Women are 70% more likely to suffer from work related stress than men. Women are also known to be masters at juggling home, work and friends leaving them over stretched. In that regard taking care of yourself, need to be intentional. Incorporate these 4 practical lifestyle changes right now to take better care of yourself.
I am a work in progress and trust me when I say I do not follow these to the letter, however I aspire and I wanted to share this knowledge with you. I was mostly inspired by Arianna Huffington’s Thrive journey. Arianna Huffington launched Thrive Global with the stated purpose to help companies and individuals achieve their best through focusing on overall well-being. ‘You do not need to be ‘burnt out’ to have success in life’ is a key tenet of this movement.
Do the Thrive Pulse Check
On the Thrive website, you may access the Thrive pulse check which I recommend you complete. It has 10 quick and easy questions about your lifestyle. According to the thrive pulse check I am “Part Time Thriving”. Nice way of saying “I need to get my it together before I fall deeper into bad lifestyle habits”. There are a range of categories, the lowest being a “Burned out Zombie”. Ouch!
Sleep with your smart phone outside of your bedroom
I have not managed to get to this point! I know its hard, but by leaving your smart phone outside of your bedroom (or in the cupboard) you are freeing up time for yourself. Consequently, you will have time to either read a book, relax, reflect, or connect with your partner. We are constantly digitally connected and so it is important to build in time to disconnect from our smart phones.
Get 7 – 9 hours of sleep a day
A tall order when you have young kids. Regardless, one of the key elements of thriving and getting it together is sleep…important for moms too, not only for babies. Seven to nine hours of ‘sleep’ is being prescribed to ensure you are well rested.
Work in extra rest wherever possible that suits your life style. The main reason moms do not get enough sleep is not only related to baby waking (although that is a key one). In actual fact the reason is that moms stay up a few hours after their children have gone to sleep, because this is the only kid-free time they have. However, going to sleep soon after the kids have gone to bed and reducing non critical activities in the evening is recommended (easier said than done I know).
Be mindful
Mindfulness is about being present, engaged and intentional in each moment and interaction. Its about being human in our interactions with people, and showing our true self. The ABCs of mindfulness are:
A is for awareness – Becoming more aware of what you are thinking and doing – whats going on in your mind and body.
B is for “just Being” with your experience. Avoiding the tendency to respond on auto-pilot and feed problems by creating your own story.
C is for seeing things and responding more wisely. By creating a gap between the experience and our reaction to, we can make wiser choices.
To leave you with more food for thought, I found this awesome Infographic which outlines 12 steps to Thrive. Do you have any activities that help you to recharge?
Inspired by Arianna Huffington’s new book, Thrive, we created this artwork to remind ourselves to question what it means to be successful in today’s world.
Featured image: Source Pixabay
great tips! sleeping with my phone in another room will be hard! But it makes total sense. I know a lot of moms who will get up extra early to enjoy their morning coffee in piece and get a few chores done. Mommy-ing is hard!
Thank you Sewtonya. Indeed, that extra 30 min to an hour in the morning is golden!
Dear stressed out mom, just chill, listen to a podcast or do something to make you happy. I’m the podcast auntie, lol
Thanks Melisa, words of wisdom 🙂 I always listen to classical music sometimes when i need to focus. Which podcasts do you listen to
I like those ABC, and mindfulness is so important.
I agree, being present is something that I work on every day. Work in progress over here 🙂
Oooooh… The phone outside the bedroom, 7-9hrs of sleep. Vee covers her face. I am though trying to be more mindful. It is so important, especially because life passes you by so quickly when you are not. Thanks for this insightful article. Might need to check out that book! X
I know I am just so terrible with the phone thing, but I am a work in progress 🙂 There are articles online where you can still benefit from the ideas 🙂
Now I just feel exhausted! 😉
Great tips!!
I should really try to not have my phone or ipad in the room, sometimes I feel I waste too much time with those once my baby is finally sleeping and i should use that time to rest or connect with my husband like you say..
It’s super important to take care of ourselves first if we wanna have energy to take care of our lil ones 😉