Mum burnout is common, especially when there’s not a great deal of help available during those times when you feel yourself getting sick or exhausted.
While some people have a village of help, others have to go it alone and despite which one you fall into, you can still suffer from mum burnout.
The difference between mum burnout to normal burnout is that you have the responsibility of looking after little ones. That’s not something you had prior to your children and therefore it might take some adjustment or a longer period of time to recover from burnout.
With that being said, here are some helpful ways to tackle mum burnout so that you can get back on your feet and hopefully avoid it from happening again.
Take a break
This is one that might have many mums laughing in delirium but it’s improtant that you’re trying to take some time out when being a mum. Sometimes those breaks might be moments throughout the day and some might be as luxurious as a family member offering to take your little ones off your hands for an entire day.
When something like that presents itself, grab it with both hands. You can never expect to be the best you can be for your children if you’re only operating at a fraction of your capacity for energy.
Try to take breaks where possible whether it’s five minutes locked in a bathroom while on the toilet to getting up a little earlier in the morning for a mindful session of meditation. While getting sleep is important, you might find it good to have a bit more time awake to indulge in your me-time a little.
Make self-care a priority when you can
Again, a lot of these points are all subject to the amount of help you do have available to you and what free time presents itself as a full-time mum – even if that means you have a job to go to as well.
Self-care should always be a priority, for everyone. The reason is that self-care is looking after your body and mind. Whether that’s reading a book, going out for dinner with friends or taking a hot bubble bath with a glass of wine in your hand.
When you make self-care a priority, you’re giving precious time to yourself that you will appreciate and that you will notice improves your presence around others.
Build a support system to help you and your family
It takes a village to raise a child and that is a saying that is true. However, that village doesn’t exist for a lot of people, in fact for very few. For those who don’t live near their family or have any family alive to help, parents need to rely on who they have around them or the services of childcare available.
Whatever situation you find yourself in when it comes to support, it’s crucial that you’re taking advantage of any support you can get your hands on – no matter how small that might be.
The more support you have, the more help you have not only for yourself but for all of your family members. If you’re lucky to have a strong network of family and friends, embrace them. Take them up on any offers they have, no matter what that might look like. Ask for help, and don’t be afraid to let people know when you’re in need of support.
The bottom line is that there will always be support there somewhere, whether it’s through people you know or not. Humans are inherently willing to help those in need – well most of them anyway.
Learn to say no and set your boundaries
When you become a mum, you already sacrifice so much of yourself and so much of that old life that you might have not appreciated as much as you do now that it’s gone.
Learning to say no and setting boundaries is important when it comes to avoiding mum burnout. As a mum, there will likely be a lot of commitments that you feel obliged to uphold but it’s good to remember that you don’t need to say yes to everything. At the end of the day, it’s important to protect your wellbeing and that includes any boundaries you’d like to set.
Some people can tend to overstep those boundaries or involve themselves too much in what they feel should not be their involvement. With that being said, make sure these boundaries are known to loved ones and seek support from your other half when your voice isn’t always heard or respected.
Manage your stress levels
Stress often contributes heavily to burnout which is why you want to be mindful of how much stress you let into your life. If those stressors are too much, then you’ll find yourself face-to-face with regular burnouts.
There are many ways in which stress can come into your life. From your work life to relationships with family members and friends. You want to limit the stress where you can and find outlets that can help balance the stress that you might feel from time to time.
As a mum, managing your stress levels will help you live a longer and happier life with your children, so make sure you’re in control of your stress and not the other way around.
Do exercise you love and eat food you like in moderation
Exercise should be something that’s enjoyed and not something that you end up hating because you’re doing workouts that don’t bring you that joy or have the element of fun it needs.
Everyone is different when it comes to exercise too. Some people love to run and others love to partake in weight training or go swimming at their local pool. Try to find an exercise you love and enjoy because then it won’t feel like a chore. It’ll feel like something you enjoy and want to do, rather than having to do it.
The same approach should be taken with the food you eat. Everything you put into your body should be something you enjoy eating. Of course, you can eat things that aren’t necessarily the healthiest of foods to eat but even eating too much healthy food can be an issue.
Moderation is the focus when it comes to eating, so eat everything in moderation. When you eat food in moderation, you’ll feel better about yourself and you’ll enjoy it moreso because it’s fueling your body while also making you happy. Make sure you start your mornings right with a hearty breakfast and some good quality coffee from coffee beans online.
Work as a team with your partner not against one another
When you’re a mum with a partner, you should be taking on the attitude that your partner is your team member and not the competition – or your enemy.
Working as a team with your partner rather than against one another will definitely help to tackle the tougher days as and when they come. It’s better to have a teammate when you’re challenged with parenthood because when you’re in the trenches, it’s nice to have someone to lend you a hand to get you out of it.
Try to communicate with your partner to let them know when you need some time out, to take a break or have a self-care moment or two. Tapping in and out can really help to ensure you both get enough time away from the kids!
Embrace the imperfections and mistakes made
Burnouts happen because there’s often so much going on both physically and mentally. As a mum, it’s important that you’re being kind to yourself and that you acknowledge that mistakes and imperfections are likely to be made and appear.
No parent is perfect and every day is a learning opportunity. When you’re trying to be perfect, that’s where you’re likely to feel the most defeated. Try not to beat yourself up on mistakes that are made and instead embrace those imperfections and mistakes. The mistakes you make will certainly help to define who you become as a parent and for the better too.
If you make mistakes, take a moment to understand what happened and what could be done so that the mistake doesn’t happen again. Make them learning opportunities rather than something that’s negative.
Embracing your imperfections too is what makes you human and while we’d all like to change our decisions or parts of ourselves, we cannot help who we really are.
Find activities that spark joy and happiness
Finally, to help avoid burnout, make sure you’ve balanced your lifestyle with enough activities that spark that joy and happiness you need in life. Finding activities that spark joy will really help you balance your lifestyle so that you can continue to exist not only as a parent but also as yourself without your kids.
Hopefully, with these tips, you’ll find that you can avoid mum burnout more often than not and work on yourself to ensure you are the happiest you can be with care and attention.
