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Getting self help books for moms will be your lifeline in the early years of your parenting journey. When you first become a parent, everything and everyone makes it seem that the only important thing to do is take care of your baby.
Mom’s self-care is not discussed much, but it is essential. While caring for your baby is critical. If you, as the mom, are not doing well, your baby won’t do well.
When people often ask about the baby or kids, they forget to ask how you are doing. It can make you feel small or that your role as a parent is not as important.
As a mom, being in that space and understanding the feeling made me prioritize myself over my child. To be the best version of myself for my child and family.
It does not happen overnight; it can be hard to do in the early weeks and months. However, these best self-help books have made being a mom less daunting and allowed the fun to return regarding parenting.
Here is the list of the best self help books for moms.
Let’s start with time management. New moms will need books focusing on time management since the adjustment from zero to one child is a huge leap.
The below self help books for moms provide practical advice that you can use daily and see improvements in days, not weeks or months.
Best Books for Time Management
Time to Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You
This book provides a unique framework with eight quadrants, simple strategies to stay truly present and focused, clever tips to make the most of in-between time, and permits you to take personal time without guilt.
Also, the author appeared in Oprah Winfrey magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and we all know Oprah only adds top-tier people in her circle.
The Brown Mama Mindset: A Blueprint for Black Moms on Life, Love and Home
This book will efficiently manifest your life’s purpose on a timeline conducive to raising happy, healthy, and well-rounded children.
Also, this book will help you engage in productive relationships from a place of self-love and abundance rather than control and lack.
Finally, you can view your home and the role of being a Brown Mama for what it is: your breeding ground for self-mastery.
Mommy Burnout: How to Reclaim Your Life and Raise Healthier Children in the Process
This book will help to identify if you are suffering from depression and anxiety that requires medication, burnout, or all three.
If your burnout can jeopardize marriages in surprising ways, why do working moms envy at-home moms, and at-home moms envy working moms?
Their levels of dissatisfaction are surprisingly similar if your burnout makes your kids feel, how it can even be contagious, and why burnout makes you feel like your life has no purpose.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
This book provides practical strategies and proven ideas to help you create good habits, stop destructive behaviors, and improve your life with a simple, four-step process for making small changes that compound into large, positive results.
Here is a more extensive list of the best time management for moms books to get you on a great schedule as you start your motherhood journey.
Best Personal Development Books and Books for Personal Growth
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice from Dear Sugar
This book is by New York Times Bestseller Cheryl Strayed, who provides “column style” advice.
Doing so makes the tone more inviting for moms who don’t like being told “what to do” but also want a way to get inflation that is practical and relatable.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
If you are looking for a whole new level, this book will teach that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again.
This book comes in a series; this is book 1 of 3. It’s from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo, a top tidying expert helping people worldwide transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration.
A Journey to Self Discovery: How to Master Your Inner Power, Change Your Mental Habits and Transform Your Life!
In this book, you will learn how to transform negativity, self-doubt, and low self-esteem into positive thoughts, discover your true self and develop your tools for finding self-awareness, overcome fear and anxiety, and develop a powerful mindset looking forward to success and happiness instead of dwelling on past failures and negative emotions.
Crystal Clear: A Journey of Self-Discovery (From Public Housing to Ivy League)
The book Crystal Clear: A Journey of Self-Discovery offers a narrative of personal growth and academic achievement by providing life lessons that influenced Crystal’s journey.
Narrating the entire story of rejections and hard lessons that inevitably led to the realization of truth and growth and offering action steps and ideas worth noting at the end of each 8 chapters to aid you on your journey of self-discovery.
Self-Love Workbook for Women: Release Self-Doubt, Build Self-Compassion, and Embrace Who You Are
This workbook is designed to help you Fall in love with yourself using a variety of compassionate exercises rooted in mindfulness and positive psychology.
Also, it includes inspiring prompts and motivating activities to enhance your ability to explore all that you are with quizzes and journaling exercises that will help you tap into your emotions and let go of limiting beliefs. Includes writing space for reflection and introspection.
Great for moms and women looking to do the work at their own pace.
Different Ways of Using Detailed Guidance
Out of all the books you will read, below are some main concepts you will read about. It’s important to remember that everything in the books will make you a more empowered mama.
The goal is to spark joy in your life so that you can be the best version of yourself for your family, friends, and yourself.
Get Up and Get Moving
Moving your body is very important for your mental and physical health. It can release stress, become a great distraction, and allow you to escape the nuance of parenting for a few.
If you live in colder climates, you might not be able to go outside until the weather changes.
However, you can create a space in your home to get moving. Some of the favorite exercises for moms that are also family-friendly include:
- Yoga
- Pilates
- Walking
- Lunges and Squats
You can do these exercises throughout the day; they don’t require you to break out in a deep sweat. Playing with your kids is another excellent way of getting up and out.
If you have small children, dance with them, have them run around at the park, or play pretend with them. Not only does it have significant benefits for the kids, but it’s a great way to bond while doing something for you in case you can’t always have a break from the kids.
Pamper Yourself Daily
Finding time to pamper yourself is hard as a mom. With all the responsibility motherhood includes, you can’t even get time to go to the bathroom yourself.
There is a way to do this if you do it in a way that creates a boundary for yourself. You will see that it is possible and that you can be successful in doing it.
Create a Morning Routine. This can be five minutes of uninterrupted time focusing on your skincare. If you are looking for the best self care for moms products, I share it in my recent post.
You can do this before the family gets up in the morning. You won’t be disappointed with how easy this is to do and incorporate into your day.
If you have toddlers, use their nap time for five minutes of self care. Having a drink for a favorite snack or even listening to a podcast or book is a great way to reset your mood throughout the day.
Socialize and Make Time for Friendships
Making friends as an adult is very hard. It’s even harder when you become a parent in the last few years with the global pandemic happening.
While you might be able to make friends with parents you see at your kids’ events, depending on age, it can be years before you are in a space where that is possible.
Some are lucky to still be in contact with friends from school, college, or childhood friends, which can be helpful when needing to talk to adults.
After having children, it will be harder to maintain some of those relationships, especially if your friends don’t have children, but finding ways to connect will be vital for you as a mom and woman.
Fun activities to do with your friends:
- Travel
- Girls’ Night (At home or out on the town)
- Brunch
- Day Trips
These are just a few activities, but there are more ways that you can find to socialize with your friends. Other forms of making friends could include joining your school volunteer club, your kids joining sports teams, or helping at your kids’ daycare.
Eat Well and Things You Love
Who doesn’t love eating their favorite foods? If you’re like me, some of your favorite foods are the unhealthiest things to eat but taste good and make you feel good too.
While eating your favorite foods occasionally is mom’s goal, you will also want to focus on eating good foods.
One, because your kids are looking at what you eat, and you want them to see that you are making good choices, you also need fuel to get you through the day of parenting.
Imagine your toddler wants to play with you, but you are always tired. Some of that comes from your diet.
I’m not saying that you should completely change your diet and what you are eating, but I am saying that finding a few healthy foods that you can snack on throughout the day is a great start.
Keep in mind it’s best to try and eat these snacks when your kids aren’t around because if you are eating, your kids are eating it as well, so I would snack in your car while they are napping or out of the house.
Some snacks that are great for energy that everyone can eat:
- Bananas
- Peanut Butter
- Almonds
- Watermelon
- Greek Yogurt and Granola
- Turkey
- Skinless Chicken
- Blueberries
- Eggs
Seek Therapy for the Best Mom-Self Care
As a first-time mom during the start of the pandemic, postpartum depression and anxiety almost made my first year of motherhood impossible.
Motherhood is the most challenging job globally. Without the right tools and resources, it can seem like you are alone and may want to give up.
Therapy is a great way to discover the work you need to do to be the best version of yourself, and the best part is that you can make it all about yourself. There are many types of therapy, and you can pick the one that works best for you.
Many moms go to therapy at the beginning of their journey, and it’s allowed them to grow and understand better ways of using what they have to make time for themselves and have that “me time” that is needed.
There are several resources to find a therapist, but my favorites are Therapy for Black Girls and Better Help.
Both sites offer ways to find a therapist in your area that fits your budget and needs. Also, many employers offer discounts or a certain number of free sessions.
So you want to look into taking advantage of this.
With the online, in-person, or hybrid options, this is one of the best ways to take care of yourself. Get your concerns heard, and heal from any motherhood trauma.
Therapy Options Available for Busy Moms
On my Instagram, I talk more about my postpartum journey and write about it. You can click here to read more about it and play the videos below where I discuss this matter.
No one talks about everything that comes with motherhood, but it’s important to remember that mom self-care should be at the top of all conversations to protect motherhood.
Moms can do everyday things to ensure simple steps are taken to care for themselves. Making yourself a priority will help your kids and family in the long run.
Final thoughts on the best self help books for moms
Having a go-to list of self help books for moms is not easy to acquire. As busy moms, in the early weeks of parenting, you may feel like you barely have time for yourself.
All the books listed in the post are easy-reads and available in audiobooks. You can get the help you need in the best fashion for you.
From career development to practical tips for everyday life, developing good habits and finding the perfect book to help you be the best mom you can be will help you improve your emotional health, mental health, and physical health.
With a little bit of planning, you could be the mom you want to be in the next days, weeks, months, and years by reading any of these books to see how they can change an aspect of your life.
Every mom has their own experiences, which is why it’s so important to find a community. While you are building a community, social media, the top picks for the best self help books for moms and a close friend can be the start of living the life you want as a busy mom.
It doesn’t matter first-time moms. If you are a single mom or now belong to the empty nest club, if you want to make a life change, you can.
It starts with changing just your daily routine and life’s priorities which is easy to do once you understand that a good life is a life of a happy and free mama.
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