My goal for March was to relax and when the month started I realized that I didn’t really know how to do that. I constantly felt like I was on the go and that to-do lists and chores were always looming over my head. So I decided to try some new strategies to help me relax, here is what worked.
- Listening to more music. I’ve always just enjoyed turning on my favorite songs, they put me in a great mood and turning the music up and singing along is a great way to relieve some stress. This month I made a conscious effort to turn on our stereo more. Jack and I listened to the Disney Pandora station a lot and I listened to the DMB station. Some days need a soundtrack and background music just makes things better.
- If I had to find one single thing that helped me feel more relaxed it would be getting up earlier. By having some “me” time at the beginning of the day I was able to get some things done and just have the quiet time I desperately need. There have been days where getting out of bed is hard but getting up early really has made my life much happier.
- No chores after 8 has worked as well and was a lot easier than I thought, though some days by stopping chores at 8 meant that I had more to deal with in the morning.
Some of my strategies I’m still working on, specifically putting my phone down after 9. Many nights I found that John would be watching something on TV and I would check Facebook or browse Pinterest or read blogs on my phone. Which isn’t awful but I feel like I should make better use of that time and do something like read a book. I did work on my never ending Mickey Mouse puzzle and I picked up my crocheting again.
The biggest change that made bedtime more relaxing was surprisingly ending Jacks afternoon nap. While there were a few (OK a lot) really long days, by the time bedtime came around Jack was exhausted and went right to bed. Which put an end to the endless curtain calls at bedtime leaving time for me to unwind and relax.
Last week I sat down and watched Frozen for the second time and as I was sitting there eating a snack on the couch I realized I was truly relaxing, no distractions, no work sitting on the back burner. And it felt really good, to just enjoy something as simple as a movie.
This month the happiness project is moving in bigger and better directions. I recently found out that my friend Jennifer was planning to start a happiness project and we’ve teamed up to bring more happiness to our lives and hopefully to the lives of our readers with a Live Happy Link Up.
Each month we will be focusing on a different area of our lives to focus on simplifying and improving. We are kicking off the link up on April 7th with our month long focus on Fitness. Increasing, improving and working towards better overall health.
This can be done by sharing workout routines, fitness photos, healthy recipes, favorite workout fashion pieces, etc. There’s no limit to what angle you can write from. We welcome any posts about happiness.
So start thinking about happiness and we hope to see you Monday for the Live Happy Link Up.
Leave a Reply