Before I became a mom, my days were pretty structured.
I knew what I’d be doing at 10 a.m. every Tuesday. I knew when I was working, exercising, running errands, and most importantly, when I had time for myself.
Then I got a boss.
More than a year later, I’m still adjusting to his management style. He’s demanding, has very specific expectations, and apparently I need to respond to every little peep. Yes, I’m talking about my toddler.
And those of you who told me, “Just wait until the toddler years,” I have officially arrived.
My days aren’t nearly as predictable as they used to be. There are days when I have a plan and my toddler has a completely different one. There are days when I look at the clock and think, How is it already this late? And there are days when I have to move things around because life simply doesn’t care about the schedule I carefully created. But there’s one thing I don’t want to remove from my calendar: Time for myself. My daily ritual. For me, that includes movement.
I have chronic tendinitis in my foot related to RA, and regular stretching and exercise are important parts of how I manage my pain. So I’ve learned to work movement into the day instead of waiting for the perfect uninterrupted hour. I also try to prepare a healthy lunch ahead of time because when I don’t, the chocolate-covered raisins that sit on my desk start looking like a reasonable meal.
I’ve come to recognize that the routine that worked beautifully for me a year ago simply doesn’t fit anymore. As solo professionals, parents and generally busy humans, we’re constantly taking care of everyone else. But our health is part of how we lead, work, and show up.
We can’t outsource the actual experience of “me time”, but we can outsource the friction that prevents us from getting it.
Getting that hour back can mean asking for help, delegating the task that’s been sitting on your plate, or letting someone else handle the things that don’t require you.
That’s why I loved this perspective from Sarah Parise, Wellness & Accountability Coach.
Sarah has spent more than 20 years helping overwhelmed women build health habits that survive real life. And her message is a good reminder as we enter a new season:
Maybe your routine doesn’t need to disappear. Maybe it just needs to change with you.
Here’s Sarah’s take…
I’ve spent over 20 years helping overwhelmed women build health habits that actually survive real life. Here’s something I’ve learned along the way: the moments we usually treat as disruptions are actually the best opportunities to build a new routine.
Fall is one of those moments. So is a new job, a move, or the first week of a new school year. Any time your environment shifts, you get a natural reset point that January 1st only pretends to give you. Nothing has to be forced when everything around you is already changing.
Most of us approach change like a resolution: pick a date, overhaul everything, hope it sticks. It rarely does, because the environment stays the same. A season transition works differently. The school bell is already ringing at a new time. The light is already shifting. New habits don’t feel like force, they feel like they belong.
Here’s the part that matters most: you don’t need a five-part morning routine to make this meaningful. You need one small ritual, something that carries meaning, not just function.
If your kids are heading back to school, claim one quiet moment once the house empties, coffee in silence, a short walk, anything that marks a clean handoff into your day. If you’re starting a new job, build a small transition ritual, the same song, the same few minutes of quiet, something that tells your brain it’s time to switch gears. If you’re relocating, bring one familiar ritual with you on purpose, like the same evening walk or the same Sunday routine, so your nervous system has something steady to hold onto. If it’s simply the season turning, let a small sensory shift, a warmer breakfast, a candle in the evening, tell your body it’s allowed to shift its energy too.
None of this needs to be elaborate. The smaller and more repeatable, the more likely it sticks. Transitions are disorienting by nature. A ritual, even a two minute one, gives you something solid to stand on while everything else is shifting around you.
So as the season turns, ask yourself one question: what is the one small ritual I want to carry with me into what’s next?
Sarah Parise is a Wellness and Accountability Coach with 21 years of experience as an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and a Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology. She’s the founder of Great Days By Sarah and creator of The 2% Method, built on the belief that just 2% of your day, about 28 minutes, is enough to change your energy, consistency, and how you show up for the people you love.
Sarah primarily works with women 35 and older who are ready for a wellness approach that finally fits their real lives.
She lives in Raleigh, NC, with her husband and two daughters, where she’s usually working out, traveling, or embracing the chaos of raising girls.
Want to connect with Sarah?
Final Thoughts
Our routines will change. Our schedules will get interrupted. Life will throw a toddler, a deadline, a new job, or something we never saw coming into the mix. We won’t always get the quiet morning or the uninterrupted hour, but we can look for the small things that help us feel like ourselves again. “Me time” doesn’t have to mean finding an extra hour in an already packed day. We can look for smaller pockets of time that are actually realistic.
A few things that have worked for me:
- Put it on the calendar. If it matters, give it an actual spot instead of hoping you’ll find time for it.
- Think in minutes, not hours. Ten minutes of stretching or sitting quietly with your coffee still counts.
- Look for the friction. What’s consistently keeping you from taking that time? Is there a task someone else could handle? Something you could simplify? Something you could stop doing altogether?
Shamayne Brown is a virtual assistant and the founder of Camp Virtual Assistance.
She works with busy executives and solo professionals who are ready to invest in their business and need the support that she offers.
She specializes in creating email newsletters as well as other admin and creative design tasks.
Click here to connect on LinkedIn.
Click here to set up a discovery call.
