How To Relax After A Busy Season

Is it just me or has the last few months been a whirlwind? Life has been a bit crazier than usual. I’ve been working hard and trying to grow as a mom, a business owner and a woman. So I’ve spent a lot of time working. Our son goes to bed at night and I’m sitting there with my laptop on the couch typing away. I get up extra early in the morning to record new content for the blog, to organize lunches and to make sure that I get time to wash my hair (yep, it’s like I have to schedule it in my day to remind myself).

I talked about the season of life I’m in and how it’s a busy one. Meetings, growth, learning, places to go and things to accomplish. I’ve noticed over the past week or so that my season is shifting. I’m slowing down. I’ve developed processes and steps to help me handle the growth of my business and to have time to create like I want. I’m not perfect, but I can feel the winds changing and things calming down.

It’s nice. But it’s hard.

It’s hard to unwind and unplug after months of go-go-go. Maybe you’ve been working hard at the office, traveling to conferences, or finally putting the finishing touches on several home projects. But I’m sure you can relate to feeling extra busy lately. That’s why I was so happy the other day when I realized this busy season was finally coming to an end.

It’s nice when the busy ends and the calm (well as calm as a toddler mom can get) begins. What are some things you do to help yourself unwind and relax? Well I’m sharing my go-to tips and self care routine with you.

When you’re ready to start unwinding after your busy season, check out some of these great tips to help you:

Take Time For Yourself

It can be hard to do, especially when you have young kids at home. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time, but you just need help re-energizing yourself. It could be taking a half-day from work to where you go home, put your feet up and watch your favorite movie for the 1000 time. Maybe it’s taking a long drive to nearest the mall (for me that’s over an hour drive) to just do some retail therapy (as long as it’s in your budget). Whatever makes you feel rejuvenated then take time to do it.

Just schedule the time off work or ask your husband for help on the weekend. Put it in your calendar and make it happen.

Know What Can Wait

When it comes to unwinding, especially after a busy season then you probably think everything is a top priority. But we all know that’s just in our head. So take a moment to prioritize your to do list for the next week or so. Then really, really give it a good look. Gauge what can wait and what needs to get done – folding the laundry can wait, cleaning the house can wait, and baking those 100 cookies for next week’s school bake sale can wait (actually, just hire someone to help you if you hate baking like I do). You know what can be delegated to your spouse or kids, what can be hired out for extra help and what simply can wait until things calm down.

If you own a small business like I do then maybe you schedule out the next week’s worth of social media posts so you don’t have to worry about it. Skip a weekly blog post – it’s okay. Figure out what will be okay to go without so you can take time for yourself.

Disconnect

This one is hard. Really hard. But you need to disconnect. Turn your phone on silent and put it away for a period of time. Uninstall your social media apps and work apps so that you can stop worrying. Don’t answer your emails, your messages and don’t reply to any comments. This might actually be the hardest step for most of us – as moms and career women we find ourselves on call 24 hours a day. But when we really need to unplug to take care of selves it’s important to really unplug. So on the day or few hours you’re finally taking for yourself, just put the phone down for a bit.

You won’t explode, all those emails can wait and you will feel so much better. I typically set my phone on silent and put in the bedroom just long enough to take a nap, a long bath or watch a favorite movie. But because I’m always on mom duty I want to make sure our son doesn’t need anything, so I do check it. But I stretch out the time starting with an hour, then two, then four.

What are some of your favorite tips on unwinding? Let me know!