I'm about a year behind on reading my magazines, but yesterday I ready "Rest for the Weary" in my Parents magazine, it's from March 2012.
The article gave some good suggestions on getting some quiet breaks during the day. The breaks they suggest are about doing nothing, or just about nothing, and I think that's one thing I don't often think about doing.
The first suggestion was what caught my attention. The article indicated that "people who close their eyes for eight minutes and let their minds wander show measurable brain activity in the area where long-term memories are formed." The plan is once your baby is down for a nap, don't rush to check Facebook or to change the laundry, take 10 minutes and relax on the couch, but be sure to close your eyes while you do it. The point isn't getting a quick nap, even though it might happen, it's to take a few minutes and have some quiet time. I definitely haven't thought about doing this. My thought has always been if I don't have time for a full fledged nap while my daughter is napping, then I better do something productive with my time, or semi-productive and catch up on my computer things, or do the dishes/laundry/clean, etc. But I have started trying to at least lay down on the couch for part of her nap and I have definitely felt better after; rather than if I ran around trying to get everything done.
