Having some Me Time and My Personal Well-Being

Being a mum to a toddler, renovating our family home and running my own business certainly keeps me busy! I love it, but I’m constantly up to my eye-balls and constantly putting something or someone else before myself. A work-life balance has always been extremely important to me and I preach this to others, but sometimes need to remember to listen to my own advice.

Having some time to focus on yourself and your mental and physical well-being, is so important. You just won’t be motivated, proactive or even functional, if you don’t look after yourself….so everything suffers in the long run.

I therefore make it my mission to try and dedicate some time in the week just to me. This might be to exercise (rarely if I’m honest), read magazines or more often than not, my favourite is to have a nice relaxing soak in the tub.

Thinking about my tips for maintaining your personal well-being, here’s a few I’ve come up with that work for me…

My Personal Well-Being

1. A long soak in the bath

I like to have mine in the early evening, when the hubby does the bedtime routine with the toddler and before I’m too tired. We’ve got a large tub, that I fill as high as I can before using some amazing bath oils, like these from Olverum. Olverum bath oils are truly luxurious and make me feel like I’m in a spa, at home. The smell is divine and you only need a few drops to transform your bath experience. Teamed with a couple of candles (and a glass of wine), makes the perfect relaxation and me-time.

2. Clear your mind

Way easier said than done I know! But sometimes you truly have to empty your mind to be able to relax. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have at least 5 things going on in your head at once (the shopping, the bills, nursery pick-up time, what to make for dinner, work…) and you get used to it! But that doesn’t make it healthy.

I find using a meditation app on my phone or just closing my eyes and concentrating on zoning-out really works. It’s taken me a while to be able to do it, you do have to train yourself, but it’s so worth it! Just give your mind a break once in a while!

3. Eat well

Again, when you’re busy, sometimes this is easier said than done. I often end up submitting to the local take-away when I just don’t have the time or energy to cook dinner, but it never really makes me feel better for long. Cooking something from fresh, with good ingredients and packed full of veg, inevitably makes your brain and your body function better! So sometimes, taking that time to make a good meal, is so worth it!

4. Try to exercise

There is no point in me lying here. I don’t currently workout 5 times a week, but I’m building back up to it! Exercise is always bottom of my list, especially when I’m busy or stressed with work and life in general. I’m not particularly good at it and I’ve never broken through the wall of loving it! But when I do push myself to do it, I ALWAYS feel better afterwards and I usually sleep better too!

So I know it’s one of the things that I need to continue working-on, but at the moment I’m getting about 3x 20-30 min dedicated exercise sessions done a week. Mine are done at home, so I don’t have to eat into my limited time in the day to work and I usually watch online yoga tutorials or use the home-workouts that the amazing Vicki Mellard put together for me!

5. Talk to someone – get energised!

Working for yourself or from home, can be great, but it can also be lonely and isolating. It’s easy to become de-energised and forget that there’s life happening outdoors. If you don’t have colleagues to bounce-off, it’s tough to keep the momentum going at times.

I tend to get my energy from other people – it’s something I’ve learnt about myself. I am happy working solo and getting my head-down, but need to balance that with interacting and working with others too, to keep me happy and motivated.

Running WeBlogNorth, has given me so many friends that are in their own ways, total bosses and really inspire me! One of these ladies is Kat Horrocks who runs her own businesses and is a total babe with it! I have to make sure that at least once a week, I’m talking, meeting or working with someone else to keep me going! It really helps in those moments of self-doubt or when I’m feeling a bit deflated.

I mention Kat specifically, as we recently filmed this Q&A together for her Youtube channel. I’d never done anything quite like this before, but Kat is such a pro at making you feel at ease and we bounce off each other, so bizarrely, I forgot the camera was even there.