In this article, I’ll be sharing some helpful tips on how to deal with stress as a mom and also maintain a better life
Stress, a cankerworm that is eating deeply into society. Every day I see young men and women, the aged, the youth, even kids, bear the burden of its weight. People are suffering daily from the effect of this cankerworm.
Unlike those days where life was peaceful, you mostly cared about what you ate for the day and a little more, and you were content. Now, the Society with its hustle and bustle, we never seem to get enough, and the result is stressful living.
Women are the major burden bearers of this. Taking full-time day job or jobs, coming right home to start another of catering for the kids and the home, doing kids assignments, bathing clean up, preparing for the next day. on and on like that, women live on this cycle for years.
And soon after high blood pressure, hypertension, and other diseases come up. The burning question of how to deal with stress is what I write on in this post and I have thoroughly written on 15 ways that can help. Don’t miss out on anyone
1. Admit That You Are Stressed And Overwhelmed
This is the very first way on how to deal with stress. It is not a failure when having constantly done a thing, you admit that it is difficult to handle.
Here is a wise saying: knowing a problem gives halfway chances to solve the problem. So, being honest with yourself and admitting that you are stressed out with the responsibilities you are handling isn’t a failure.
Do you know? Statistics show that women are facing life stress more and are finding ways to manage the stress in their lives.
Women from all races, nations, tribes are constantly finding answers to the question of how to deal with stress So you are not alone in this my dear.
If you are shy to admit to others people, at least admit it to yourself, and if you feel guilty remember the statistics I give here and remind yourself that you are not a failed mother; that stress is a life experience that people face.
Pat yourself on the back for being honest with yourself and that you want to find ways to deal with stress and become a better person, wife, and mom.
2. Find Out What Are Your Stressors
Stressors are those things that cause stress. They so overwhelm you and whenever you think of doing them, there is always a negative feeling that clouds you.
It may be cooking. The mention of cooking always leaves a sense of dread in the heart of some women. For me, it is shopping for groceries, going from store to store, comparing prices, packing all the purchases, and then coming back home to arrange them, It is usually very exhausting.
Let me ask, what are those things that you think are contributing to a major strain or stress in your life? Your job(s), house chores, taking care of the kids, your schooling? Think critically and write them down.
Consider all the responsibilities you are doing presently and scale them from 1-5. See which one comes naturally to you that you don’t see a stressful, think of the ones that are tough but fun.
Also, think of the ones that are completely difficult and overwhelming and write them down. With this, you are on the right path to finding how to deal with stress.
3. Identify When You Are More Prone To Stress
This is something you need to critically think and consider as you find ways on how to deal with stress.
Is it the mornings, or weekdays? Or after school, Saturdays when the kids are home, during big celebrations where you have to do a lot? Christmas holidays, school holidays? It could be any time for you.
This time can automatically trigger the nerves and you become worked up. As you think of the stressors in your life, think of when you feel them more.
Find ways around them, so things will become easier. Planning is the key here and I will discuss that on point 10 outlined below.
4. Re-evaluate Your Life
So you know you are stressed and have an idea of the difficult things and those easier to manage; now it’s time to re-evaluate your life, your goals, your plans, and ambitions and see what you can do to make things easier.
You may have to quit some jobs, shift plans, adjust your standard of living or find alternative options to use to ease things up. Revaluation is a time where you can sit down with your partner, and even your kids to critically analyze things.
You may have less luxury but you have to sacrifice some things to make you live a saner life and reduce stress, the cankerworm that is eating our society today.
When you can evaluate critically you find ways around the major stressors in your life or eliminate them and you will see that life becomes much easier.
5. Find A Support Group
Many moms out there are having similar experiences to you and finding answers to how to deal with stress so you are not alone.
How about you team up with a group of moms where you rub minds and find effective ways to tackle the problems of stress in your lives? A group where you all support one another when feeling down.
A group that gives tips and tricks to make it easier, if you are just new into motherhood or old in the game. Society will be a better place and motherhood more manageable.
There are many groups out there aimed at supporting women, handling stress, and other motherhood challenges. You may want to find one that can help you through this overwhelming time.
It may not necessarily be a special motherhood group parse but could be a group of your click of friends or mothers in your neighborhood or workplace or church who can talk together often to lighten the burden.
These should be people you are comfortable with. Those who will not judge, or criticize you, but where you feel welcome to share your heart. They should have a sense of maturity, wisdom and be in perspective.
6. Share Responsibilities
Many times we moms, seem to have this mentality that house chores are solely for us. I wonder who gave us this idea.
A home consists of the parents and the kids and it is a unit. Each member of the unit has roles, responsibilities, and benefits from the home.
Truth is, most parents do not have a parenting plan where they plan out the way they want their home to run, so anything just happens.
Some persons are overworked with no time for rest others do not even budge or offer help. It is not like they do not care or something they just feel it’s not their role.
I know that every home is run differently and I can’t tell you how you run yours, but I’ll say this if you’re a mom that is working full-time and you still carry house responsibilities full time and your partner and kids hardly assist you, then you are in for a lot of stress.
I have seen this cause anger, resentment, and problems in many homes, so it will be wise if you and your partner work out a way to handle the chores in the home.
You may work part-time and bear lesser financial responsibilities or both of you share the house chores at home with the kids or get alternative help agencies. Whatever the case learn to share home responsibilities if you are the only one handling it as a mom.
7. Have Time For Fun
Seeing the world through the lens of fun is something we as parents should learn to adapt to because life can be super crazy hectic sometimes; the best way to ease yourself out of stress is to make fun out of everything you do.
When doing dishes, laundry shopping, make fun out of them. Do not do it with too much seriousness that you start feeling it like a burden. You can enjoy doing things if you have the right mindset.
I know how hard it can be doing those things you don’t enjoy but with time you can get used to it. Like Mary Poppins said in any job that I must be done there is an element of fun you only need to find the fun and then the job is a game and yes, life could be fun. You also need to catch fun often. Play with your kids while doing chores and make everyday living enjoyable.
8. Pause And Live Life At The Moment
Life can go in a repeated circle of work, work, work if you want it to. You are the one to determine the amount of work you can take and what not to take.
Let me just wrap up in few minutes, I think I need to finish this before resting, give me some extra minutes and you go on and on living this way, not having time for breaks. The rat race is real.
You can think that spending that extra minutes taking a little more job, managing to push more things into your schedule with the mindset that it will end someday, but you know what? it most times ends in health issues, strain, stress aggressiveness, you name it.
You can’t do everything at once, so be wise enough to know when to stop. This is very useful if you are finding how to deal with stress. Do not always wait till when you get exhausted before taking breaks.
Make it part of your lifestyle. After long hours at work take a nap before starting household duties. A 10 to 15 minutes nap will make you feel relaxed.
If you have work piling, and it is stressing you out, watch TV, go see a movie have dinner out, and feel re-energized to take it up again and better inspiration and needed outlet to ease out the stress.
9. Do The Things That You Love And Inspire You
Even sometimes, we have to do the things that do not interest us, but we do it anyway because we have to meet needs and make a living.
How about balancing things up and doing those things you love? Amazing it would be. If you only get to do the things you do not enjoy, where would be the color, vibe, and inspiration in your life? Where would be the zest and meaning to life?
Trust me, life would be boring. So, it would be great to find time to do things and you love. Surfing, fishing, baking, reading anyone that catches your fancy, make time for it.
For they would make you live a life with meaning and truly nobody wants to get up every day like a zombie working around the clock without deriving any joy or pleasure in the things you do. Do not make your life lose taste and substance, make it fun and exciting by doing those things you love and that inspire you.
10. Plan
Want a life that is stress-free and finding how to cope with stress as a mom? You should consider planning as a tip that would help you find how to cope with parenting stress as much as possible.
When you plan, you put things in perspective. All the things you have on your to-do list: shopping, cleaning, visit the museum, ballet practice should be written down then you start thinking of when best to do what and when best not to.
It will help you stay organized and prepared for the day. It will also help you know when you are taking too much or too little. Also, you become more productive you have time for rest, fun, and doing those things that inspire you.
Plan meals, shopping, your job, furthering your education, having more kids, etc. When everything around your life works with a plan you will very likely be able to live more orderly and organized and take note it would help you live a stress-less life if you did not stuff too many things in your plans for a short time being.
11. Exercise
Exercise strengthens the body, helping us cope and manage stress. Lately, I have marveled at how I’ve been able to do a whole lot of things without breaking down.
I work several jobs, take care of my kid and also handle house chores. All these would have been too much for me in the past years. But I realize that since been a Mom, I’ve been more active than before.
This is because I have been exercising and my muscles are strengthened to work. Finding appropriate exercises to do is going to help stress strengthen your body and cope with stress.
It would be unwise to do exercises in the middle of the day and you are busy, so find a suitable time say in the morning of weekends take a stroll down the park or go for a walk, jogs, for swimming, or any other exercises that you love.
Try this and see how it will boost your mood significantly it will also help you relax and sleep better. This is one coping strategy for the stress you should not miss.
12. Self-Care
Finding ways to pamper and take care of yourself every time is a sure way to help you live a better stress-free life. Go to the beach with your partner and family.
Sleep and rest your body. When you wake up you see that you are more strengthened. Also, massage your body. Your partner can help you with this or go to a massage parlor.
Massage your sore limbs, back, the neck that are stiff. Eat healthy wholesome nutritious meals. Do not skip meals or eat only leftovers of the kids. Eat well so your body is replenished from inside out.
Eating right and well also helps you cope with the stress and combat aging. Take a lot of fluids eat fruits and vegetables opt for them rather than taking sugary drinks as they will make you feel more stressed and older than your look age.
Get a beautiful haircut if you want to change your look, go for nice clothes, pamper your skin. Look, feel and smell nice. Inspire yourself. Do the things you love.
Find a new Hobby or game. Reawaken your love life with your partner and your kids. This is how to manage stress in life.
13. Find Ways To Relax
It is beneficial to relax the body, mind, and soul often so you feel stronger to work again and again.
There are so many ways for moms to relax you can try out like, meditation, deep breathing in and out, dance and be happy, listening to calming music, have a long shower, spend quality time with people that motivate you, and share ideas.
Spend time outdoors with nature and feel yourself. All these have you relax and bring meaning to your life.
14. Avoid The Perfectionist Attitude
If you want everything to be done perfectly you will overstress yourself with things that you do not count on.
Moms because we want things perfect we resist help from our kids and partner.
So we take too much and it leads to stress. while I am not advocating that you live a mediocre life, but sometimes learn to pick your battles and know the things that you should spend your time and effort on and the things that are worth your effort.
Do not be an over-perfectionist that you end up stressing the small stuff. Then, you will know how to deal with stress.
15. Teach Your Kids Right From An Early Age
Model the right kind of behavior you want in your kid from their early years, for in the future, you will reap a life with lesser stress.
Train kids to follow routines, teach them to go to bed early, eat right, do their chores, observe good manners, read, etc. If you’re wondering which skills to start teaching your kids, I have written a detailed post on 16 important life skills you need to teach your kids to help them succeed in life.
When they have consistently adopted his lifestyle, there will be order and sanity in your home, and because they are easier to control and this of course will make you less stressed.
The days go by as the clock ticks. Make a determined step to eliminate stress from your life and see yourself living life with meaning.
Save this for later mama!
