Take a Break! We’ve Got 5 Tips to Help You Recharge for Your WFH Mom (or Dad!) Life

For parents managing work and family life under the same roof, carving out a true break during a work-from-home day can be tricky at best. While working from home offers flexibility, it can also turn any downtime into a blur of emails, phone calls, and household tasks. You might switch from managing conference calls one minute to mediating sibling disputes the next. If you need easy relaxation ideas for work-from-home moms, we’ve got a few for you!

And, yes, we know it’s hard to take a real break. There’s always something else that seems more urgent. But that break is like an oxygen mask. Taking some time off will let you take stress down a notch, especially if you’re dealing with intensive work. You can also recharge your energy and calm your nervous system. In other words, taking breaks helps you do better at your WFH career and parenting, too.

Learning to be intentional about scheduling and taking rest breaks will pay off by protecting your mental and physical health. So, are you ready to rest? These tips are here to help!

1. Protecting Your Personal and Work Time

Setting healthy boundaries with your work life begins with having clear start and stop signs for work. A regular schedule can help, but this can be harder if you have young kids at home. So finding ways to communicate your work boundaries can help.

To help your family know when you’re available and when you need uninterrupted focus, you can:

• Work in a space with a door you can close when you need to focus on your work.
• Play a special playlist your family can learn to recognize as your “pay attention” music.
• Make a sign to hang where your family can see it (use pictures if you have non-reading family members.
• Wear a special accessory that shows you’re busy – I used to use a rubber stretchy bracelet to let my kids know I was busy.

2. Taking Tech-Free Breaks

Your eyes can suffer digital strain if you spend too much time staring at screens without a break. Your mind also craves time without emails or the pinging of work notifications.

Give your body, mind, and soul what they need. Step away from tech for a few minutes, an hour – or maybe even a weekend.  

Things to try:

• Power down your laptop or work computer
• Silence your phone, and maybe put it in a separate room
• Close the door to the room where your devices are if you feel too tempted to go back to them.
• Avoid the television.
• If your kids are home, invite them to join you in tech breaks. Their eyes need rest, too!
• Make a list of things to do with tech breaks so you don’t feel lost when the time comes.
• Think about how to engage your senses and ground yourself in the present moment.

Need some ideas on what to do? This video on tech break ideas for families can help!

3. Trying Movement-Based Relaxation

Taking breaks for physical activity can give you immediate stress relief. Plus, you’ll have better mental clarity when you return to your work.

Even a two-minute mini-break for activity can provide great benefits. Try getting up and moving for a couple of minutes every half hour you’re at your desk, and take a longer active break at lunchtime if you’re working a full day. That movement session will help you shake off any morning tension. It will also prepare your body and mind for productive afternoon work sessions. It’s a win/win!

Need some ideas? You can do these by yourself or with your at-home kids, too (though they’re likely to take longer when children are involved!).

• Take a brisk walk around your neighborhood. Even just the end of your road or around the block can be enough. I have friends who make their post-lunch walk around their block both an exercise and a chance to connect as a couple.
• Practice some gentle yoga stretches. Have kids at home? Get them in on the action. You’ll all probably be more relaxed after, too, which is a great payoff for everyone!
• Tend to a house chore or your garden for a few minutes. This doesn’t just get you up and moving, but it helps you tick things off the household to-do list at the same time. And that can lighten your mental load, allowing you to focus even better when you return to work. Need to fold laundry, empty the dishwasher, weed a flowerbed? Go for it!
• Have a mini family dance party! Or play balloon catch, pillow fight, tag, Simon Says, or another active game. This connects you to your kids and makes it easier for them to wait when you need to focus on work, because they know something fun will be the reward when you take your break.

4. Practicing Mindful Eating

Did you know that you can transform a meal or snack into a meditation by eating slowly and deliberately? Mindful eating is a technique that can help you slow down and focus on the flavors, scent, texture, and feelings you have while you eat.

Even better, you can do this with your kids to get them off to a better start in their lifelong relationship with food.

Here’s a few tips:

• Prepare something nourishing that requires minimal cleanup. Mindful eating doesn’t need to create more work in your life!
• Sit at your dining table or somewhere other than your workspace. Your goal is to relax into the experience, which isn’t going to work very well if all your tasks are right there in front of you.
• Eat slowly. Making a simple shift from gobbling fuel to mindful nourishment can have a great impact on your focus and mood during your next work session.
• Pay attention to your food’s flavors, textures, and aromas. You’ll feel more satisfied and give your mind a true break.

Not quite sure what mindful eating is or how to do it? This video on the mindful eating technique is for you!

5. Embracing Micro-Adventures

When it comes to easy relaxation ideas for work-from-home moms, not much can top going on mini adventures, especially with your kids. Because kids see the world differently from adults, you’ll look at even familiar surroundings with fresh eyes. Plus, you’ll add bonding time to your day, making it easier to separate when you need to get back to work.

Micro-adventures can be bigger, like visiting a state park or geocaching (I did this with my adult son one afternoon, and we had a great time trying to find tiny treasures hidden in our area). Or they can be tiny, like taking a magnifying glass to the backyard for an hour or just playing in the leaves.

These mini experiences and excursions stimulate your mind and help you feel connected to your community, too. This can ease the isolation that sometimes comes with remote work.

Here are a few quick ideas to do with your kids or solo:

• Explore your immediate surroundings with fresh eyes. Or try closing your eyes and focusing on sounds, scents, or how things feel when you touch them.
• Visit a nearby park. Play, wade, or walk a nature trail. You’ll get fresh air and some exercise, too!
• Browse a local bookstore. My homeschooled kids used to love just hanging out in the children’s section (but it could be hard to get them to leave!).
• Try a coffee shop or restaurant you’ve never visited before. Bonus points if it’s a type of cuisine you’ve never experienced. If you live in an urban area, you could even make a game of “traveling the world” by trying various ethnic establishments.

Conclusion: Take A Break; Be More Productive

Your work and family will benefit from the personal time you take within your workday. And so will you. Using these easy relaxation ideas for work-from-home moms intentionally will nurture your well-being. You’ll return to your tasks with renewed energy and clearer thinking, too.