Have you ever thought about why you can't relax until you've finished your to-do list?

I don't know about you, but I used to find it so hard to relax until I had ’got everything done’.

We live in a world where we’re taught to value ‘productivity’ and ‘achievement’, and we feel guilty or not good enough if we’re not constantly working or ticking things off lists.

I 100% felt like this before I had a baby.

I would wake up on a Saturday, deep clean my house, do the food shopping, go for a run and get my life admin done. Then in the afternoon I finally allowed myself to chill.

But that got so much harder (i.e. impossible) when my first baby was born. The jobs list got so much longer, and the time I had to get things done shrunk to practically nothing.

And I really struggled - the habit was so engrained in me to constantly ‘be productive’ that when I was sitting feeding my baby, or when she was contact napping on me, I felt really guilty that I wasn’t doing the cleaning, the washing up, the cooking, the laundry, doing exercise……I felt like O was failing.

If you’re pregnant, or a new mum, and you can relate to that feeling of not being able to relax when there are still things to be done, I would love you to think about how you might feel when your baby arrives and the list is never ‘done’.

How will you carve out downtime? How will you cope knowing that you’re 'just' sitting watching Netflix and feeding your baby, when you could be doing something ‘useful’?

Can you reframe those thoughts??

❤️If you’re with your baby, you ARE being productive - you’re feeding your baby, bonding with them, helping them learn to regulate their emotions

🤍Remember that you need to rest so that you can be there for your family

❤️What jobs absolutely have to be done today, and what can wait?

🤍Is there any way you can get help doing those jobs?

❤️What do you do to really truly relax and switch off your mind? Reading a book/listening to an audiobook, listening to music, really enjoying the taste of a hot drink? Can you use that time ‘productively’ by using it to intentionally rest and relax?

🤍 And if you really can't relax at home when you're surrounded by your to-do list, is there any where else you can go to relax?

Does the feeling of not being able to relax until you’ve done everything resonate with you?

Katie x