Prioritizing Health for Busy Moms | Physical, Mental, & Spiritual
I thought my life was busy… I had five kids, a husband, a home, a part-time work-from-home job, two volunteer positions, church activities, and an occasional social life.
This summer, we decided it was time for me to get an additional part-time job outside the home. Within a few weeks, however, it turned into a full-time job with varying hours from day-to-day. And then we found ourselves in the midst of the fall sports and back-to-school season which is generally our busiest season of the year.
Resource: How to Keep Your Sanity in the Busy Seasons of Life
I didn’t know how busy I wasn’t until I was.
Have you ever experienced a busyness like this? Or maybe your busy looks different but is no less chaotic and overwhelming at times.
It’s easy in the midst of the busyness to neglect our health and well-being… physical, mental, and most importantly, spiritual. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at where I’m currently struggling and what I’m doing to find better balance during this busy season of life.
Busy Mom: Physical Health
I know it’s been a struggle to remember to eat (and/or to eat well) some days as my meal times vary with my work schedule.
- I need to be better about having healthy grab-and-go meals and snacks on hand. Weekends are a great time to prep meals and snacks to save time and brainpower throughout the week.
- I also need to do a better job of meal planning and grocery shopping (I’m thinking I’ll have Aldi and/or Sam’s Club deliver this weekend!) so we don’t end up grabbing fast food or eating a bowl of cold cereal at 8 or 9 pm every night when we all finally land at home again after work, sports, and other activities.
I’m doing an OK job with getting enough exercise throughout the day. I find it easier to stand all day rather than sit at my desk, and I was recently gifted a FitBit and find myself getting lots of steps in throughout the day at work.
Sleep, on the other hand, has been a luxury I can’t often afford. Six hours (yikes) has been my norm most nights between staying up to spend time with my husband or older kids and having to be up early to get to work on time. I need to work on getting better sleep.
Resources:
Busy Mom: Mental Health
Learning a new job and adding some major logistics to our daily lives has been mentally exhausting. Finding time to just sit and “do nothing” hasn’t happened often, making it difficult to decompress and give myself mental breaks.
While I don’t “have time” to sit and watch TV (my schedule says I should be working, sleeping, or reading instead of mindless vegging), sometimes that’s just what I need to do in order to wind down after a busy day.
Resource: Self-Care Tips for Moms
Busy Mom: Spiritual Health
While physical and mental health are key components to a healthy and full life, none of it matters as much as spiritual health. If my heart and head are not aligned with the Bible, I’ll be out of whack in all areas of my life.
In-depth Bible study has had to be put on the back burner for a little while, and I’m focusing on simply staying connected to God through daily time in the Word and in prayer. I’ve been using “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp as a guide for my daily Bible reading and to set my mind on the gospel in the mornings, and I have a journal I jot down quotes or Scripture to pray over and/or meditate on throughout the day. I’m excited to get my copy of the Million Praying Moms prayer journal in a couple of weeks to help better focus my daily prayer time.
Resources:
Staying healthy during the busy seasons of life takes extra intentionality. Intentionality doesn’t always come naturally to me, so I’m trusting that God will continue to use the Holy Spirit to guide and prod me when and where He sees fit.
