Decrease Stress and Enhance Your Energy With These Daily Wellness Tips

There’s one thing all veteran or new parents can agree on; it’s that you are more exhausted than you likely ever were before.

Between juggling work, errands, chores, and your kids, it can be difficult to manage everything while still getting adequate rest and relaxation; not to mention that many new parents experience chronic stress, depression, and anxiety.

These conditions can also make you feel more tired than usual and impact how you care for your child. Thankfully, if you’re not feeling yourself, a conversation with your doctor can set you on the right path to recovery. You can also prevent mental health issues with self-care.

The following wellness tips can help you decrease stress, relax, and enhance your energy.

1. Prioritize important tasks.

No one is perfect, and you won’t be able to do it all. Sometimes your expectations for yourself are simply too high. As a new parent (and even a parent of multiples), it’s important to not set unrealistic expectations for yourself. Make hard choices and prioritize what’s most important; this can help take the pressure off while allowing you to improve your overall output.

2. Incorporate physical activity into your day-to-day life.

While it’s difficult to think about engaging in physical activity when you are already tired, exercising can actually increase your energy levels and even your quality of sleep. Exercise delivers nutrients and oxygen to your tissues, which helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. In turn, this improves your heart and lung health, giving you more energy to manage daily tasks.

As a parent, you are likely short on time. The simplest way to fit in physical activity is to sneak light exercise into your daily activities. For example, did you know that vacuuming for one hour can burn up to 266 calories? You would be surprised how easy it is to be productive while still incorporating exercise into your schedule.

Want to learn more about household chores that also burn calories? Check out our blog, Dusting Off The Calories: How To Meet Your Daily Exercise Recommendation With Household Chores.

If you are a working parent, completing household chores is also a challenge in your busy schedule. Check out our blog for some wellness tips on fitting in exercises while at work: How to Sneak in a Workout While Working + Easy Desk Exercises.

Here are a few more wellness tips to fit exercise into your everyday routine:

  • Take your child for a walk in the park or neighborhood
  • Roughhouse with your kids
  • Have a dance party
  • Play tag in the backyard
  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Walk the long way
  • Play “The Floor Is Hot Lava”
  • Make a game out of cleaning

3. Eat well-balanced, healthy meals.

It’s easier to grab a donut on the go rather than cooking a well-balanced breakfast, but it’s important to prioritize healthy eating. Nutritious meals can not only help you maintain a healthy weight, but it can also improve your memory and keep your energy levels up.

Maintaining a healthy diet of foods rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients can help protect your brain from damage, support memory and development, and increase your energy. Ultimately, eating the right food and the right amount of calories is the foundation for feeling your best every day.

4. Establish a sleep routine for yourself and your kids.

You may already have an established sleep routine for your kids: bath, brushing teeth, reading books, then bed. However, it’s also important to prioritize a sleep routine for yourself. Just as your kids appreciate having a routine and knowing what’s coming next, you will as well. With an established sleep routine, it can help you stick to a schedule and ensure the proper amount of sleep each night. 

Deep sleep allows the brain and body to recuperate and develop. Failing to get enough of a deep sleep (NREM sleep) and REM sleep may explain the significant negative effects on your thinking, emotions, and physical health. This is exactly why doctors and scientists recommend that you get at least seven hours of sleep each night; so that your mind and body can reap the benefits of four to six sleep cycles.

Discover more researched-based sleep and wellness tips in our blog, The Complete Guide to Understanding and Getting Better Sleep.

5. Reduce your social media and screen time.

You may find yourself scrolling through social media while rocking your child to sleep or even after you put them to bed. However, excessive screen time is not only harmful to kids but adults as well.

Several studies have found that adults spend an average of 11 hours per day staring at a screen. While some of that time is unavoidable for office workers, the hours of extra recreational screen time is not good for your overall health.

Research suggests that those who limit their time on social media are often happier than those who do not. People who were more prone to social comparison and had more negative social interactions online experienced higher levels of depression and anxiety.

Our recommendation? Take frequent breaks from social media and let yourself have a “social media detox” every now and then. The less time you spend scrolling online, the more time you will have to rest, relax, meditate, or do any other stress-free activities of your choosing. 

Prioritizing Your Mental and Physical Health as a New Parent

By establishing these wellness tips every day, you’ll naturally create more time for rest and relaxation. From eating a healthy breakfast to limiting screen time, you are likely to find it easier to enjoy your day and accomplish tasks.

Want a helpful printout of these wellness tips and more? Download your free copy of the Wellness Tips Checklist below!

ER Near Me October Offer - Checklist Wellness Tips for New Parents