings.

Try to figure out what made you feel this way, and what you would change if it happened again.

Doing this before bedtime is a great way to completely dump your thoughts onto the page and stop your mind racing when you’re trying to sleep.

8. Back to basics

If you feel overwhelmed at where to start, then think of the basics. Sleep, nutrition, and hydration are essential to function as a human.

Without these as a strong foundation, it can be challenging to tackle anything else.

If possible have a regular bedtime. When you feel rested, you can tackle the day head on.

The same goes for eating and drinking. Lack of proper nutrients and vitamins can lead to poor physical and mental health.

You’ll notice that even a few hours without food can leave you with a brain fog an unable to focus. Try making small changes such as switching from coffee to herbal teas, not skipping breakfast or snacking on fruits and nuts.

9. Learn to say no

When you are a people pleaser, it can be difficult to say no.

You don’t want to see anyone struggling or being unhappy. So you take on some of the burdens yourself.

This makes people see you as kind and reliable. However, it also means people can take advantage of your good nature.

Saying no to some things can stop you from over-committing yourself. When you’ve stretched yourself too thin, you can’t give yourself to the areas that are important.

It doesn’t make you a bad person; it makes you responsible. Taking care of yourself now leaves you with more to give back in the future to relationships, work, and health.

Let me know in the comment your favorite self-care tip.