How to care for yourself when you don't care

As a mum of two, finding time for myself is always a struggle, especially as a person who struggles massively to even get out of bed in the morning, I just wanted to share a few things that have helped me, just in case anyone out there wanted tips on how to function when you just don't care enough to.

Do the Bare minimum, and let that be enough

Okay so I won't blame this one on being a mum. Some days my mood gets so low that normal daily tasks just become a second thought. I don't have a set alarm but I often wake up early which gives me a bit of time to myself before the kiddies wake up. Whilst i paddle through the wotsits and custard creams squished into my carpet, i sigh, think about life a little, and go downstairs to at least brush my teeth and splash some cold water over my face. I know what you're thinking, "well aren't you supposed to brush your teeth every morning, why is this even a thing?", you are correct, we are meant to brush our teeth every morning but as someone who has been struggling with my mental health, taking care of myself and my own hygiene has been something that I have neglected massively. Some days I go to my little office set up at home, stare into space for hours on end, sign off for my shift, and then lay back in bed wondering where my day went. There are gaps in my mind that I can't seem to fill when it comes to remembering what's happened throughout my day.

A journal a day keeps the bad moods away

If you're not a blogger, perhaps try keeping a journal or diary entries. One thing that I've found to help me function or even care for myself is writing down what I've been feeling and why. As someone who has no one to talk to or as a person who feels like nobody can truly understand how I feel, I blog, and that's one of the main reasons I've started this blog. I just let out how i'm feeling, even if no one reads it, this is my outlet. My brain processed my emotions but my conscience doesn't so being able to write out the feelings that my brain are over processing gives my conscience time to understand how my brain feels. Reading how i'm feeling helps me understand how i'm feeling which for some strange reason is very healing for me.

Practice gentle self-talk

Sometimes, it's okay to just exist. If you're having one of them days where you just want to stay in bed, under the covers, away from the world, tell yourself that it's okay. Today is just not your day and that's fine, we can restart tomorrow. A lot of people like to point out how unhealthy it is to just shut yourself out from the world, and most of the time they're right, but sometimes that's exactly what we need to mentally heal for at least a day.

You're still here, and that means something

You don't need to be 'better' or 'mentally well' to be worthy of caring for yourself. People like to state that there's no excuse to not do xyz, and the truth is there doesn't need to be an excuse. On days where I could barely function, I'm not worrying about user101 on a tiktok post invalidating the struggles that people with mental health have. I'm still here, and so are you, so for now that counts for something and that itself is caring for yourself even though we just don't care.