What Does It Take to Stay Energetic as a Busy Working Mother?

Juggling the responsibilities of a single working mum can be incredibly difficult. You have to look after your kids, you have to progress in your career, you might need to maintain your relationships with your friends and you have to also manage your own stress levels. Staying energetic under these conditions can be incredibly difficult, but we’ve put together a long and informative article that will teach you everything you need to know about becoming a super-mum with all the energy and positivity in the world.

Stay energetic by looking at your diet
One of the first things to look at is your diet. Food gives us energy when its broken down by our digestive system with most of it being absorbed into our body as healthy nutrients and minerals. The body prefers to run on carbohydrates, or more specifically, glucose. However, it can also use the fat in our bodies and also proteins.

As a result, you need to facilitate this process of gaining energy by having a healthy diet that complements it. We’ve broken down the most important points and organised them into this simple-to-read list:

• Don’t skip any meals. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner to ensure that your body has energy throughout the day. Going for too long without food will mean your blood sugar levels drop, hurting your energy levels throughout the day.
• Eat more healthily. This means adding more fruits and vegetables, cutting out sugary products and also reducing fat and salt content.
• Stick to small meals if possible. Large meals tend to make you tired because your body switches its resources to digest the food. This means you’ll be tired, sluggish and ultimately less productive.
• Focus on iron intake. This should come mainly from iron-rich foods like lean red meats and green vegetables, but you can also get iron from supplements such as Maltofer. More iron means less chance of iron deficiency which could cause fatigue and headaches.
• Drink more water! If your urine is yellow then drink more until it’s consistently just a light tint of yellow. Too clear and it could indicate that there’s an underlying issue, but too yellow or dark and it usually means you’re not drinking enough water. A well-hydrated body performs better and contains far more energy than a dehydrated one.
• Caffeine can be a great help but don’t make your body rely on it! An extra hour of sleep each day can do wonders and moving your body off the caffeine reliance means that when you do consume caffeine, it has a much greater effect and requires less to be effective.
• Never overeat! Eating too much forces your body to use energy on digesting food which can make you feel slower throughout the day. When eating, always cut down your portions and focus more on getting your work done and being more productive

These are just a couple of the most important tips that you should follow in order to fix our diet. Just keep in mind that your energy comes from within, so an energetic lifestyle will definitely require a healthy diet and good eating habits.

Improving your working energy
The next problem we’ll tackle is the workday. Whether you’re working in an office building or in a retail store, it’s important to look for ways to improve your energy levels throughout a busy workday. There are many different ways to do this, but we’re going to look at a couple of useful strategies that you can implement into your day without much hassle.

For starters, think about your workspace. It might not seem like much, but the way that you set up your desk at work or general workspace will make a huge difference in how much energy you have throughout the day. For instance, if you work in an office and frequently sit at a desk to use a computer, then you need to remember a couple of things:

• Take frequent breaks – You don’t want to be stuck in the same posture for too many hours a day, so take breaks whenever you finish parts of your work so that you can stretch your legs.
• Don’t slouch your back – Slouching can destroy your back over a long period of time and you need to keep a straight posture throughout the whole work day. Practice good posture by sitting up straight and using a comfortable chair that can support your back.
• Don’t be lazy with your snacks – Whether you eat breakfast, lunch or dinner while working, don’t be lazy and go for a fast food option just so you can sit back down and work again. Pack a meal from home or consider healthier options so that you can stay topped up with energy.
• Speak to your manager about any issues – It could be your feet hurting from standing too much or your back pains from having a low-quality chair. If you experience any issues, make sure you talk to your manager to seek a solution that could improve your productivity at work.
• Avoid eye strain – If you experience headaches during work then you need to take some time off from the computer. Breaks can combat eye strain but there are other methods, such as using computer glasses, that can make a difference and help you feel more comfortable at work.

Aside from your workspace, you should also consider your relationships with people at work. Negative relationships can cause a lot of conflict in the workplace that could be mentally taxing to deal with. In addition, having positive relationships with your co-workers can actually increase energy levels because you’re enjoying yourself and stimulating your mind with conversation.

All of these factors will help to improve your energy levels throughout the day at work and help you conserve energy so that you don’t return home feeling completely tired and worn out. You work likely takes up a considerable amount of your time in the day, so make sure you don’t underestimate just how drastically it can affect your energy.

Focusing on better sleeping habits
Lastly, let’s talk about sleeping habits and how they can affect your energy levels.
We all know that sleep is essential for recharging the body and giving you the energy you need to tackle the following day. However, your sleeping habits such as how you wake up, how you fall asleep and even bedtime rituals can all have an impact on the quality of sleep you get.

A lack of sleep is obviously bad, so if you’re sleeping too little each day then you’ll want to fix that issue. Some people are just built to run on less sleep so if you don’t actually feel tired despite only sleeping 5 to 6 hours a night, then you should be fine without making any adjustments to your sleep schedule. However, if you’re lying to yourself and find that you sleep for over 12 hours on the weekends to make up for it, then you’re doing yourself no favours. Sleep debt is a real issue so if you’re sleeping differing amounts each day, you’ll want to fix that sleep schedule as quickly as possible.

One major issue with sleeping habits is being able to actually fall asleep. To help you out, we’ve prepared a couple of simple tips to help you get a better night’s sleep.

• Avoid napping. Naps will mess with your internal clock and imbalance your energy levels. If you have to nap, then you’re likely wearing yourself out throughout the day and not getting enough sleep.
• Balance light and dark! You’d be surprised at how important it is to balance the light and dark that your eyes get because it can help to keep your circadian rhythm stable.
• Exercise can help expend energy and help you fall asleep. If you find that you’re restless at night, consider doing some exercise to help you stay in shape and also use up excess energy so you can fall asleep.
• Practice a bedtime ritual. If you do the same things every night before you fall asleep, then your body will naturally fit to your sleep schedule and slowly calm down as it nears your bedtime.
• Set a relaxing bedroom. You should set the scene by playing some relaxing music if you need it, cutting out distractions and ensuring that your room temperature is cool enough to sleep in.

By practising these sleep habits, you’ll find that you can easily get to bed when you need to and also wake up on time to a brand new day with increased energy levels.

Final words
As a busy working mother, you’re going to experience a lot of physical and mental stress that will push you to your limits. It’s important to think about yourself and your own condition in order to stay healthy enough to perform your job to a high standard while also looking after your family to the best of your ability. It’s not an easy task, but these tips will certainly help.