The Fab Mom On 2: 3 Quick Tips for Avoiding Mom Burnout
Stress and busy family schedules are an inevitable part of modern motherhood. Complete burnout, defined as "physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress," can quickly follow. How do you get ahead of burnout as the school year starts? Consider these fast tips:
- Streamline schools, activities and location of errands so that they are in the same vicinity. In 2015, Los Angelenos each spent about 81 hours in traffic; moms don't have time for that. Work/life balance expert and author Samantha Ettus suggests keeping as many of life's errands and necessities within a moderate "golden triangle" distance that falls inside your place of work, home and kids' activities and schools. Sure, you might be emotionally committed to getting your hair cut across town or that very first piano teacher that your child has had since the age of 5, when you lived 40 minutes away from where you live now, but make the effort to change and organize your whereabouts so you don't have to stress sitting in traffic on account of carting everyone to where they need to be.
- Only volunteer at school when your child can see you there. Many working parents want to be involved in school activities in some way, but taking time off can be complicated. Commit to only volunteering for times when you know your child will actually see you contributing efforts in the classroom or at a special event. We're volunteering for our kids, after all, so don't fret about wasting time being tucked away organizing the library books if your child can't see you doing it.
- Schedule breaks for yourself, by yourself. One hour of down time per week can do wonders to refresh even the most stressed parents. Research has found that certain creative-thinking parts of our brains become active when we're not doing anything task-oriented at all; down time is healthy for long-term productivity, energy and the ability to handle stress.
If you're inspired to treat yourself to down time, Zeel.com is the original and largest massage-on-demand app in the nation, available in 34 cities from 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m. 365 days a year. All therapists are vetted in person, licensed, experienced and insured. No membership necessary.
Jill Simonian is a Parenting Lifestyle Contributor, appearing on CBS Los Angeles every Wednesday on News at 5pm and Friday mornings at 6:45am. Her personal blog is TheFabMom.com. Follow Jill on Twitter @jillsimonian and connect with her on Facebook.
