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This post is all about how to pull yourself together when you’re feeling overwhelmed by life.
Whenever life seems to get overwhelming, I cannot function. Household chores pile up, I can’t seem to get my daily to-do list in order, and life is just crushing me. These moments always feel like my lowest and darkest points.
When I stayed at home full-time with my kids, I felt overwhelmed. I felt understaffed, and I couldn’t get my head above water. I was drowning, and I had to make a change. I had to get myself together. I knew I could not operate under these circumstances forever.
I know, at one point in your life, that you could probably relate to the idea of having to pull yourself together. You knew that things had to change, and they had to change quickly. If you did not change the way you were currently living, you felt like you were going to go insane.
You may be asking yourself, “how to get myself together?” Know that you are not alone, and there is a light on the other side of the tunnel.
Pull Yourself Together
1. Meet Yourself Where You Are
Give yourself grace and have compassion towards yourself. You are a human being who is constantly making decisions and on the verge of burnout. If you are a mom, then you know there are days you are struggling.
Take five minutes for yourself and enjoy a cup of coffee/tea, and appreciate getting yourself to this very moment.
2. Do a Social Media Fast
I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I love the inspiration, DIYs, alternative thinking, and connection I get from it. However, the darker side of social media is the deadly comparison trap. The wealth of everyone’s highlight reels.
“This mom has it all together with her routines, career, money, and marriage. Her kids seem so well behaved, and mine are wild animals.”
“She’s so pretty and polished. I look like Adam Sandler in my sweats.”
“Their house is beautiful….mine is a dump and small.”
Our brains were never meant to consume this much data on a regular basis. There are so many studies on the harm and rewiring it has done to our brains. Not only that, it can make you feel like you are the only one drowning and everyone else is succeeding.
Do yourself a favor and take a break.
3. Spend some Intentional Time Alone
As moms, it’s extremely hard to carve out time for ourselves. Even more so if you are a full-time SAHM. Create a pocket of time where you are completely alone and able to not worry about the day-to-day things.
If you are a morning person, wake up at least 30 minutes before the kids. If you are a night owl (like me), stay up 30 minutes later than the kids. This is the time when you do whatever you want.
You can also use this time to meditate, journal, pray, or just lie in bed without distractions. Reconnect with yourself and breathe. Clear your mind and let everything out of your control go.
Activities you can do alone:
Whatever allows you to reset after a long day and feel like yourself again is a good activity to have. Try to indulge daily or once a week.
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4. Have a Dedicated Skin Care Routine
Another hack to pull yourself together is to put yourself together. You don’t need overly expensive skin care products. I found that Palmer’s Facial Oil Cleanser, E.L.F and a Vitamin C face oil have been getting my skin right. All can be found at your local drugstore or Amazon.
I habit stack this by using my shower time to always have a small bit of self-care time. I always feel ready for my day, refreshed, and loved after my skin care. Pour into your physical appearance and be intentional, and I promise you’ll feel refreshed.
5. Braindump a To-do List
I LOVE braindumping. It’s a chance to declutter your mind and get your thoughts unscrambled. Don’t worry about trying to make it make sense or put dates to it yet (unless you have to, like appointments). This is to free your mind of constantly trying to remember tasks, making it tired.
Capture everything that has to get done: taxes, homework, business tasks, chores, appointments, personal goals, etc. Everything that has to get done goes on the list.
Now, after the braindump, start to attach dates and timelines. Once you see your life on the calendar, it might feel a little jarring. But now you can clearly see when and where you need to be on any given day. You’ll also see that most of the tasks you’ve been avoiding won’t take much time at all.
6. Boost your Confidence & Do the Quick Tasks
Pull yourself together by tackling the tasks that’ll take five minutes or less. Tons of little tasks can either be finished in five minutes or can benefit from a five-minute burst. What is a small task that can make a big difference?
Examples:
Dusting may not make a huge impact unless your house is caked in dust, and the same with decluttering. Unless the clutter is clearly visible, that may not be a right now task.
Post you may like: 10 Best Ways to Deep Clean Your House
7. Create Systems & Routines to Support You
“You do not rise to the levels of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”
- James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
Atomic Habits was one of my favorite books and completely changed my thought process. Creating routines, timeblocking, and systems will make it impossible not to achieve your goals.
Create a daily schedule, wake up earlier than normal, and keep track of your progress to reduce the sense of overwhelm and help you put yourself back together.
8. Create a Budget Tailored to Your Needs
If you follow any financial gurus, they will all tell you that you need a budget. However, these same gurus will try to have a cookie-cutter budget and rules. I don’t agree with some of the “rules,” and I recognize that everyone’s life is different.
You must have a budget to see where your money is going, and so you can tell it to go somewhere productive. Even the rich have budgets that they adhere to. Drowning in your finances is stressful, but to pull yourself together, you must have a financial plan.
Massive amounts of debt, low savings, and low sinking funds can lead to a crushing feeling that only a budget can fix. No, a budget won’t magically whisk all the debt away, but it does give you clarity and a game plan.
9. Find Hobbies That Don’t Need to Be Monetized
Find hobbies that feed your soul, and that won’t be turned into a side hustle. We have become a society that can’t enjoy restorative rest. Everything has become about money and how to make more money.
I am not ignorant of the fact that life has also become increasingly expensive and that we all need 5 jobs and a side hustle to scrape by. However, in the thick of just trying to survive, we need to rest, reset, and recharge. Pull yourself together by recharging daily and detoxing from the day.
Hobbies to Try:
10. Carry a Planner
Nothing is remembered if it’s not on my calendar. This is like the final piece to pull yourself together, a planner that has all your to-dos, a braindump list, meal planning, and more. My brain is at its happiest whenever there is a clear plan for the day, even if I don’t complete everything on my to-do list.
11. Show Up For Yourself
This is easier said than done. Pull yourself together by showing up for yourself. Whatever goal you have for the day, complete it to the best of your abilities. If you only have 25% to give and you give all 25%, then you gave 100%.
Life is a marathon, and the big moments are just tiny moments that are built on top of each other. This feeling of overwhelm is just a season, and this shall pass. Day by day, you can push through and smile a little brighter.
This post was all about 11 life-changing hacks to pull yourself together when life feels overwhelming.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does pull myself together mean?
The phrase pull myself together means to get out of your own head and stand up tall. In life, we can all fall into a depression, a state of overwhelm, or even self-doubt. This is where you take a small step forward, even if life took you ten steps back.
Why can’t I pull myself together?
You can’t pull yourself together because you may not have a plan or a supportive system in place. Make a plan to become 1% better each day, find your support group, and create a system to help you achieve your goals.
How to get yourself together?
You need to come up with a clear vision of where you want to be and who you want to be. From there you can come up with a plan to pull yourself together and make small yet meaningful changes.
Pin this now and read it again when you need a boost.
