How to Look After Yourself as a Working Parent

We all know how difficult it can be for working mothers to strike the right work-life balance, but making time for yourself can be another challenge entirely. Between your work duties and family responsibilities like preparing healthy kids meals, self-care can easily be forgotten, leaving you feeling drained and burned out.

Fortunately, having a job and children doesn’t mean you can’t find room in your schedule for a little self-care. These tips will help you find the time for yourself that you need to recharge and reconnect with your passions and interests.

Get Up Early

Your mind and body both need adequate sleep to be at their best, so you should always try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Even just fifteen to thirty extra minutes in the morning can be enough time to make yourself a drink or a light breakfast and relax a little before the busy day begins.

The early morning is typically the quietest part of the day, making it the perfect time to spend on the things you want to accomplish. Whether you’d rather work out, start a new book, or just have some time to wake up more leisurely, you’ll appreciate setting your alarm a little earlier.

This is something I do and have done. Twice a week I wake up at 4:10am to meet a friend for a 4:30am run. We run 3 miles and are done by 5am. Leaving me plenty of time to clean up, get dressed, pack my lunch and get to work on time. On days that I don’t run, I started setting my alarm just 5 minutes earlier, so I don’t feel so rushed to get out the door.

Set Your Own Goals

When you’re a working mom, it’s easy to let other people’s interests and goals become your own. While there’s nothing wrong with that, you may eventually feel like you need more space for your own interests and aspirations.

Try to take some time out of your day to work on your personal goals, whether they’re related to an interest, secondary source of income, or anything else. Having something to work on that’s entirely your own will be empowering and help you feel more confident.

Spend Time with Other People in Your Life

There’s no way around the fact that our children take up a lot of our time, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only people that matter to you. Partners, friends, and other family members are all important, so try not to let too much time go by without seeing them.

Some of these people may also be able to offer a helping hand with a few of your parenting tasks, so don’t feel bad about asking for or accepting help when you need it. It can be isolating and discouraging to feel like you’re taking care of these things all on your own.

Being a working parent is an incredible challenge, but it’s also a rewarding experience that allows you to focus on your family and career at the same time. If you find yourself spread too thin to focus on your own goals, keep these self-care tips in mind and try to make time for other things that matter to you.

We have a set bedtime in our house; this gives my husband and I the time we need to chat about our days without having to sensor your language and talk about things we might not want our child to hear.

I also make time for friends, as I mentioned above, I run a few times a week with friends and prior to COVID I attended a monthly ladies game night!

How do you look after yourself while being a working parent?