5 Ways to Keep Your Life Balanced As a New Parent

Mums Tips

Parenting Skills

Published on Friday, 24 May 2019 14:11

Last Updated on 24 May 2019

Monica Costa

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You know what they say about being a new parent, right? That they’d never get any time to sleep, that they run almost exclusively on caffeine and have to spend all their time sprinting back and forth, and all that kind of stuff?

Well, there’s obviously some truth to those stereotypes. Babies are fragile and entirely dependent on their parents, and need plenty of attention, care, and focus, for a significant amount of time. 

Being a parent is easily one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things you could ever hope to do in your life, but it would be great if you could find a way of balancing your time and routine out, so that you could be there for your child, but also have the odd moment for pampering yourself, and pursuing your casual interests.

Here are a few thoughts on ways to keep your life balanced as a new parent.

Put in the effort to look your best – even if that only means a 10-minute beauty routine each morning

When you’re running around taking care of your baby, in every waking moment, of every day, it’s likely that you’re not going to be spending a huge amount of time practising a beauty routine, or trying out different outfits in the local stores.

The thing is, when we completely cease to take care of our looks and presentation, we inevitably begin to feel pretty bad about ourselves, and aren’t likely to experience a high degree of overall well-being and confidence.

This, then, can snowball into us refusing social contact with others, and withdrawing more and more into our own worlds – even in those free moments we do have available, when we could be out catching up with friends or relatives.

To counteract this, and maintain balance, you should really try and put in the effort to look your best – although, of course, you’re not going to be able to spend hours a day styling yourself up.

Simply having a 10-minute beauty routine that you follow each morning and evening, however, can really help to keep you feeling optimistic and positive, and at least somewhat like you’re not letting yourself go completely.

Your beauty routine can include something as simple as a daily face wash, application of BB cream, and accessorising with some bracelets and earrings (the kind that aren’t too likely to get tugged on aggressively by your baby.)

 

Use your precious spare moments for hobbies and activities that really matter to you – don’t just kill time idly

Assuming you are able to find any spare moments in your day as a new parent, it would be a really good idea to cherish those precious moments, and to actually spend them on productive activities, rather than simply “killing time” by spacing out in front of the TV, or swiping up and down your social media feeds.

Of course, no one is exactly “productive” all the time – and there certainly is a time and a place for pure, no-frills, entertainment. All the same, though, you should at least use most of your free time on “high-quality” forms of entertainment – in the sense that the things you do to relax and amuse yourself should also lead to some broader benefit.

Hobbies that help to make you fitter, smarter, or that help to develop a particular sort of skill, can be especially valuable here.

At the same time, any courses, classes, or interesting books, can offer an excellent outlet for your desire to unwind, while also developing you in some pretty fundamental ways.

Time is of the essence, especially if you don’t have very much of it at your disposal. You should try and get as much out of yours as possible – when you’re resting, as well as when you’re working.

 

Set yourself some personal goals for the future

It’s difficult to maintain a sense of balance in your life, if you have no clear goals or ambitions for the future. All of us are routinely caught up with various personal obligations and responsibilities over the course of our lives, but when those obligations aren’t put into the proper context, and when we don’t have some specific sense of what we are aiming for, it can be easy to become disheartened and jaded.

Obviously, when you’re raising your kids, you know exactly what it is you’re working for, and the work you put in will justify itself. But, what about other dimensions of your life, too?

Is there a particular level of physical fitness you’d like to achieve? Are you interested in starting your own business? Do you have some kind of travel bucket list?

By setting yourself some personal goals for the future, you are put in a situation where you naturally have to consider the different dimensions of your life, and how they relate to each other. This goal-setting process can be a great way of developing balance.

 

Do what you can to maintain some form of social life

Since babies are so dependent on us, and since raising them requires so much time, attention, effort, and energy, many new parents inevitably find that their social lives take a major dive, automatically.

Although it’s natural for your priorities to shift in life once you’ve had a child, everyone needs some degree of regular social interaction in order to remain happy and healthy.

Do what you can to maintain some form of social life, despite your new responsibilities. Just meeting up with another friend who is also a parent can be a good place to start.

 

Indulge your sense of humour, and have some fun on a daily basis

A life without laughter isn’t a balanced life, or a healthy one, either. There are bound to be plenty of challenges involved when you are raising a child, and plenty of moments of incredible joy, too.

But, there will also be opportunities, on an everyday basis, where you could choose to see the funny side in some particular frustration or issue that’s bothering you, and to then have a good laugh at your own expense.

Finding the humour in everyday moments and events can help to relieve stress, and can contribute to a more balanced life.