Avoiding Burnout As A Stay At Home Mom

Being a mom is hard work. Whether you stay at home or work outside of the house, your days are full of responsibilities. There are some unique challenges that come along with being a stay at home mom, though. You need to know what you can do to avoid burnout as a stay at home mom.

In this article, we’ll give you some great tips for stressed moms that can help you avoid burnout. Love what you do as a stay at home mom—the information here can help you embrace the job.

You’re a busy mom who’s keeping their family together. You’re likely responsible for getting your little one up, dressed, and out the door. You make meals, do laundry, and constantly clean up messes. A support system with people who help you (and your work) is crucial to helping you avoid burnout.

Find some friends who understand where you’re coming from. These are friends who have been where you are when you’ve had a hard day and haven’t had a shower or a meal. In turn, when their days have been long or hard, offer them an ear and a judgment-free zone.

Watch Who You Spend Your Time With

Friends are great. They can really help you pull through when you’re struggling. That being said, don’t surround yourself with people who aren’t healthy for you to be around.

Have fair-weather friends who are happy to stop by when your child is angelic and your home is clean? Expand your circle to include people who are happy to be with you during an epic meltdown from your toddler. Don’t spend your time with people who constantly diminish your value or work.

Other people’s attitudes will affect you. Search for friends and communities with positive attitudes. Focusing on the negative will only bring you down and exacerbate stress and burnout.

Make Time for Yourself

Your family is important. It’s probably one of the most important things in your life. But you are also important. Without taking care of yourself, you can’t expect to be able to take care of others. Especially not at the level you want to be able to care for them.

Choose something that makes you happy, and make it a priority. Whether it’s gardening, crafting, reading, or taking an uninterrupted shower. Give yourself an assignment that involves your chosen activity. This isn’t “free time” or a luxury. Consider this a must-have when you schedule your day and make yourself a priority along with the ones you love.

Make Time for Your Relationship

Parenting is a lot of work. It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in checking things off of your to-do list. When that becomes the focus of your day, you may find you and your partner begin to lead parallel lives. You’re both working toward the same thing, but you’re not necessarily doing it together. This can leave you both feeling lonely.

Make sure to take care of your relationship during this hectic time with young children. Keep the lines of communication open and your partner know they are valued. Make sure you feel valued as well.

A healthy relationship with your partner can help you avoid burnout as a stay at home mom. It can also help reduce any stress you’re experiencing.

Use Social Media in Moderation

Social media is great for making you feel connected even when you haven’t been able to escape the house for days. Unfortunately, it also creates a platform where you’re regularly seeing glimpses of others’ lives. Everyone wants to share what looks good.

Seeing glimpses of perfection in others’ lives can make you feel like you aren’t doing as good of a job as your peers. Too much time on social media can damage your psyche, make you feel like a failure, and bring you down. If that’s what happens to you, take a serious step back from your favorite scrolling activity.

Carve Out Time to Sleep and Rejuvenate

After you put the kids to bed there are a million things you’re anxious to get off your plate. You may let household chores cut into your sleep time. You may also find you’re so deprived of personal space and time that it’s hard to let go of those few hours of alone time.

Don’t forsake your sleep, though. It’s incredibly important to give you the energy you need for the following day. Create a bedtime ritual for yourself that includes banning electronics close to bedtime. This can prepare your mind for sleep and give you better quality rest.

Sleep is crucial to remain emotionally healthy. Don’t let a lack of sleep cause you to feel stress or leave you with burnout as a stay at home mom.

Say No

Being a mom is a hard job. It’s also one that’s not always fully recognized or appreciated. Stop feeling like you aren’t doing enough. Stop feeling like you’re constantly failing. You are doing enough. You aren’t failing.

Learning how to say “no” when your plate is full can give you the emotional space you need to recover the energy you’ve been spending. Don’t let someone make you feel guilty for not doing more just because you’re at home for more hours of the day.

Saying “no” to activities and responsibilities you aren’t interested in can help preserve your emotional well-being. It will give you time to enjoy your family. It also helps prevent the over-scheduling of your kids, which is better for them, as well.

Managing to Avoid Burnout as a Stay at Home Mom

Your job is an important one. You’re at the beck and call of your family, 24-hours a day, every day of the year. Burnout can easily happen to you if you don’t take steps to prevent it from happening. Fortunately, burnout as a stay at home mom isn’t your only option. Follow the tips we’ve shared here to lower your stress and help prevent burnout.