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This blog post is all about self care tips.
Life is stressful. Then add in being a business owner of a home daycare. You've changed 50 diapers, wiped noses unlimited times, and acted as a chef, maid, and teacher, all in a matter of 9 hours. You're exhausted and overstimulated.
It's imperative to take care of yourself and I'm going to show you exactly how to do that with these self care tips.
SELF CARE
What Is Self Care
Self care is the art and practice of intentionally taking care of yourself every single day. It's not just pampering yourself, although that sounds like fun!
It's about making sure you have the energy, patience, and strength to handle your daily responsibilities.
Why Is Self Care Important
Self care is essential because it helps you maintain both your physical and mental health and reduce stress and emotional well-being. Ultimately, it leads us to a sense of calm, peace, and balance in our life.
As a home daycare business owner it's easy to feel burn-out, overwhelmed, overstimulated, and drained. Self care isn't selfish~it's necessary!
Self Care Tips
1. Sleep
When you don't get enough sleep, you're asking for irritability, frustration, crankiness, and hangry for all the wrong foods. It's a vicious cycle; I know I've lived it too many times to count. There is a reason I made this the first tip, it's the most important to start implementing! Aim for 7-8 hours a night.
Unwind before bed with a bath and a book. Brain dump your to-do list before crawling into bed.
Plug your phone in across the bedroom so you're not tempted to doom-scroll in bed. I changed my alarm clock to a hatch alarm and I swear it made a huge difference in how peaceful I feel waking up.
2. Proper Diet
The second most important self care you can do is get proper fuel for your body! Without eating enough protein, veggies, and fruits, you're going to feel tired, irritable, and frustrated.
Breakfast time tends to be the busiest for me. So, I have learned to prep an egg casserole full of veggies to quickly grab a few slices. This prevents me from eating sugar-filled and carb-loaded foods.
For dinner, I always cook enough to have leftovers for lunch! Keeps me from reaching for the chicken nuggets and mac n cheese on my kid's plates!
Keep high-protein snacks on hand. I love all beef sticks, chickpea chips, Just Ingredients protein powder, boiled eggs, greek yogurt, and cottage cheese.
When you have your fruits and veggies prepped, and in the front of your fridge, you'll grab them more often! It's a fact, try it for yourself!
3. Exercise
Once you are getting quality sleep and eating to fuel your body you'll have energy for self care tip number three, exercise!
This doesn't mean you need to run a half marathon every day unless that's your jam! But rather be intentional about moving your body!
Walking is the most underrated form of exercise. When you're outside playing, walk around the yard. During nap time, instead of sitting on the couch and doom-scrolling, take laps around your yard or house. After your last kid has left, take a few more laps around the yard or stroll your neighborhood. I love listening to audiobooks or Christian music during this time.
Put on a free yoga class on YouTube during naptime. This would be a great way to help relax you right before bedtime, also!
The key here is to take it slow, be intentional about movement, and, most importantly, be consistent.
4. Mindfulness & Gratitude
If you're a Christian like myself, the most valuable tool you can utilize is your Bible and prayer for mindfulness. I start every morning with a cup of coffee and time with God.
In my prayers, I shout out gratitude for his blessings. Such as, thank you God for the beautiful sunset, thank you for my warm house, thank you for this hot cup of coffee.
Practice meditation. Habit stack this with your sleep routine while you're in bed! Put on some relaxing meditation music and take in slow, deep breaths, quieting the mind. I love using this meditation ball; it brings me back to meditating when my mind starts to roam.
5. Hobbies
It's easy to get lost in motherhood and our careers. Guess what those kids grow up and leave the nest, I know because I'm living that reality. Then you look around and wonder who am I, what do I love to do, I'm bored, lost etc.
Find a hobby that you love and practice it often! Some ideas are reading, painting, pickleball, riding a bike, hiking, journaling, crocheting, puzzles, baking, or hosting a book club or game night.
Some hobbies I have started are blogging, social media content, digital product creation, reading, yoga classes, gardening, and my newest addition chickens!
6. Breaks
If you don't have vacation built into your daycare contract stop everything you're doing and rewrite it today! Seriously, add paid vacation days now!
Use every single vacation day that you allot for yourself. Even if you're not planning on traveling take your days to regroup.
7. Boundaries
When you created your daycare policies and procedures, you should have outlined firm boundaries for yourself. Keep these boundaries to protect your peace!
No, I can't keep your kids late. No, I can't accept your sick child today. No, I can't feed them breakfast past my meal times. No, you can't pay me late.
This doesn't make you a bad business owner; it makes you a smart business owner! While protecting your peace.
This blog was all about self care tips.
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Feeling Burnt Out? These Tips Will Help You Overcome It