10 Stay at Home Mom Motivation Boosters To Keep You Going

Written by Sarah Claywell

Published on October 3, 2023

• Boosters for motivation range from simple to more complex changes.
• Motivation affects moms physically, mentally, and emotionally. 
• These boosters can be implemented in a handful of simple steps. 

For stay-at-home moms, the to-do list is never-ending. Even though the laundry is piled high, appointments need scheduling, and meals always need making, it’s easy to feel lost in it all, with no motivation to check things off the list. That’s where these motivation boosters can make all the difference when you’re staying at home. 

Maybe you’re experiencing some stay-at-home depression or simply lacking motivation to get through your day. Whatever the case may be, we’ve got 10 bulletproof ideas that are sure to help build and sustain stay-at-home mom motivation.

10 Motivation Boosters for Stay-at-Home Moms

If you’re short on motivation as a stay-at-home mom, try some of these ideas to keep you going.

Booster 1: Create a Structured Routine

Routines are an essential part of keeping yourself motivated as a stay-at-home mom. So much of it has to do with habits! For example, if your routine includes a regular cleaning schedule, the house isn’t likely to go uncleaned when it’s part of your formed habits. Even if you feel unmotivated your muscle memory is likely to push you to do it. 

Developing a balanced daily routine hinges on the schedule and needs of the family, but there are some main points all stay-at-home moms can incorporate. For instance, you can include a morning routine prior to when the kids wake up, like coffee and some quiet time. Carve out some time for exercise, a special kids’ activity, homework, meal times, and the like. 

Booster 2: Set Personal Goals

Personal goals work as a motivator on several levels. For starters, they’re a great way to hold yourself accountable. Tracking progress in particular has a way of keeping motivation up. Goals also help moms find and maintain direction in various aspects of their lives. 

If you’re new to setting goals as a stay-at-home mom or just in general, start with small, attainable goals. Shooting for the stars from the start could lead to disappointment if you have unrealistic expectations. Gauge what’s achievable given your lifestyle and circumstances, and plan from there. 

Booster 3: Pursue Hobbies and Interests

Pursuing a hobby or interest can keep tired moms motivated, as it’s something to look forward to in your day—it could even be an activity the kids can do with you! Giving yourself something to work on outside the normal hustle and bustle of daily tasks can also be a refreshing change of pace. 

There’s no shortage of mom hobbies at home too, so if you can’t break away from the house due to nap times or whatever it may be, hobbies are still attainable! A short list of ideas include photography, painting, knitting, baking, dancing, and crafting.

Booster 4: Regular Physical Exercise

It’s no secret that regular exercise has a huge positive impact on physical and mental health. Feeling your best is a key part of staying motivated throughout your day. Afterall, who would want to knock things off their list, much less do anything productive, if they don’t feel good. 

Keep in mind, you don’t have to go to the gym daily or workout a few hours at a time to see the positive effects of regular physical exercise in your everyday life. Something as simple as a workout video on Youtube, a stroll around the block, or even a swim in the pool are all attainable for stay-at-home moms.

Booster 5: Mindfulness and Meditation

Practicing mindfulness throughout your day at home can keep you aware of what you’re doing and the purpose behind it to help you stay motivated. While you can set aside time for this, you can also practice it by analyzing the present moment and your feelings about it and offering yourself acknowledgement. 

It sounds similar to meditation, but mindfulness is actually a technique within the umbrella of meditation. Where mindfulness works to acknowledge what’s happening around us and how it makes us feel, meditation works to calm the inner dialogue. With overstimulation being easy to come by in motherhood, both practices are awesome ways to recenter focus and motivation. 

Booster 6: Build a Supportive Network

Having a supportive network of friends and family is crucial to staying motivated. When you have people around you that care about seeing you well and working towards your goals, it only stands to help you course correct when you start to slip into old patterns and unmotivated behaviors. 

If you don’t have a supportive network already, no worries! There are plenty of ways to build and maintain a supportive network. Connect with moms in your kids’ classes, local social media groups, churches, parks, and local meet-ups. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself! Chances are, other moms are looking for mom friends too. 

Booster 7: Learn New Skills

According to Pew Research¹1. Horrigan, J. B.. Lifelong Learning and Technology. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. 2016. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/03/22/lifelong-learning-and-technology, 73% of adults consider themselves lifelong learners. Whether it’s learning through personal interests, expanding on professional knowledge, or learning through DIY activities, stay-at-home moms can stay motivated through activities that really get them excited to learn.

Moms can pick virtually anything that interests them—it doesn’t have to be specific to being a stay-at-home mom. If you’re looking for skills that are useful to the stay-at-home life though, you could try learning more about financial management, crafting and building, basic home repairs, organization, gardening, sewing, and the like. 

Booster 8: Self-Care Practices 

Self-care is an important practice for everyone, especially stay-at-home moms facing mom burnout. With so much time spent on caring for others, it’s easy to put yourself on the back burner. Self-care looks different for everyone but some ideas to try are getting some fresh air, reading, pedicures, exercise, and lunch with friends.

While all of those are well and good, they’re admittedly tough to integrate into a busy schedule. Work with your partner or support system to schedule regular times each week that you can rely on in order to get the self-care time you need. 

Booster 9: Positive Affirmations 

The use of positive affirmations can absolutely be helpful in staying motivated as a stay-at-home mom. For me, they really help shift my mental and emotional perspective when the load of motherhood has me seeing things through a negative lense. These affirmations can be something you make up yourself or a short phrase you like. 

For instance, when I’m having an overwhelming day with the kids, I’ll internally remind myself of affirmations like, “You’re a good mom—it’s just a weak moment,” or “I am exactly who my children need.” You can write your affirmations on cards or just think of them when you need them.

Booster 10: Maintain a Gratitude Journal

Gratitude journals are newer on the scene but definitely a motivational tool worth looking into. Essentially, they help you to take time to reflect daily on what you’re grateful for by recording it in a journal. Many people report feeling a lot more optimistic, content, and encouraged seeing it all laid out on paper time and time again. 

Starting a gratitude journal is super easy too! They’re relatively inexpensive, and it doesn’t take but a few minutes per day to sit down and record your thoughts. 

Understanding Motivation

It might be helpful for you to have a better understanding of motivation and why it matters for you as a stay-at-home mom.

The American Psychological Association²2. American Psychological Association. APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/motivation defines motivation as: “A person’s willingness to exert physical or mental effort in pursuit of a goal or outcome.” Based on that definition alone, it’s easy to see why motivation in everyday life can be hard to come by as a stay-at-home mom juggling all the duties of kids and a household!

Why Motivation Matters for Stay-at-Home Moms

Motivation matters for stay-at-home moms since it has a huge impact on their mental health, wellbeing, and parenting. Take parenting for example. We’ve all had those days where the motivation just isn’t there to be completely present; we also know that parenting that way daily isn’t helping to shape and discipline our kids the way they need. 

The same goes for personal wellbeing and health. The motivation to show up for yourself, eat well, and exercise will have a direct impact on your quality of life and your overall longevity. As does the condition of your mental health!

A 2021 study, titled Mindful Moms: Motivation to Self-Manage Depression Symptoms³3. Russell, S., Aubry, C., Rider, A., Mazzeo, S. E., & Kinser, P. A.. Mindful Moms: Motivation to self-manage depression symptoms. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. 2020;45(4), 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1097/nmc.0000000000000625, says, “Nearly 20% of women in the United States experience depressive symptoms during the perinatal period, with known detrimental effects for the mother, child, and family. Depressive symptoms affect motivation to engage in healthy behaviors and self-management of symptoms.”

It’s clear that if your mental health isn’t in check, it can create a negative chain reaction that will affect motivation across every part of a person’s life. With everything that stay-at-home moms have going on, motivation is key to keeping not just yourself but your family taken care of.

How to Implement These Motivation Boosters

Now you’ve got some practical motivation boosters to keep you out of that stay-at-home mom rut, but how do you integrate them into everyday life? That’s a fair question. Afterall, some of these boosters aren’t just as easy as adding something in; many of them require forming new habits, which can be tricky.

That said, here are some helpful steps:

• Pick a few. It’s tempting to jump in head first, aiming to use as many of these boosters as possible. In my own life though, I’ve found that picking just a few to start is the best recipe for success. Hone in on a few boosters you feel fit your lifestyle and go from there. You can always add more later!
• Give it time. You may find that implementing these boosters is an adjustment. It takes discipline to find motivation through different means and adding these boosters may feel tough at first. Don’t give up though! Give it some time, try to settle in with one or two until it feels like your new normal.
• Change it up. If you’ve truly given it all you’ve got and the boosters you’ve chosen just weren’t right for you, that’s okay. You can change it up! Try shifting gears to a handful of other options and see if those feel like the right fit, keeping you from feeling unmotivated. 
• Evaluate the obstacles. Maybe you’ve done all of the above and you still don’t feel motivated. At that point it may be time to evaluate potential obstacles keeping you from motivation. Maybe life circumstances, mental health, or whatever it may be. It’s possible the source of your unmotivated action is coming from something a bit deeper than the average stay-at-home mom stress. 

FAQs 

How can a stay-at-home mom deal with motivation slumps?

As hard as us moms try, inevitably we’ll lose motivation at one point or another. Slumps are a normal part of the journey and nothing to feel guilty over, but they’re definitely not a place you want to stay. If you’re in a slump, start by trying to access what may have changed recently. Maybe a lack of self-care or adult interaction? 

Work to reinforce those motivation boosters and healthy habits that set you up for success. Journaling can also be a means to exiting a slump, giving you perspective on your day-to-day and even allowing you to cast vision for how you want things to be moving forward. 

Can therapy or counseling help with boosting motivation for stay-at-home moms?

Therapy or counseling for stay-at-home moms can be a powerful tool on many fronts for boosting motivation. Many times, stay-at-home moms come into therapy feeling like “just a mom,” having lost what they thought was an amazing job, complete independence, and the ability to spend quality time with their spouse.

It’s not uncommon for stay-at-home moms to seek counseling⁴4. Jones, L.. Top 5 Reasons Stay at Home Moms Seek Counseling. Compass Counseling. 2020. https://compasscounseling.com/blog/2020/6/5/top-5-reasons-stay-at-home-moms-seek-counseling for depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, and a whole host of unwanted mental health symptoms. Therapy works with moms to foster a positive outlook, build confidence, tweak communication, correctly filter thoughts, learn mindfulness and so much more!

References

1. Horrigan, J. B. (2016, March 22). Lifelong Learning and Technology. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/03/22/lifelong-learning-and-technology
2. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/motivation
3. Russell, S., Aubry, C., Rider, A., Mazzeo, S. E., & Kinser, P. A. (2020). Mindful Moms: Motivation to self-manage depression symptoms. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 45(4), 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1097/nmc.0000000000000625
4. Jones, L. (2020, June 5). Top 5 Reasons Stay at Home Moms Seek Counseling. Compass Counseling. https://compasscounseling.com/blog/2020/6/5/top-5-reasons-stay-at-home-moms-seek-counseling