5 little ways to find the calm in a crazy day

How many times today have you felt like squirrelling yourself away today for a little bit of calm and quiet? Maybe in a cupboard with some Jaffa Cakes and a cup of tea – far away from anyone making unreasonable demands on your time? Once? Twice? More? Eek!

Life is busy but in December it goes into hyperdrive, doesn’t it? Work pressures, family get-togethers, end-of-year parties, let alone all the presents, decorating and maybe travel too. I’m tired just writing it all down.

So a confession: I did get a rare, and blissful, 24 hours to myself at the weekend. The other half, sensing my sleep-deprived and worn-out state, sent me away to a hotel in the city for the night using a voucher we had.  I know. It was so good. But it’s not something I’ll be doing every week, or even every month, and it made me think about the things I can do to bring a little self-preservation into my days. A few quick and simple little rituals to find a bit of calm when there are no cupboards available. Maybe they’ll help you too: 

1. Have a cup of tea (in a really pretty tea cup)

Okay in an ideal world, we’d be clocking off for afternoon tea around three with scones and cream and sugar lumps. In the real world, you’d think we could find time to make a nice cup of tea in a proper cup? It takes no more time to pour boiling water over a teabag in a chipped mug than it does it make a brew in a pretty tea cup. If you are really going for it, you could get the tea pot out. Finding the time to drink the tea while it’s hot is, of course, another matter.

2. Wash your face (every day)

Pre-motherhood, most of us would shower every day (those were the days) and I’m sure some of you, like me, had quite the collection of lotions and potions, exfoliators, cellulite creams. I could go on. These days, not so much, right? My night away I took my favourite face wash and my trusty muslin face cloth and spent a few minutes massaging and steaming my pasty, tired face and it felt good. Note to self: even holding a hot flannel against your face for a minute is better than nothing. And if you’ve got time for the whole nine yards, see here for inspiration.

3. Eat cake for breakfast (sometimes)

Hotel breakfasts are the best. I always start with a small bowl of bircher muesli before I gorge myself on croissants, pain au chocolat, pain au raisin etc, etc. I know it isn’t the healthy option but an almond croissant is a happy breakfast and sometimes we need that. Bonus points if you manage to eat said pastry by yourself, without a small person, colleague or family member asking for a bite. Extra extra brownie points if it’s on a pretty plate. (My Insta friend Rachel @tryingforsighs has the prettiest breakfasts.)

4. Stare out the window (often)

We’ve all got so many to-do lists, demands and distractions in our days. Remind yourself that you need to just ‘be’ sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with gazing out the window and watching the clouds or the people go by. If that’s not for you (or just impossible), try to put down your device, turn off your phone and step away from the screen for a few minutes every day. And breathe. Breathing always helps.

5. Put on your pyjamas (as early as you can)

Do you ever find yourself putting off going to bed? By the time you’ve finished the chores of the day and then refreshed your email a few times, the effort to go to bed is monumental. I have a totally made-up theory that if we all put our pyjamas on after dinner we’d get to bed earlier and get some more of that most important quiet time – sleep. Oh sleep, how I miss you. I’m usually asleep by 11.30pm, but as this house wakes up at 5.30am every morning I really need to be in bed earlier. I’m going to try it out this week and report back.

So there are my ideas. I’d love to hear yours. Do you have any rituals to create a little quiet time in your day? Do you ever get to drink a hot cup of tea? And what time do you get to bed? I’m intrigued.