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I know that I was told that I would be tired as a mom
But nothing prepared me for the reality of just how tired
Of course, sleep is needed to not be tired
But there are other kinds of tired and ways to make even sleepless days a little better
9 ways to get more energy as a mom are:
- Spend time on yourself
- Make sure you are eating and drinking
- Keep up with your basic needs
- Really focus on the moments that you love
- Lower your mental load
- Fix your posture throughout the day
- Speak good things about yourself in the mirror
- Get fresh air
- Stay connected to other adults
You don’t have to do them all, but they all will help you
I encourage you to choose 1 or 2 to start with, then add more when those first two don’t feel as hard
Spend time on yourself
The first thing you need to do is spend time on yourself
Ok, I know you hear this a lot!
Don’t leave!
As a mom of special needs twins, I know that time to yourself is really hard
There are options for this though
You can put slide 10 minutes to do something that you love
Or you can do something you love and get the kids involved
The point is that you are doing this thing because you want to do it for you
I like to cook and bake
So when I know that I will not be getting time away from my kids that day, I will start baking some bread
My kids love to help me with the dough
And we always have a great time
Then we get to enjoy freshly baked bread when we are done
Finding activities to do on your own or with your kids that fill you up will take time and experimentation
I love going to the park with my kids but I am exhausted after
That isn’t a good option for this
So test things out and see if you can find a few things that fill your cup either in a short amount of time or with your kids
Make sure you are eating and drinking
There are a few needs that you must have as a human
It isn’t possible to function well without those needs
We need food, water, sleep, and shelter to survive
But so many moms are skipping the food and the water (and of course sleep, but that is often not in a mom’s control)
I am not a fan of water, but I promise that I feel way better when I am hydrated
I drink about 40 oz of water a day plus other drinks
It gives me way more energy than I want to admit
We tend to skip eating or we eat just random junk that is easy
Trust me, I get it
But your body will not be able to run at its best when you don’t take care of it
Would you expect your car to run without gas?
No?
Your body is the same way
I like to make more than enough every time I cook so I have something easy later
I made more dinner so I have leftovers the next day, cut more veggies so I have some throughout the week without needing to cut more, etc
What is something that you can do now that your future self with thank you for?
Keep up with your basic needs
Expanding on the three main things that we need to survive, we also have some basic needs
We need to shower, brush our teeth, have clean clothes, and have some sense of joy
Yes, joy is a basic need
Lack of joy leads to a lot of problems both mentally and physically
It is important to make time for these things
You need them to fuel you for the day
Not only does keeping up with basic needs help you feel better, but not doing them will destroy your energy
Really focus on the moments that you love
I know that our job is to think of problems and solve them before they happen
But if we are only doing that, all we see is problems
If all you see are problems, your energy is going to be lacking
Try to think of three moments that you loved from that day every night
They need to be specific moments
I loved that big tackle hug my kids gave me this morning
The longer you do this, the more you will be paying attention throughout the day for moments to claim at night
This will bring more light and love into your world
And it will greatly increase your joy and energy
Lower your mental load
The mental load is intense
It is completely invisible, but also completely exhausting
Most moms have a very heavy mental load
And most moms are exhausted
Lowering your mental load helps give you your energy back
This means using tools and people to remove things from your brain
Instead of trying to remember what you need to do this week, make a list and plan out the week
Put it on paper or in the Google Calendar
Just remove it from your mind
If you can write it down, do it
If you have a lot of ideas and thoughts, write them down
Try to have a safe place for the papers so you don’t have to think about where they are
Trust me, the mental load is heavy
You’ll feel a difference
Fix your posture throughout the day
Most people (at least in America) have terrible posture
Even right now as I am typing this article, my posture is bad
Throughout the day, imagine that you have a string attached to the top of your head
Someone pulls that string and that straightens your spine
Then lower your shoulders
This is a quick and easy way to get a little energy boost
You will have a rush of air entering your lungs because it isn’t so hard to breathe anymore
And that helps increase your energy a little
Do this often throughout the day, at least until your posture is good more than it isn’t
Speak good things about yourself in the mirror
I had a lot of issues with destroying myself every time I saw myself in the mirror
Or even just looking down at the parts of my body that I am insecure about
But if you are constantly expelling energy when you do this, is it surprising that you are tired?
It took time, but I made a point to say one good thing about myself every time I looked in the mirror and every time I had a negative thought about myself
These positive thoughts create dopamine in the brain and which increases your energy
Of course, you also just feel a little better about yourself
Get fresh air
We spend a lot of our lives indoors
Fresh air is really important for our health
Every part of our health
So if you are feeling a little down on energy, go outside for a while
If it is cold, that will actually help
If it is hot, maybe turn on the water and have some fun!
There are always options
Just take the time to spend a little time with fresh air
Stay connected to other adults
This is a must for me
My kids are not talking yet so I really need to make sure that I connect with other adults
My mental health drops fast and my loneliness skyrockets
By staying connected to healthy friendships, you can boost each other’s energy
Notice that I said healthy friendships
Toxic friends do more harm than good
You already have limited time and energy
Be wise about who you are trusting those resources with