How Can I Be Proactive About My Health?

Are you proactive about your health? The healthcare industry has learned about the benefits of proactive care. It means they focus on preventing illnesses rather than just curing them. However, don’t leave it all up to the doctors. After all, if you make changes now, you won’t need as many doctor’s visits.

Instead of worrying about your life expectancy, be proactive about your health. Ditch the junk food for healthier snack options. Ensure you’re getting enough vitamins. To stress less about future emergencies, double-check your life insurance policy. Consider viatical settlements to avoid future financial hardships. Check your family history of chronic illness. Ask a financial planner to help you sort through your health and life insurance policy. And, if all else fails, research CBD and anxiety; perhaps CBD could help you to manage your stress and stay calm.  Here’s a Lazarus coupon. Read on for a few tips to a more proactively healthy life.

Pick healthy over health trends.

Are you staying healthy, or are you buying into health trends? Switching from one fad diet to another is as bad as no diet at all. And, a lot of those exercise trends may not be right for what you need. If you want to be proactive about your health, you need to be healthy all the time.

It’s not as difficult as it sounds. A few tweaks to your diet are better than a binge and purge routine. Pick natural ingredients and wholesome food. Cut out or balance your intake of junk food. Don’t cut out all your favorite treats—balance how much you consume instead. Get a little activity every day, rather than a few intense sessions of a trendy exercise. Make it a habit instead of thinking about it as a chore.

Don’t leave anything to chance.

Do you have the right health insurance? What about life insurance? Do you need a group policy? And is your insurance company the best one? Being proactive about your health means continually updating your records. And, of course, your insurance policy.

As you age, you may want to look into things like a viatical settlement. If you’re not particularly wealthy, the cash value of your life insurance can be valuable. A written agreement for a viatical settlement can help you out here. It can even help your family with a death benefit in case of sudden death or terminal illness. A good viatical settlement company or a broker of viatical settlements can help you negotiate the best viatical settlement contract. You can also check rates on a third party website.

Also, make sure that you have savings for health issues like a chronic illness. Check whether your premium payment on insurance will rise in such a situation. Try to negotiate instead of taking the insurance company quotes at face value. Read the yearly report from companies with which you have signed a legal document. To be the most proactive, double-check, and update policies every few years.

Get regular checkups.

Do you know if you’re at risk of certain diseases? When was the last time you had a cancer screening? It’s important to get checkups in any case. However, ensure that you know your family history and get checkups accordingly. Knowledge of family history alone won’t determine how long a person lives. It can, however, help you to prevent known risk factors. The best way to be proactive about your health is to take preventive measures. So, don’t skip doctor’s visits.

Focus on more natural remedies.

Do you know everything about all the medication you take? It’s easy to pop a pill every time you feel ill. However, some people can have an adverse reaction to over-the-counter drugs as well. And, taking too many prescription medications can be risky.

If you’re trying to cut out all the medication, but still need some remedies — try CBD. You can get the highest grade non-GMO hemp, oils, tinctures, and pills. Of course, pick a trusted company to buy it from, like seralabshealth.com. With a trusted brand, you can ensure you get the highest quality CBD and the purest organic CBD extracts. Why pick this over medication? CBD products have natural ingredients. And, they help with everything from mental health to physical pain.

And CBD has all your proactive skin health-related products covered too. Pick from CBD facial toner and CBD body butter. There’s CBD facial cleanser, and other CBD formulations made to target these issues. With the purest hemp and highest quality CBD, you can reduce anxiety, depression, and acne. You even alleviate symptoms of diseases like cancer.

Keep health records of your own.

It’s a good idea to visit a doctor instead of ignoring the symptoms of an illness. However, it’s an even better idea to record your symptoms regularly. If you have a chronic illness, you probably already do this. Keeping a record of niggling aches and pains can help in the future. Don’t become a hypochondriac—be proactive by listening to your body more.

Try not to ignore small signs of discomfort. You don’t have to run to the doctor every time you have a tummy ache. However, if you journal every change in your body, you will learn to control your health. You can track how food reacts to your system. Or, see if certain products you use don’t agree with you. Also, keep track of all your medication, vitamins, and treatments.

Tips for Choosing and Caring for a Clothes Dryer

If you live in a rainy area, or have a young family and have to do multiple loads of washing daily, the chances are that your clothes dryer is one of the most important machines in your home. As a result, it’s essential to choose the right product for your household’s needs.

You must also care for the appliance over the years, so you get the most value for money from it. Doing this will help to ensure it continues to perform well every time you need it. Follow a few simple steps to set yourself up for warm, dry clothes today and beyond.

Your Family’s Needs

The first thing to consider when you buy a new clothes dryer is your family’s specific needs. The size of the dryer you choose comes down to how many people are in your family, how often you wash and therefore need to dry clothes, and also if you have access to an outdoor clothesline or indoor drying rack.

If you have a large family, it pays to choose an oversize dryer that is at least 29 inches wide and has a drum size of seven cubic feet or more. This sized appliance will dry your large loads nice and quickly and is also suitable if you regularly wash bulky, oversized items. On the other hand, if it’s just you, or yourself and a partner or housemate, you can probably do with a smaller appliance, such as a 24- or 25-inch model.

Available Space

The space you have free in which to position your dryer will also make a difference to which product you buy. If you have very little room in your house, you may need to opt for a single washer-dryer unit that both washes and dries your possessions. If you have plenty of space and a full laundry, you can select a freestanding machine that can be moved around as needed.

Another option, if you don’t have a dedicated laundry room, is to integrate your dryer into your kitchen or bathroom. There are integrated products designed to be installed within kitchen or bathroom units and hidden behind matching cupboard doors, for instance. These tend to be around the same height and width as traditional freestanding products.

There are also semi-integrated tumble dryers. With these machines, the drum gets hidden behind a door, but the control panel remains visible. When working out how much space you have to work with inside your home, keep in mind that you need enough clearance to open the dryer’s door. Plus, dryers also need some breathing space, so ensure there’s a couple of inches of space around your machine for air to circulate adequately.

Type of Dryer

The next decision is the type of dryer you want. Vented models pump air out from the drum to the outside via a flexible hose. They, therefore, must be positioned next to a window or wall with a permanent vent. Condenser models can be placed anywhere in a home that’s well ventilated as they don’t connect to any exhaust hoses. They instead condense internal steam and turn it into water that’s collected in a removable reservoir that needs emptying every so often.

The more expensive products, and also the newer ones and most user-friendly, are heat-pump dryers. These use modern technology to dry laundry via hot air that extracts water from the contents you place inside for drying. This water then evaporates in a tank.

Machine Features

Today’s clothes dryers also tend to come with a variety of features that you’ll need to consider when choosing your appliance. For example, think about your desire for the following:

– Energy efficiency

– Sensor technology and multiple programs

– Shoe-rack accessories

– Child locks

– Time-remaining displays and delayed-start features

– Reversible doors for more flexible positioning in your home

– Warning LEDs

– Reverse drums to aid drying and reduce creasing

How to Care for Your Dryer

Once you own your dryer, it’s essential to look after it properly. Install the machine correctly, so it’s level, and if you ever have any issues with it, call in a dryer repair person ASAP to examine the unit and make necessary repairs. On a day-to-day basis, always remove the lint regularly, such as after each time you use the machine.

Don’t store things on top of the appliance or let items go inside it that shouldn’t be there (e.g., coins or pens that might damage the drum). Also, keep the machine clean and don’t overload it as doing so will make it work harder than it should.

A clothes dryer is an excellent device to have on hand, especially when you have to do multiple loads of washing weekly. Follow the above suggestions to set yourself up in this area for the coming years.

Biggest Considerations to Think About Before Renting Your Home Out

 

Many people look at the real estate industry as a great way to make passive income, and it truly is with rental properties. The only thing that deters people away from renting their properties out is the fact that it makes them become a landlord of those properties. And the responsibility that comes with that is the frightening part.

The scariest aspect of getting your home ready for someone else to live in it used to be the home inspections. The thought of someone coming into your home and telling you everything that’s wrong with it was absolutely dreadful because it meant that you had to pay for the necessary repairs… and the majority of the time, those repairs were quite expensive.

For example, what if you had a hard time keeping pests away? A home inspector would be able to see that and immediately inform you that your home isn’t ready to rent until you’ve permanently taken care of that problem.

But those days are long gone now… Homeowners have now embraced home inspections simply because the sooner they know what’s wrong with their home, the sooner they can get those areas fixed, and someone can move in.

That also means that the sooner someone moves in, the sooner you become a landlord.

To be fair, becoming a landlord isn’t all that bad. With a good screening of potential candidates, you don’t typically have too many issues with tenants paying rent. It’s the maintaining of the property that’s a little scary.

Once you have tenants, you are the person they come to with any repairs or property concerns. As a landlord, you have to make the decision of whether you’re going to handle those repairs yourself or if you’re going to hire a contractor to handle them for you.

If you’re going to handle them yourself, you’ll definitely need to make sure you protect yourself, your tenants, and your property with business insurance. What if you went to the property to do a minor paint job but spilled paint all over their antique rug? Painter and decorator insurance would cover the damages for that rug, if that tenant indeed wanted to claim damages.

Nowadays that’s even easier because you have online sites like Rentberry to help you screen out tenants and select only good and respectable ones.

In entering the real estate industry and renting your home out, there are so many considerations to think about, and you don’t want to go into it blindly. If you’re seriously thinking about entering the world of real estate and renting your home out, here are some of the biggest considerations to think about.

Biggest Considerations to Think About Before Renting Your Home Out

How Much Rent You Should Charge

The amount you charge in rent shouldn’t just be a number you pulled out of the air, it needs to be reflective and comparable to what’s currently on the market. You can do your research by looking at rental sites in your area and scoping rental signs within your neighborhood.

But you also have to consider any renovations, repairs, and upgrades you’ve done too. Ideally, you want your rent to cover your mortgage payments and a percentage of what it cost you to make those repairs and renovations in their monthly rent payments.

What You’re Going to Include in Your Lease

Before renting to any potential tenants, you want to make sure you provide them with a written lease agreement that outlines their rights and obligations as your tenant. To make your lease fair and just, you want to comply with the rental and insurance laws of your area. You want to make sure your lease includes:

● Pet policies and deposit amounts

● Security deposit amount

● The term of the lease

● Date the rent is due along with penalties associated with late rent payments

● What repairs the tenant is responsible for

● Behavior/noise rules

Those are just a few things you’ll want to be sure you include in your leasing agreement. It ultimately needs to outline fairness to you and your property, your tenants, and your neighbors.

What Makes a Tenant Ideal to You

Because this is your property, you’re not going to just let anyone move in without checking their credentials. There are many different ways to find a good tenant but the difficult part about it is that you’re also going to run into bad tenants as well, and you’re going to have to deny their application.

Rejected applications are where you tend to tread on thin ice simply because a denied application can be misconstrued into discrimination. The thing about discrimination is just how easy it is to be misconstrued. According to globalverificationnetwork.com, one of the best ways to legally and fairly screen your tenants while avoiding discrimination is to accept the first qualified tenant you get.

This means that this particular tenant passes your background and credit check, they can afford your monthly asking price for rent, and they have great references and a stable job. Maybe you envisioned a young couple with a few children as the ideal tenant for your home but instead, two young fraternity brothers applied and met every criterion you had…

They may not be your ideal tenant but by adopting this practice, you’ll be protected from any discrimination claims

These are just a few considerations to think about in renting your home out to potential tenants. You’ll want to consider speaking with a local real estate agent in your area to help you with the process.

Catnapper Furniture – Comfort and Quality at Their Best

If you’re looking for furniture to enhance your home décor, last for years, and bring pure comfort into your life, Catnapper furniture is the one to choose. Catnapper reclining furniture is designed and built with quality in mind, so you can rely on it to hold up to everyday use and look great in the process. Here are some things you may not know about this brand and examples of how its furniture fulfills every promise.

Built Strong to Endure

Every piece of Catnapper furniture has durability built into its bones. Consider the Siesta Porcini Power Reclining Living Room Set. The frame is rugged enough to last for many years, so you won’t need to replace it anytime soon. With a unitized seat box, the frame won’t bend or split. The 15-gauge coils not only provide comfort but increase this furniture’s strength. And, that coil system is wrapped in foam and fiber so that the furniture retains its shape and brings exquisite comfort for the long term. And, the 8-gauge spring system makes it even stronger. And, you can increase its value even more when you buy home furniture designed by Catnapper with coupons.

Comfort Features

In addition to durability, Catnapper furniture is probably best known for the extravagant comfort it provides. The Sedona Smoke Power Reclining Living Room Set is a perfect example. It starts with Catnapper’s standard comfort features like comfort coil seating with comfort gel and soft blown-fiber backs. Like other Catnapper selections, this set’s 50 independent coils per seat provide uniform seating comfort. But this set goes a step further, with lay-flat reclining, power lumbar support, power headrests, and soft suede fabric upholstery.

Functionality at Its Best

Have you ever bought a recliner and been dissatisfied with the way it moves? Catnapper furniture reclines back smoothly and efficiently. For example, the Brice Cranapple Power Reclining Living Room Set moves to any position you choose with a simple touch. And, Catnapper’s own Steel Tech Reclining mechanism operates quietly, not only in the beginning but for its entire lifetime.

Designed for Beauty

From its fashionable designs to its beautiful upholstery, Catnapper furniture looks fabulous in any living room. You can choose your style from contemporary, casual, transitional, and more for reclining furniture that complements your current home décor in style and color. You can select a luxurious leather set, like the Milan Chocolate Leather Reclining Living Room Set. This furniture features a beautiful Italian top grain leather with a warm chocolate brown finish and accent contrast welt stitching. Or, select a fabric-covered set, like the Voyager Brandy Reclining Living Room Set with its deeply tufted back and decorative stitching. Either way, you can buy furniture that looks as good as it lasts.

When all is said and done, buying furniture from Catnapper may be one of the smartest ideas you ever had. With its excellent quality, extreme comfort, smooth reclining, and beautiful style, you will love the way it enhances your home environment.

Incredibly Useful Tips On Real Estate Investing

Investing in property or real estate is always a good idea. It is one of the more stable options when looking into investments. There are some things to keep an eye out for any new investor.

Here are some tips for those looking to get into real estate.

1. Location

Knowing your surroundings is important. Being from a certain area also ensures that you have a good understanding of the market around you which is extremely crucial in any real estate investing for clients. According to the experts at Precondo, using resources, searching neighboring areas, speaking to locals, and doing research will increase your investments. Having this grasp of an area will give you an advantage over those who aren’t familiar.

2. Passive Income vs. Active Income

Depending on how you want to approach your real estate investment, you will place yourself in a role accordingly. This choice will determine if you want to hire a property manager in a passive setting, after investing in a home and charging others to stay or if you are looking to flip the real estate, wherein you purchase the land or property for a fairly low price, add improvements and renovate the buildings or land and sell it for profit.

3. Investing with a group

Diving into real estate is not always as easy as all the DIY or home channel shows make it seem. Depending on what you choose and how you choose to invest, there are many legalities to consider in addition to all the factors you need to educate yourself on. A good grasp of the markets and values, for example, is important with anything involving resale or even rentals or leasing. Because there is a lot of information to handle, one way to offset the abundance of risk and information is to invest with a group, where your risks are lowered.

4. Professionals and consultants

It is a good practice to always have good connections with professionals of many industries when considering real estate investment. This is important because no matter what route you choose, you will need different consultations and expertise in many different situations as concerns arise. You want to build a circle of people that you can contact no matter what problems you are faced with. This includes lawyers, technicians, plumbers, designers, contractors to name a few. The bigger your circle and wider your connections, the better you will be able to handle any investments.

5. Look at your financial options

Considering the factors of passive income(passive investing) vs. active income, you need to consider your financial options. As an investor, you will have a set amount of capital to put into your investment. You might be putting in all the money you have and only making a margin of that. It may be in your interest to explore borrowing or financing options with those investments. It may yield lower returns, but by doing so, you will be able to diversify your investments and generate more income.

No matter if you are more the passive income type of investor or the hands-on, renovating, and house flipping investor, there are options out there to explore. Ensure that you have the knowledge and understanding going in, and if you can’t, surround yourself with the right people that do. This will make your job and your investments easier.

Why you should try using bamboo floss

Young woman flossing her teeth , close up , isolated on white background

We all love it when our teeth are healthy and we can take our meals comfortably and with ease. We also love it when our teeth are white and look healthy. Other than brushing your teeth regularly, there are many other things that one needs to do to ensure that their oral health is maintained. Flossing your teeth is a good step to make sure that plaque does not build up and lead to tartar. This would eventually lead to loss of teeth due to decay. Now, when you floss your teeth regularly, it ensures that areas that are not easily reached by your toothbrush are cleaned and plaque removed. You may need to read bamboo floss facts for you to understand the benefits of flossing.

In this article, we shall discuss the advantages of using bamboo floss to ensure healthy teeth. You will benefit from regular flossing as it is one of the steps that help you to maintain general body health. And when you use bamboo floss, you are assured of better results as compared to the regular floss.

Here are reasons why you should use bamboo floss:

It is Compostable and has sustainable bamboo fiber

This is a very important aspect of the bamboo floss that makes it better than the other options. The packaging and the floss itself are good for the environment, as opposed to the common plastics used in the manufacture of the regular floss. The regular floss is made from Teflon or nylon, and as we are all aware, these are not environmentally friendly. You will be happy to know that bamboo floss is compostable and starts to decompose after just 60 to 90 days after disposal.

Another good thing with the use of bamboo floss is that it is made from environmentally sustainable material. The fact that bamboo grows quickly means that it is sustainable and good for the environment. This is cheaper and more sustainable when compared to plastics, regardless of their recyclability.

It has organic ingredients and wax

For the people who choose to use bamboo floss, they will be happy to note that this floss is waxed and appropriately flavored for a better teeth cleaning experience. For those who choose EcoRoots bamboo floss, they will enjoy its candelilla plant wax and the fact that it is flavored with tea tree oils and peppermint.  Most of the bamboo floss in the market has other infused components such as charcoal to give it better cleaning power. With the use of organic peppermint, you can be sure that the floss will help prevent gum irritation and remove germs. Bacteria and fungus are fought through the tea tree oil.

You will enjoy zero-waste packaging

Other than the above ingredients, you will also be happy to enjoy your bamboo floss with its plastic-free packaging. With the craft paper box packaging, this is a waste-free product that should benefit the whole family. You will also get it in a refillable and recyclable glass jar where you will only need to cut the floss that you need and cover the jar. This is good for long-term sustainability.

4 Terrific Reasons why Afterpay Services is Worth a Try

If you are thinking of purchasing an item online, you are just in luck. The payment method is experiencing a great and notable revolution, and you need not miss out. Do you know that you can now buy services and pay for them later? Afterpay services is a great revolution in the virtual as well as in-store shops. Are you yet to give it a try? Here’s why you need to opt for after pay services.

Use the products immediately.

One of the fascinating things about buying now pay later services is that you can start using the item you purchased and pay for them later. With afterpay fridges & washing machines, you can enjoy the services of this equipment even when you lack the immediate cash to make the full payment. All you have to do is agree with the seller on the installment payment options.

It has a fast and easy approval process.

Why postpone buying an item when you can set up an afterpay account? The process is simple, and you can complete it within minutes. Once you set up your account on a website that offers buy now pay later services, you can start enjoying interest-free terms. It’s also an excellent alternative to a credit card. Thus, you can have the chance to manage your finances as you get to avoid paying any of the hefty interest amounts.

A great option while in a financial crisis

Have you spotted an item or equipment that you can’t do without but lack the cash to pay for it? During one’s lifetime financial crisis often comes knocking, and it might take some time to get back on your feet. It’s usually a heart-wrenching and overwhelming period as one doesn’t have the means to buy certain items. Don’t beat yourself up or sink into depression. You can opt for buy now pay later services from a legitimate seller. Thus, you can get many products that you require and get to pay for each of them once you are stable financially.

Enjoy the massive sales as retailers.

As a retailer, you need to look for crafty ways to get potential clients and retain loyal ones. The buy now pays later services cuts across and benefits both the retailer and consumer. As a retailer, you stand to enjoy many benefits as you adapt to the changing business payment dealings. It’s a chance to lure in more potential buyers and thus reap considerable profits in the long haul. It’s also an excellent opportunity to minimize the chances of having dead stock. If you have any slow-moving products in your store, it’s high time you change your selling strategy to begin selling more.

If you wish to enjoy the full benefits of buy now pay later services, you need to nip any impulse spending on the bud. It’d be best always to buy products that you can manage to make the

repayments. You can now buy any product, including afterpay fridges & washing machines, and stand to enjoy a better settlement deal. However, before you settle for the Afterpay option, you need to ensure that you are dealing with a licensed retailer before making any contracts.

Everything You Need to Know Before Wall Mounting Your TV

Installing mount TV on the wall at home or office

When it comes to mounting most things on your wall you can simply hammer in a nail or a drill hole and insert a screw. But when it comes to wall mounting a TV, things are not quite as simple.

If you don’t wall mount your TV correctly at best you’ll have a screen that isn’t mounted straight, at worst, you’ll have a piece of expensive technology come crashing down and breaking.

So, how do you make sure your wall-mounted TV stays where it needs to?

Here’s our handy guide to wall mounting your TV to take the headache out of this DIY task.

Wall Mounting a TV: What You’ll Need

Before you can mount your TV, you’ll need the following:

· A spirit level

· A tape measure

· A drill

In addition to these essential tools, you should have someone to hand to assist you.

Decide on the Location

Before you put your TV onto the wall, you must first decide on a location for it. Once it is up on the wall, you’ll not want to move it again.

Your TV should be set up at eye-level. This way, you won’t need to bend your neck to view the screen.

Think about where the screen is in the room in relation to the furniture. It needs to be far enough away that your eyes don’t struggle to focus on the images. Make sure the TV is directly in front of the furniture that it’ll be viewed from. That way, you won’t need to turn to look at it.

Mounting Your TV

Use your spirit level and tape measure to work out where your holes will need to be drilled. The spaces between the holes need to perfectly match that of the mount.

Once you have made the holes, install the mounting kit following the supplied instructions. Get assistance in lifting the TV onto the mount.

How to Hide the Wires When Mounting a TV

One of the problems with mounting your TV is that your left with dangling wires. You have two options to hide these.

· Use plastic box trunking to hide the wires

· Install a power socket next to the mount

Think about which option you prefer before mounting your TV.

Making Life Less Stressful

To make your life less stressful, there are other options. If you want your screen to be fixed to the wall, you could make use of a TV wall mounting service.

Alternatively, you could look at getting a slimline mount stand to sit your TV on. This will sit flush with your wall and won’t intrude on your floor space. The downsides to mount stands are that if you have young children the stand could get knocked into and the TV could easily come off the stand.

Take Your Time

Wall mounting a TV can be a stressful job, but that’s nothing in comparison to the stress you might have if your TV falls off the wall. Be patient and make sure your mount is secure and straight before mounting your TV.

Enjoyed this article? Check back for more great posts on the site.

Simple Ways to Drastically Improve Your Home’s Appearance

Your home is where you live, where you make memories and share stories. So it should look good, right? You and your guests want to spend time in an appealing house. Or maybe you’re planning to sell your home, and it needs a little lift. Hiring an interior designer, landscaper, or even painters is expensive and time-consuming. Luckily, you don’t need to hire anyone to improve your home’s appeal!

A few simple, quick, and relatively inexpensive projects can totally change your house. The best part? You can do them yourself!

Kitchen Cabinets

Replacing kitchen cabinet doors can have revitalizing effects on the look and feel of a kitchen. Painting your cabinets and replacing handles can also completely change the appearance of your kitchen. You can choose a plain, neutral color, or a fun, bright color for a unique look. This whole project is reasonably priced and is easily completed in a day or two. You could completely replace the cabinet doors while keeping the rest of the cabinet if you want a different material or wood type. This project is a little more expensive, but if you’re looking for something closer to a total remodel, this could be a good option.

Exterior Appearance

The outside of your house, lawn, porch, flower beds, etc., is the first thing both you and your guests see. So it makes sense that you would want it to look nice. Landscaping your whole lawn is expensive and time-consuming, but keeping your front yard looking nice doesn’t have to include all that. Fixing up your home’s exterior can be as simple as some potted plants on the porch, or putting in some new window boxes. Hanging plants can be a fun addition, or painting your front door a newer, brighter color can completely change the appeal of your exterior.

A Fresh Coat of Paint

Repainting is the most inexpensive way to completely change the whole room. A dark blue can make a room feel more elegant, and a pale yellow could add more light and sunshine to a darker room with few windows. Neutral colors are a good choice if you are planning on selling your home, and even though they may not be as fun or exciting, a fresh coat of eggshell white will make the whole room seem cleaner and newer.

Good Lighting

If a room is too dark, the whole place seems less inviting. Adding a floor or table lamp is the cheapest and easiest option, but if you have some knowledge of wiring, you could install a new ceiling light fixture to brighten up the room. Adding more light makes everything seem more inviting, and lamps are available in every style imaginable, so you’re sure to find something to match your house.

Plants

Plants are scientifically proven to improve your mood. Potted flowers brighten, green leafy plants add serenity. A few houseplants will add some life to an otherwise bland house. Use multiple plants with different colors and heights for depth. Add brightly colored flowers for a pop, or some dark green leaves for a more natural look. Make sure to research how much water and sunlight your plants need so that they stay alive and happy.

Self Care For Moms

This has been a complicated few months for us all. We have all become stay-at-home moms, sometimes while remaining full-time employees at the same time. Many of us are being forced to use every bit of creativity we have in order to teach our children, keep them entertained, keep them engaged, and keep them connected. Just thinking about it all can cause a lot of stress. Many of us have faced moments when we are sitting on the floor and physically crying because it has all become a bit too much for us. If you are finding yourself in one of those moments right now, take a deep breath, know that you are still being an amazing parent, and think about what you can do to set yourself up for greatness.

We all need to carve out space for ourselves. This might look like taking an unused room or corner and creating a cozy haven. If you want to create a space for energy and creativity you might choose bright bold colors for an accent pillow. If you want to create a cozy space to rest you might choose neutrals and a comfy blanket. You might also pick out especially cozy items such as a smooth back bra, pajama pants, or a sweater to help demarcate this is your space alone. It does not matter what the space looks like as long as family members know when you are in this space you are not to be disturbed. It may feel strange to carve out these spaces when you have a mental to-do list a mile long but if you don’t you will never get around to tackling your list. 

We also need to carve out time for ourselves. No one can be on 24/7. No one is a superhero. No one can do this all alone. This is especially important to remember as we all are physically distancing from others. What this looks like will depend on yourself and your family dynamics. For most parents, some type of schedule is key and will allow their children and themselves to feel in control of an out of control situation. If there is another parent in the house it might take the form of them watching the kids while you take a nice long bubble bath and get creative with your style. If you are not able to physically be with someone who can watch your kids you can still tap into friends and family. These individuals can video chat with kids, allowing your children to express themselves, while you take a few minutes just for yourself. 

Finally, we need to take time to create small healthy rituals for ourselves. This might be in the form of enjoying a cup of tea or coffee each morning. This might be in the form of journaling or keeping a gratitude list. This might even take the form of listening to your favorite music or taking the time to watch one episode of your favorite show each evening. It does not matter what form these rituals take as long as we make time for them each and every day.

A lot is going on and we are all trying our best to be amazing parents. In these moments it can be easy to forget the wisdom to “put our own air masks on first”. We are all doing a great job considering everything which is going on and we have to make time to take care of ourselves. This time is not selfish but a necessity if we continue to want to put forth our best selves. Take space and time for yourself because you and your children will be glad that you did.