When it comes to caring for others, as a mum of three, I like to think I’m pretty good at it. But when it comes to caring for myself? I’m a little ashamed to say that I’m awful at it. It’s not that I don’t want to take care of myself, but when every day is filled with all that it takes to keep the kids, job and house plates spinning, self-care always seems to be the thing that has to drop.
Lately though, I’ve realised just how unsustainable this is – what kind of message am I giving my children if I show them that in order to have all the things they might want in life, they have to not take care of themselves? That’s why, this year, I’ve started to build in small, sustainable moments of self-care into my routine. I have two rules; they’ve got to be things I can fit into my normal day (my day is already pretty full, so no waking up an hour earlier to have to fit these things in!) and they’ve got to be easy (nothing requiring too much effort because mentally, I’m at capacity). Ready? Read on for my three quick and easy self-care practices for busy mums…
Supplementing my nutrition
Trying to find meals that suit everyone in the family is already challenging enough, so if I want to make sure that I’m getting everything into my diet that my body needs, it’s time to start adding supplements into my diet. Supplements can feel a little overwhelming, there are so many choices out there. One of my biggest concerns is making sure that if I’m adding to my diet, I’m only adding good things, which is why I was so pleased to find Naked Nutrition’s supplements. With the tagline ‘Nutrition with nothing to hide’, their range is free from artificial colourings, artificial sweeteners and have no additives… that’s exactly what I want!
I’m looking to add in two supplements; firstly a biotin supplement such as Naked Biotin. Biotin is a B vitamin that can help boost energy levels and improve my metabolism, but most importantly for me, it also helps to support healthy skin and hair, two areas which I really feel need help after a lot of postpartum years. Parenthood has been pretty hard on my skin and hair (is it still baby-hair growth if we’re four years postpartum!?) so I want all of the help I can get there!
Next up, iron. Iron is one area that I know I can be a little deficient in, but I also know that my stomach can struggle with iron tablets at times. A supplement like Naked Iron is a great option in this case; made with Ferrous Bisglycerate, it’s easily absorbed and gentle on digestion. Why iron? Iron supplements can help to improve energy levels and nourish skin, so work in conjunction well with biotin, but for me, the real wins are the help with reducing fatigue and supporting better quality sleep. And the best bit with all of this? You don’t have to carve out a pocket of time or do anything too strenuous, just remember to take them daily! If that’s not a simple piece of self-care with big results, I don’t know what is! 
Getting Better Quality Sleep
Note that I’m not asking for more sleep, because whilst miracles may happen, between every day life and a three year old, sleep is definitely at a premium in this house! No, instead lets focus on getting better quality sleep in the time that we have. We all want to wake up feeling like we’ve rested, rather than just survived another night. To encourage better quality sleep, there are a few different tricks that you can try adding in to your routine;
- Making sure that our bedroom is dark. We have black out blinds but I’ll admit to not always pulling them at night, especially in Spring and Autumn. This can mean that when it starts to lighten up outside, it causes my body to naturally start to wake, even if I’m not quite ready… so black out blinds are definitely down.
- Ensuring you’re nice and cool. A relatively easy one for us because I am all about the cold bedroom… I would happily have windows open every night of the year if my husband would let me. The trick is to not get too cold, so mix a higher tog quilt, or add a blanket, to ensure your body stays warm whilst the room is cool. And in the summer? Our bedroom can get particularly warm overnight due to a lack of through-draught, so this year, I’m investing in a fan to cool the room and add a little white noise to the mix as well – if it works for babies, it’ll work for me!
- Less screen time before bed. This is probably the most challenging area for me, because I LOVE a bit of doom-scrolling before I drop off to sleep. But studies show that this can negatively impact sleep quality, so to try to reduce this I’m trying to plug my phone in on the other side of the bedroom… not next to my bed. This means it’ll still be accessible in the night if I need it for an emergency and I can still use the alarm for the morning but, importantly, I’ll have to put it down before getting in to bed and I won’t be so tempted to lie and scroll if I know I have to leave my bed again to plug it in! I have high hopes for this one, so wish me luck!
- Re-aligning your diet a little. I’m not talking major changes, but I know if I have a particularly heavy carbohydrate meal before bed, it can sit heavy all night. So I’ll be trying to eat a little lighter in the evenings by swapping some of our dinners and lunches around when possible. I’m also going to try to limit any caffeinated drinks in the evenings by swapping to caffeine free alternatives and of course, introduce an iron supplement to help boost my iron levels and support that precious sleep quality.
Introducing More Purposeful Movement
With a hectic home life, I can have days where I feel like I never sit down. And yet, with an office job, I often have days where I do an embarrassingly low number of steps. One of the things that can really help to boost energy levels and support mental health, is movement. After a busy day, it can absolutely feel like the last thing that you want to do, and I completely agree. That’s why rather than trying to set big workout goals or challenges, it’s easier to build in small pockets of purposeful movement.
What does that look like in reality? Well, there are a couple of ways that I’m looking to improve the amount I move in a week… and none of them are going to cost me huge gym fees or lead to big commitments to new classes, although if either of those work for you then you should absolutely go for it, after all, if it’s fun, you’re more likely to keep it going! No, for me, it’s all about finding movement that doesn’t feel like work, and finding activities that I can do that make the most of the time I have, to kick things off, mine look a little like this…
- Going for a walk with a friend during a children’s after-school club. In the past I would have driven home, sat in the car or even sat and watched, but recently I’ve found it really helpful to make the most of that time and go for a quick walk with another parent whose child also attends the group. If they’re not there, I pick up the phone and chat to a friend or family member. I feel like I’m getting the chance to catch up with someone, it makes the walk go quickly and I get to do a whole heap of steps that I wouldn’t otherwise have done; win win!
- Having a good stretching session whilst watching tv. Stretching may not feel like ‘proper’ movement, but it can be so relaxing for your body and help to remove tension that’s built during the day. Although there are many, many, many videos on stretching sequences on YouTube, the best bit about a good stretching session is you can just go with what feels right for your body at the time. Rather than sitting on the sofa chatting to my husband when the kids are in bed, I’m looking to combo our chats with a good stretch instead, particularly the neck and shoulder area after sitting at a desk all day!
And there we have it, three easy, painless self-care priorities that are great for busy mums. We don’t want faff or fuss, we just want something fast and effective which is going to ease our day not add to the mental load! If you’ve found something that works particularly well for you, we’d love to hear about it!
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