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How to Keep Your Focus on Being a Mom During the Holidays Part Three

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In our third and final day in discussing ways that we can keep our focus on being a mom during the holidays, I’ve got six simple ways that we can restore balance to our lives again in this area.

Let’s first recap where we’ve been, reviewing the first nine things we’ve already talked about.

We’ve covered:

  • Stop trying to be perfect
  • Surrendered the notion that we can do it all
  • Intentionally creating peace in our lives
  • Finding contentment and thankfulness
  • Seeing to it that our physical needs are regularly tended to
  • Committing to controlling what we can control while letting go of the things we can’t
  • Decided on some things to let go of
  • Found something inspiring to pursue
  • Planned some fun in our lives, ideally once a day

Before proceeding today, it would be a great idea to read both of these posts in their entirety. You can do that by clicking on these links for How to Keep Your Focus on Being a Mom During the Holidays Part One and How to Keep Your Focus on Being a Mom Part Two.

Now, let’s move forward with six more things to help you focus on being a mom at this busy time of the year.

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Journal

I will admit that I am rather hit or miss with journaling. For me it is time dependent, but I always find it so freeing when I take the time to journal my thoughts and feelings. Every time I make the time to journal, I always scold myself for not being more regular with it because I always find it to be so beneficial.

That being said, the times I find it to be most beneficial is when I’m struggling with something, which is exactly what we are talking about here. If you are struggling to keep your focus on being a mom whether in this season or any other, this is a great time to pick up a pen and paper and just pour your thoughts, feeling, dreams, fears, or whatever else comes to mind onto that paper. Oftentimes, “venting” on paper is just as good as venting in person, which can often get us into some sticky situations. Journaling provides us with the opportunity to “say” things that maybe we shouldn’t actually say. This is why journaling can be such a great option here.

Reach out to a friend

Sometimes there is just nothing better than receiving some encouragement and support from a trusted friend. These are the kind of friends that I spoke of in The Beauty of a Network of Friends and Do You Know How to Be a Good Friend? Reach out to a friend who you can be real with. Much like journaling, venting about our struggles, insecurities, and challenges to a trusted friend can be such good medicine for our weary soul.

Schedule something to look forward to

I am referring to creating your light at the end of the tunnel. Similar to an incentive, having something to look forward to can serve as a life preserver when times get rough. I don’t know about you, but it is so much easier for me to walk through a trying season when I have something to look forward to pulling me along.

When my husband finishes nursing school in May, we have committed that at some point within the year that follows, he and I will be taking a vacation, which is something we have never done since having kids. It might only be for a few days, but we are doing something to celebrate this long, grueling, and emotionally and physically draining season.

This is the light at the end of my tunnel right now. Having this planned, although not even knowing completely what it will be, keeps me going.

Commit to something that challenges you in the new year

It seems a bit contradictory to think about challenging ourselves within the context of trying to “find” ourselves, but when we challenge ourselves, when we take on something bigger than ourselves, and when we step outside of our comfort zone, we always find great reward. It is in accomplishing things that seem impossible to conquer to us at one time that we gain confidence, we gain self assurance, and we boost our sense of self worth.

Maybe you have been on the fence about whether to join us in the Make Over Your Mornings course that I wrote about yesterday, but maybe this should be the push you need to actually commit.

It is a course that you have to purchase, but being forced to purchase something means that you will have a bit more skin in the game, which can be a good thing when it comes to challenges that we have to put time and effort into. It is only $17, which makes it quite affordable, but it is a commitment to putting forth some time and effort into something that will impact your life in such a positive way.

Whatever you choose, commit to something that will challenge you in 2016.

Celebrate you

We are so good at criticizing ourselves. We we are quick to see our faults, and then often beat ourselves up about them for good measure. However, in trying to keep your focus on being a mom, celebrate your many accomplishments as a mom. Celebrate what you do well. I promise that you have plenty of things to celebrate if you commit to just finding them.

Whenever we are feeling down, it is always beneficial to find something to celebrate in ourselves. Doing so is not being prideful, we are just giving credit where credit is most likely overdue.

The truth is, being a mom is hard work, and it is a job that we do every day. The days often seem to run all together, and the days are so unbearably long at times. Did you care for your kids today? Then, you have something to celebrate.

Take a day off

That’s right. Take a day off. I know, I know, there is so much to do. Maybe it isn’t feasible that you take tomorrow off or any day before Christmas, but, some time in the near future, take a day off. When we are weary, worn out, and feeling lost, taking a day off is such great medicine.

Some day soon, stay in your pajamas, watch videos, eat cereal as a meal, and don’t do any of the things that you’re supposed to do. Just take the day off. I promise, all those things that you are supposed to do will still be there waiting for you the following day.

There is nothing like taking a day off to fill our souls.

Being weary as a mom is so hard, and it is for this reason that I wrote A Realistic Action Plan For the Weary Mom: 15 Days of Hope From The Intentional Mom. At under $4.00, this might be a useful investment for you in this season of life, too.

If you are feeling as though you’ve lost your focus as a mom, you’ve got 15 things you can do throughout this mini-series to help you find your way again. Don’t let the stress and demands of this season keep you from being the mom you want to be.

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