Easy Self Care Tips to Increase Your Productivity as a Mom
What are some essential self care tips for productivity as a mom?
When you think of self care tips for productivity, you should realize it’s easier to obtain than you think. A lot of expecting or new moms might find this to be difficult and need some guidance. I know when I was in the trenches with pumping multiple times a day, a husband who was in residency 6 days a week, no family around, crippling anxiety, and a post partum body, I had no idea how to be productive. I was tired, drained, and felt like no matter what I did, nothing worked out. I realized that once I started to prioritize my self care was when I could see clarity returning to me.
Any mom can feel like they aren’t as productive as they used to be. Who can blame you??? You’re raising a baby and maybe you work from home. Maybe you have a career that you find fulfilling and try to balance it all. No matter the circumstance, everyone can use a little self care tips for productivity.
General Daily Routine as Self Care to Increase Productivity
To increase your productivity, I would recommend having a general daily routine. If your child goes to nap for 2 hours, you know that you have this time to get stuff done. Prioritize self care for your productivity levels. If you don’t pour into yourself, you won’t feel motivated or disciplined to do it. If you think you’re more productive in the morning, use that to your advantage. I try to get my dishes done during the morning to feel like I have accomplished one thing. Sometimes this leads to more, sometimes it doesn’t and that’s okay. I still generally do the dishes in the morning. That’s my general daily routine.
Taking a Shower
I am not alone when I say a lot of moms neglect themselves. This includes taking a shower. Simple hygiene like this gets thrown away because you might not leave the house often. The days blur together and that was one of my reasons for not showering as frequently as I normally do. When you take a shower you’re able to decompress (if your partner is watching the baby). You can start thinking about all kinds of things in the shower, which allows you to do a brain dump to make room in your brain. When you complete brain dumps, don’t you feel so much more productive? You have a starting point of items and things you need to complete or do. It’s a great form of self care that leads to increased productivity.
Time to Decompress
I mentioned that taking a shower can be a great way to decompress. If you need to take a step away (and do it safely), then I would recommend it. Some women are constantly bombarded with being needed 24/7. You need a chance to breathe, so get some time to decompress. Even if that means getting in a car and driving around to get out of the house for a few minutes.
Listen to Inspiring Podcasts: Taking a screen time break and listening to a podcast could be your form of self care to increase your productivity. I know when I listen to an inspiring podcast, I want to become more productive and do more things! Sometimes you need a little push and reminder.
Communication With Your Partner
This is a big one. If you need any form of self care (massages, eating healthy food, words of encouragement) then you need to communicate this. Your partner might be able to read your body language but can’t read your mind. Read about how post partum support can help you HERE. Make it clear that in order for you to get more done, you need to have your time for your self care. I think this should be the number one tip! Communication will always lead to more results and in this case can increase your productivity. The moment I told my husband that I needed a few moments here and there to start the blog, he knew it was his time to come in and make sure the baby was taken care of.
Utilize Parents, Family, and Friends: I feel like this should be obvious when needing self care. If you’re focusing on yourself then you will probably need someone to help out and watch the baby or kids. I know of plenty of moms who have their parents come over and help them out so they can do their at home social media work. A community is so important in productivity – you can still become productive no matter the circumstance but it might not be to the extent of what you want.
Get out of the House
Easier said than done right? I have to find the energy to get out of the house. I don’t have anyone to really take care of my daughter unless my husband is home. When he’s home, I try to take that opportunity to leave the mundane routines behind and go do something fun. We go out to eat or go to a park. We have to work around her eating and sleep schedule still, but doing this makes me want to come home and work on my blog or do something to make my house look better.
Remember to not be hard on yourself. You don’t have to be productive 100% of the time as a mom. You’re doing a lot already and you should be proud! Communicate with your partner and others about what YOU need for self care to fill your own cup. Don’t always rely on others to fill it for you. Self care is imperative to feeling good and being productive.