I think I speak for most of us when I say it has been an exhausting past few years. All of us have experienced so much upheaval and uncertainty in both our personal and professional lives that many of us are suffering from burnout. Medical professionals define burnout as a response to prolonged stress that leaves you feeling emotionally and physically drained and exhausted. If you find yourself constantly fatigued, emotionally numb, and unable to keep up with life’s incessant demands, you may be suffering from burnout.
3 Ways to Exercise When You Don’t Have Time
Whether the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in your well-oiled exercise routine or you lacked a routine to begin with, one thing is certain: with gyms closed and more work and family demands on your plate than ever before, fitting exercise into your daily schedule has become yet another impossible chore. You know it’s important but even when you have the time, the idea of continuing to stare into your laptop screen for a 30-minute exercise class after a long day of working from home is… less than appealing. The good news is: home work-out videos and online exercise classes aren’t your only options for staying fit.
How to Actually Fall Asleep
So you finally made it to bed. You’ve done your bedtime routine and you’ve turned off all the lights. You’re exhausted, fully prepared for sleep, but your mind just won’t stop racing — overwhelmed with thoughts, feelings, and to-dos. The longer it takes you to fall asleep, the more anxious and stressed out you become which, in turn, makes it even harder for you to drift off to sleep. Once your head hits the pillow, how do you actually relax into a peaceful slumber so that you receive the full benefit of a restful night? Here are a few ways to clear your head and surrender yourself to the pleasures of sleep…
Renovate Your Bedtime Routine
Sleep is a fundamental component of our lives. It allows us to reset, recharge, and refuel, so that we can make the most of our days. Unfortunately, with so much weighing on our minds, the last few months have thrown many of us off our sleep game. Because sleep is such a critical aspect of our mental and physical health, now is just as good a time as any to get serious about the quantity and quality of our restful hours. And the best place to start is by renovating your bedtime routine.
How to Buy Yourself Back Some Me-Time
Once you have kids, finding any uninterrupted time in the day that’s just yours — to just be quiet, to just think, or to just get one small thing off your own to-do list — is really hard to come by. But, believe it or not, it is possible to buy yourself back some me-time after you have kids. You just have to be super organized and intentional about it. You don’t want to find yourself hiding in a closet just to steal a moment to yourself. You want to build it into your family’s day.
When Life Throws You Curveballs
Parents are constantly juggling responsibilities: work, household logistics, personal and professional relationships, loving and raising the kids, all while trying to find time for self-care, exercise, hobbies, and a little shut eye. On a good day, managing this juggling act is a delicate balance. What happens when life throws you a massive curveball?
Getting Past the Guilt of Me-Time as a Mom
When Glenn Close won a Golden Globe for her role in “The Wife” earlier this year she said something in her acceptance speech that made me stand up in my own living room and say “Preach!” She talked about her mother, (who’d spent her life supplementing herself to her father), and who, in her eighties, told Close that she felt hadn’t accomplished anything because of it…
To Achieve Your Goals — Focus on Others
Over the holidays, I went to Puerto Rico to visit family for their annual Christmas Party. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, I didn’t know what to expect and arrived prepared for anything — from bringing fun, good energy to help my relatives take a break from the stress, to rolling up my sleeves and helping with the recovery.