Make time for yourself
We hear this message all the time. We need to make time for ourselves. We need to take vacations. We need turn off our phones. We need to take care of ourselves (in whatever way that means for you: gym, yoga, spa, ect). What a grand and wonderful idea!
Who has time for that???
We are crazed. Forget about the added stress of the holidays. We are always multi-tasking. And most of the time we feel like we are always behind.
We have lives. We have children, husbands, parents, siblings, girlfriends, boyfriends, jobs, carpools, practices. The list goes on and on. I think I feel it most in the morning. As a working mom, I always feel like I'm juggling too much in the morning trying to get myself and my kids out the door. As a result, getting dressed in the morning is something I need to do with ease. I plan my outfit the night before, making sure that whatever I'm wearing is clean and wrinkle-free. Even though I plan the night before, I still don't have much time to do it. I'm usually picking something just before getting into bed at which point I'm so exhausted that the last thing I want to do is put any effort into pulling together a cute outfit. I'm sure many of you feel the same way.
Since this is the case, I wind up wearing a rotation of outfits that I know work. No time for switching things up or incorporating something new. But after a while you can get bored. So how do you find time and energy to add that something new?
Here are a few ideas:
1. Make time for one big planning session on the weekend. One hour might be enough time to give you some ideas. Basically take out your work friendly clothing that you wear with the least amount of frequency. Lay out whole outfits (including shoes & accessories) and start taking pictures. If you're unsure of how something will fit, try it on! This is your chance. And then snap a picture of you wearing it! After an hour, you'll have a reference point for these new ideas that will help you incorporate them into your weekly wardrobe.
2. Shop in outfits: When you actually do have time to go shopping (even if it's just online), try to shop in outfits. Most retail sites have an outfits section that will help to give you some ideas of how the clothes they sell can be coordinated. If you buy a new sweater think about what you're going to wear it with. If you can't come up with anything, look for the matching piece to buy with it. If you can't find something, re-think the purchase. Your money will best be spent in working around your current wardrobe. The pieces that you never wear are the ones that you can't coordinate or never have an occasion to wear!
3. Find multiple ways to wear one piece: We see this on websites all the time "How to wear our most popular dress 3 ways!" Retailers know you want to get the most out of your clothes. Find a piece that you can wear in multiple ways so that you can maximize your usage and minimize your hassle getting dressed in the morning. This can come in especially handy if for example, you're almost out the door and your sweet child spits up on you. We all dread this. But if by some miracle, your child only spits up on your sweater, the rest of the outfit might be salvaged if you knew how to wear the other pieces in another way.
Finding time for ourselves is never going to be easy, but maybe if we manage to steal a few minutes every now and again, it can help us to feel better about ourselves in the long run. If you can take the time to pull together a cute new outfit for work maybe it will help you to feel strong and confident the rest of the week! If we can do it once, maybe we can do it again. Try to find ways to add it into your routine. It can be once a week or once a month. Whatever works best for you is how you should start!