5 Things I Do to Hit the Reset Button

Right now, I’m in a little bit of a funk. Perhaps it’s this insanely long (and cold) winter. Perhaps its the fact that we are coming up on one year with Heavenly, and nothing has changed since day one. Perhaps I’m just tired and a bit stressed and lonely. Maybe I’m struggling with some borderline depression. 

Whatever it is, I’ve got to hit that reset button. It’s nothing crazy, but several times a year I reach a point in my life that a reset just has to happen.

I mostly wanted to write this post to share how I do hit that reset button. As you all know, we don’t have a lot of money nor do I really have the capacity to take a longer period of time away from my kids. That means that all the things I do to hit reset are things that can be done for nearly free in the comfort of my own home while still completing my mothering and home managing duties.

1. Take a Break from Social Media. I find that as I sink farther and farther into being overwhelmed, I turn more and more to social media. I turn to it to numb me, to encourage me or to tell me my worth. Unfortunately, none of that actually works, and it usually makes it worse. Sure, taking a break from social media means that I lose followers and I lose my spot in the algorithms, but I have found this to be my single most effective way to hit reset. I usually go off social media for a weekend, a week, or a whole month. Have you tried it before?
2. Find a Book I Love. I love to read, but I don’t LOVE every book I read. Sometimes I find that I just need to put down whatever book I’m working through and pick up a book I LOVE. A book that I don’t want to put down. Usually, for me, this needs to be a novel that I can just read and relax with. A self-help book is probably not what I need in this time!
3. Clean, Organize and Purge. There is something about taking just five minutes and organizing a space that makes me feel like I may just have my whole life together. Honestly, I want to clean my entire house and get rid of so much stuff, but if I start with just one small shelf at a time, eventually my whole house will be clean. My goal for Spring Cleaning this year? Empty one shelf/drawer in each room of the house.
4. Get Outside. This one is cliche and everyone says it, but it really is one of the easiest ways to hit refresh. Now, I know…this one is weather dependent and I’m not a happy camper about that. However, if the weather is over freezing, I know that I can bundle my kids and take them out for just a few minutes. If the weather is nice, I love planning an entire morning or afternoon outside. Sometimes, for me, I need to make the time and space to just go for a walk or a run all by myself. Sometimes getting outside means just walking to the mailbox and back. But even that small amount of effort helps so much!
5. Do Something for Someone Else. Honestly, this season of life has me somewhat overwhelmed. It seems that all I do is take care of others. I take care of my officer. I take care of my kids. I take care of a foster kid, for heavens sake! I feel burnt out with taking care of others. But sometimes it takes stepping out of my little zone and realizing that there are still people out there who could use my help, and maybe even the help of my kids. It can sometimes be something as simple as writing a card and sending it in the mail. Or sending a friend a text to see how they are doing. It might be more involved like bringing a meal to someone in need, or serving at a church function or a homeless shelter. Sometimes taking that break from our busy life and focusing on someone else is exactly what is needed. It helps me to take the focus off myself and put it on someone else. Then, when I come back to my own life I am abundantly thankful for what we have.

And with that in mind…I’m going to follow my own advice. I’m going to take a little break from social media and even from blogging for a while. I’m not sure how long. It could be one weekend and not even noticeable. Or it could be a month or a season or just until I finally feel like I’ve hit reset on my thoughts and emotions. I’m going to get outside and do things for others and just rest and remove myself from the comparison trap that social media often is. Don’t worry, if you need to get ahold of me, I will still be reachable by email or phone!

I also would love to hear from you. How do you hit the reset button? What types of things do you cut out or add in in order to restore some rest and order from the chaos? Obviously, we would all love to take a tropical vacation without kids, but that’s just not a possibility, so let’s stay realistic here. When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, what do you typically do to overcome that?