Special Note: This article is part of an intentional home series by Davonne Parks. To view the rest of the articles in this series, go here.

While I am a firm believer that extreme busyness shouldn’t be the continual long term beat of our lives, I also believe there are God-ordained seasons of busyness when we need to persevere through a difficult schedule so we can grow, stretch, and be refined.

I will bring the one–third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’  (Zechariah 13:9, NKJV)

During seasons of growth and refinement, it’s important to keep our hearts and minds open to what we can learn throughout the experience. We can choose to become bitter when we feel like our lot is harder than everyone else’s, or we can grow closer to God throughout the process.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJV (emphasis mine)

When you feel the storms of life threatening to make you bitter, remember what 2 Corinthians 10 tells us – the battle we’re fighting is not a physical battle, but a spiritual one. Take your thoughts captive, and trust that God has a good plan for your life.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV

In addition to keeping our focus on positive, worthwhile things when we’re going through a busy season, there are a few other ways we can take care of ourselves as we learn and grow:

7 Simple Ways to Care for Yourself when Life Feels Chaotic

1) Schedule time off

Nobody’s going to force you to take time off – you’re going to have to put it on the calendar and make it happen! It may feel like the worst thing to do, but taking a day – or even just an hour – off to intentionally rest, refresh, and spend time with the little people often makes all the difference in attitudes and productivity after we get back to work.

2) Get enough sleep

It’s so easy to think we’re too busy to sleep more than a few hours per night. But, usually when we don’t get enough sleep, we move slower, we’re more easily annoyed, and even if we have caffeine, we’re generally not as productive and don’t think as clearly as when we’ve had enough rest.

You will accomplish more each day if you give yourself the extra rest you need instead of forcing yourself to stay up late and get up early on a regular basis.

3) Do something that relaxes you

I included a list of relaxing activities that only take 15 minutes or less in this post about how to care for yourself without being selfish.

Your ways to relax may differ from mine, but try not to waste your precious few minutes of free time simply browsing social media, scarfing down comfort food, or watching television shows that you don’t really care about. Instead, do something you’ll enjoy in the moment and feel good about after.

4) Cook simple, healthy meals

I recently spent a month following the Whole30 eating plan. While it seemed like bad timing to try out a food experiment, doing so was actually a blessing. Removing processed foods from my diet had a huge positive impact on my energy levels and mood, which has helped me feel surprisingly good throughout some very long days.

Even if you don’t want to try something like Whole30 to help you jump start a healthy eating plan, just cooking very simple, healthy meals will go a long way in giving your body the nourishment and fuel it needs to be able to power through a busy season.

5) Drink enough water and take your vitamins

This is absolutely the easiest, and most easily overlooked, item on the list. Lack of water and proper vitamins can cause migraines and fatigue, among other things. It’s a frugal, easy experiment, so try it for a month and see how you feel!

6) Minimize unnecessary things in your schedule {Also known as “Get Over FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)”}

We can likely all benefit from service projects as well as activities that cultivate close friendships with others. But a busy, chaotic season isn’t the time to over commit or have every spare moment crammed full of activities.

Instead, prayerfully choose just 1-3 things per month that don’t take much extra planning on your part and ignore everything else.

7) Choose your mood

I alluded to this in the introduction (go ahead – scroll up and read it now if you skimmed over that part!), but basically we can be mad about all the craziness going on in our lives, or we can choose to accept where we are and embrace things as much as possible.

We’re told in Ecclesiastes that the end of a thing is better than its beginning. Finish well, friend.

“The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Ecclesiastes 7:8, NKJV

Personal Thought/Application Question: How do you take care of yourself when you’re going through a busy season?

Davonne Parks believes that your role at home is valuable and she wants to help you thrive in your environment. Click here to receive immediate access to the FREE printable library she created just for you.