9 Ways to Destress

Now a days I feel stress is such a common word that we hear quite often. Seriously, find one person who isn't stressed. It's just become part of our normal life, am I right? I know for me, being a stay at home mom who is trying to start up her own at home business is very stressful. Add in  a 9 year old who has marital arts class twice week and a toddler who is into everything, it just becomes A LOT! In today's blog post I want to share 9 ways to detress so when that things get hard, or start feeling stressed, you know the tools to use to hopefully make it a little bit easier.

9 Ways To Destress

• Talk to someone: I don’t necessarily mean a professional someone, but talk to your mom, a friend, or your spouse. Sometimes talking through our stress and what we have going on helps!
• Take stock of what’s going on and decide what you can cut out: For me this is huge. I am HORRIBLE at saying no and taking on too much. So look at what you have been doing and ask yourself what can go. If nothing can, then try not to commit to new things.
• Make a list and start with the most important things: I make a daily to do list and always try to do the hardest task first. OR do a ton of the easy quick tasks. Seeing a ton of things crossed off your list will make you feel so much better!
• Carve out time for just you: Even if it’s 15 minutes to read, or go for a walk alone, or do a face mask. Just something that is just for you. You may think that this will add stress but doing something for yourself to center yourself will calm you down and make you feel like you can get the other things done.
• Ask for help where needed: Again, something I am awful at, but ask for help. Maybe you need a babysitter one or two days a week for a few hours, or maybe you need to ask your spouse to take on a few more errands or house chores. Whatever it may be, ask for help.
• Take a nap even a quick one: It’s amazing what a 10-15 minute power nap can do. I used to feel super guilty napping when my kids napped. Like “shouldn’t I be doing XYZ?” It took a quite a while to realize that nap time was important that  SOME DAYS had to be my recharge time too! Not always, but at least once a week I would use at least part of their nap for a rest for myself.
• Read for 30 minutes: Again carving out this time may not be feasible each day. It may not work for everyone but engulfing yourself in another story or another world can really ease your mind and take away some stress.
• Do a workout: This is my biggest destress time! I try to work out for at least 30 minutes each day. Some days it doesn't happen. Recently I only had time for 20 minutes but it was better than nothing and still did the trick!
• Give yourself a little grace: When all else fails, remind yourself that we all feel this way. Everyone has stress and not everyone can get everything done every day. Don’t beat yourself up if the kitchen is dirty, or the laundry isn’t put away, or XYZ errand didn’t get accomplished. Just try again tomorrow.

What are some ways to destress you find helpful?