You’re scrolling past yet another cringe-y selfcare caption when it hits you: you could really use a break – it just better not be a bubble bath.
Your kids are in this “push each other’s buttons all the time” phase, your husband isn’t much help ‘cause he’s on overtime at work, and you?
You’re fighting back a cold that you picked up at the last family gathering (from volunteering to hold your sniffly niece so your sister could get a break), but you’re pretty sure it’s a losing battle.
So you could definitely use some “take care of me” time.
But whoever wrote that caption got it all wrong.
- Getting your nails done doesn’t fix your me time problem; getting someone to cook dinner for you does.
- Filling the tub for a long bath doesn’t help you get through the long kids-and-clients day; having someone else fill your fridge with groceries (so you don’t have to interrupt your full-to-the-gills call schedule) does.
- Taking yourself out for lunch isn’t going to deal with the pile of undone projects on your household to-do list; but asking someone to take your kids to the park for 2 hours so you can food prep uninterrupted does.
Rewrite the definition of selfcare (“indulgent optional luxury”) to “seeing to my own wellbeing,” and you’d be all over it.
You’re just not down with the “girls’ night every week” and “solo trip to Hawaii” types.
(Which is half of what’s turning you off about even USING the word selfcare.)
But it’s true, you really DO need some attention toward your own physical body. Your own energy.
Like, workouts 4 times a week (your PREFERRED kind, not whatever “75 Hard” is going ‘round the internet right now); enough protein in your pre-prepped lunch to take you through that all-too-familiar 3pm slump; and a good-enough stock of herbal teas that you never feel uninspired on which one to pick for your evening “tea plus journaling” ritual tonight.
See, this is why, when I’m setting up your perfect right-sized schedule for you in my “20 hours a week back” program, I’m going to be taking the housework OFF your plate and putting it on someone else’s.
Whether that’s your 7th grade son, a once every 2 weeks housekeeper, or your 9 year old daughter.
Because YOU can’t get the time you need for true selfcare if you’re still scrubbing toilets, unloading groceries, and running the vacuum.
So outsourcing’s gonna be your secret key – and I’ll show you exactly how.
Now if you’re stuck on selfcare ideas as an entrepreneur – that DON’T fall in the bath bomb category – here’s what I’m doing for myself.
These days for me, it looks like making SURE I get in my own solo walktime without the kids.
(That’s hitting both the movement front AND the “time on my own to process” front.)
And then I need some time to hit the visualizations and guided meditations, ‘cause I’ve found that they really DO make a difference (vs. when I just keep plugging on through my to-do list).
And I ALSO need to have something to do at night that’s not screen time – or my brain stays up till midnight (but I’ve got a 6am alarm going off, and I need 8 hours of sleep).
So that’s selfcare, as well, to actually have a physical book to read or curl up with my husband or yak with the kids.
Now, to make TIME for all of this, you better believe I’m outsourcing.
- Spaghetti tonight? Not cooking it anymore. The 11-year-old who thinks spaghetti is his favorite meal – he’s gonna do it.
- Thawing all the meatballs for said spaghetti? Naw, he can do it – I showed him where the bag was in the freezer and how to nuke the right number in a bowl.
- Setting the table for pasta tonight? He’s also handling that – multi-tasking while the water heats up.
- Calling everyone for supper? Yep, it’s his favorite part.
And guess what – 35 minutes is just about right for me to get in that solo meditation walk, and feel all “talked out” in a good way on my mindset blocks.
- So is it selfcare to use just the right essential oil to help you sleep tonight?
- Is it selfcare to ask your 9-year-old to clean the bathrooms for you while you throw together an eat-in-the-car meal?
- Is it selfcare to ask your partner if he can pick up the Costco order on his way home from work tonight?
Yes, yes, and yes.
So start swapping “what will refill my energy bank” for “treat yo’ self.”
Because you owe it to yourself to finally start delegating.
And it’s time for you to actually feel that day-in, day-out confidence in your role as mom, entrepreneur, and all-around high achiever.
DM me when you’re ready to streamline your “too much going on” plate.
