40 Ways to Sneak Self Care During the Holidays

Yep, we might have to sneak in some self care during the holidays as busy moms. When the holidays strike up the mad dash begins. I’ve been seeing so many moms sharing that they haven’t even bought any presents for the kids yet and we’re half way through December! Now, I’m not one to believe that Christmas is all about gifts, far from it, we only buy about 3 things for the kids. But, I think it does show that we’re overwhelmed. As moms, we are taking care of so much, still trying to keep all the plates spinning, while upping the ante during the holidays that some of the simple things become chaos filled.

There’s typically an order of importance when it comes to the limited amount of time we have during the holiday season. We are tasked with making plans for Christmas and New Years, attending holiday parties for work or with friends, planning out a menu if we’re hosting, buying Christmas gifts, taking family photos, sending out cards, and so much more.

So where do we fit ourselves in the mix? These tasks are on top of our regular duties. If you’re anything like me you also try to make the regular duties a little holiday themed as if I don’t have enough on my plate. For example, we don’t just have pancakes in December on Saturday mornings, we have Santa shaped pancakes and I like to sprinkle in some Christmas light viewing with hot chocolate dates a few times here and there. Plus I’ve decorated the house and will have to take it all down in a few weeks.

But, making sure we’re not completely spent by the time New Years gets here should be on our lists as well. We talk endlessly about self care and needing to build in the time on a regular basis, and the holidays, despite their hectic tendencies, are no different.

Self care is not just a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity.

As busy working moms, we can’t expect our bodies to run, run, run and never charge them up! Life doesn’t work like that – if you keep going all November and December there’s probably a high chance when you set your New Year goals you won’t have a solid plan, you’re just plain TIRED!

I firmly believe that fitting in self care during the holidays can be easy, it doesn’t have to be this long drawn out ordeal. Self care can be as simple as you want it to be as long as the main goal is that you are recharging and taking some time out to listen to your own needs, and tend to them.

Here are some ways you can sneak in self care while still tending to your holiday festivities.

1. Buy your favorite holiday drink and drink it alone before heading home
2. Listen to your favorite holiday album from top to bottom
3. Watch a Lifetime or Hallmark movie – the cheesiness will calm you for sure
4. Find a Christmas themed candle, light it, and work through a devotional
5. Stop by the massage chair in the mall for a mid shopping break
6. Take an afternoon to decorate a space just for you for Christmas, this could be your office, closet, your bathroom sink – any space that’s yours!
7. Attend a yoga or fitness class to balance out all of the holiday eating
8. Schedule a facial the week of Christmas to prep yourself
9. Ask for help with something you’ve been putting off
10. Walk through your neighborhood and look at all of the holiday decorations up close
11. Pick a few times to pray over the holiday time and your family
12. Write out what you’re grateful for 5 days in a row
13. Schedule doctors appointments for the beginning of the new year now
14. Teach your children a tradition from your childhood Christmas 
15. Stretch for 15 minutes – this can be in the morning while getting ready, at your desk during the day, or right before bed
16. Schedule a hair appointment or nail appointment especially if it’s been a while, you might do it all in one day if possible
17. Plan out your self care regimen for the new year – block the time now
18. Start a new Christmas tradition with your family that you enjoy
19. Schedule a coffee date with your best friend – even if it’s over FaceTime 
20. Mediate in your car for 15 minutes before leaving work
21. Make a list of 10 activities that you enjoy and plan to do more of in the new year
22. Read through a chapter of a book each day until New Years
23. Do a brain dump and write out everything on your mind or everything you want to complete in the next month (learn about it here)
24. Learn a new skill – it’s easy to find videos on YouTube to learn something new or find a class local to you
25. Write in your journal during lunch for a whole week (journal prompts here)
26. Ask your partner for 30 minutes to spend connecting this weekend
27. Iron out the details of your morning and nighttime routine
28. Make a Christmas playlist of your favorite songs
29. Go to bed 30 minutes to 1 hour earlier than usual
30. Plan a night out with girlfriends – maybe a Christmas party to exchange gift or just to a holiday happy hour
31. Choose a drawer or closet to organize
32. Avoid social media for the day
33. Take your vitamins or buy new ones
34. Write some self affirmations, loving on ourselves is the best form of care
35. Put on a sheet mask and sit quietly to enjoy
36. Plan a date night, again think holiday! There’s always something going on around Christmas
37. Take a random class
38. Turn off your phone, this can be for just an hour or whatever time you can accommodate
39. Do something creative, I love to put together photo books of the kids or bake something I’ve never made before
40. Give a gift to someone else, it’s that time of year, put those extra special people on your list

Let this be your reminder to practice some form of self care during the holidays and work your way through the list!