How to Schedule Downtime in Motherhood: Thoughts from Your Therapist Palm Desert

Creating Opportunities to Recharge

Scheduling downtime as a mother can be challenging, but it's essential for your well-being. Your Therapist Palm Desert has some practical steps to help you incorporate downtime into your busy schedule:

Plan in Advance

Look at your weekly or monthly schedule and identify pockets of time where you can realistically fit in some downtime. It could be during your child's naptime, early mornings, or after they've gone to bed at night.

Communicate With Your Partner

If you have a partner, discuss the importance of downtime and work together to create a schedule that allows each of you to have some alone time.

Enlist Help

Reach out to family members, friends, or babysitters who can watch your child for a few hours, giving you the opportunity to have uninterrupted downtime. You can choose to stay in the home and rest, nap, plan a phone call with a friend or leave the house to walk, meet a friend for a beverage or read in a park.

Use a Planner or Calendar

Write down your downtime periods in your planner or digital calendar to make them feel more official and help you stick to the schedule. Scheduling helps remind you why taking these moments for yourself is so important. Even if when the time arrives, it might not feel like an ideal time.

Set Boundaries

Communicate your downtime schedule to your family and let them know that during those times, you need uninterrupted space for yourself. This is not time for you to be engaging with more responsibilities. This is an opportunity to rest, relax and recharge so when you return, you are ready to return to the demands of parenting.

Be Flexible

Life with children can be unpredictable, so be open to adjusting your downtime schedule when necessary. If you miss a planned session, find another time to make up for it. Remind yourself how important taking care of yourself is and commit to creating the space for yourself.

Minimize Distractions

During your downtime, turn off your phone or put it on silent, avoid checking work emails, and focus on activities that recharge you. These activities will be different for everyone, but Your Therapist Palm Desert likes to suggest opportunities that bring you outside like walking, reading/resting in a park on a blanket, grabbing a beverage and sitting outside to enjoy it slowly, taking a phone call while strolling your neighborhood.

Engage in Activities that Energize You

Whether it's reading a book, practicing yoga, meditating, painting, or going for a walk in nature, choose activities that bring you joy and relaxation. Remember this particular moment in your day or week is mean to recharge, not deplete you. Allow yourself to consider what that means and looks like for you.

Avoid Guilt

As a mother, it's common to feel guilty about taking time for yourself. Remind yourself that self-care is essential for your overall well-being and that taking care of yourself allows you to be a better parent to your child(ren). As long as your child is with a safe, present adult, you both will benefit from the time apart.

Be Kind to Yourself

If you can't find extended periods of downtime, try incorporating small moments of relaxation throughout your day, even if it's just a few minutes of deep breathing or mindfulness exercises.

Remember, scheduling downtime is not selfish; it's an essential aspect of maintaining your mental and emotional health. It allows you to recharge, reduce stress, and be better equipped to handle the demands of motherhood. Don't hesitate to prioritize yourself and create a healthy balance in your life.

Therapist Palm Desert, Lauren Fox, LCSW

I hope this blog on how to schedule downtime as a mom was beneficial for you. If you or someone you love is wanting more support in their motherhood journey, reach out to me! We can schedule a 15 minute phone consultation to discuss what is happening for you and explore if more individualized mental health support could be beneficial for you. I would be happy to help get you connected. Feel free to call me at 805-930-9355 for a free 15 minute phone consultation. If you are looking for help with pregnancy, postpartum, pregnancy loss, infertility, birth trauma or hypnotherapy, you can read more about how I can help within this website.

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