Healthy Habits of Wisdom for Busy Moms
Moms are busy. Hectic multi-tasking is the norm. Spacious “free time” is the exception. With the many demands of motherhood—meals, drop-offs, diapers, laundry, Zoom classroom troubleshooting—how does a mom even begin to prioritize her own healthy, “balanced diet” of information? How does she prioritize these habits in her children’s lives?
Similar to how the Food Pyramid helps us understand balancing food intake to promote physical health, we can evaluate our information intake and which sources encourage spiritual health through the Wisdom Pyramid. It sounds great to have one’s “wisdom diet” heavy on Bible, church, nature, books, and beauty, and low on social media—but isn’t that idealistic? Sometimes in a busy mom’s day, there’s no time for much more than a few minutes of scrolling through Instagram stories or maybe a podcast or Netflix show while doing household chores. If that. How, then, can a mom realistically apply something like the Wisdom Pyramid?
Living out the Wisdom Pyramid is a lofty, perhaps unrealistic goal for many moms. I get it. My wife Kira balances being a mom of two boys in diapers with working a full-time job, serving in our church, and keeping our household functioning. Her free time and mental energy are scarce resources. She’d be the first to admit that even the foundational layer of the pyramid—reading the Bible—is hard to find time for on many days.
Do the Best You Can
Don’t feel guilty if you can’t follow the Wisdom Pyramid to a tee. None of us can, just as none of us really eats a balanced diet of food as well as the Food Pyramid would prescribe. We do the best we can.
What’s most important isn’t necessarily getting the proportions exactly right every single day in some mathematical, formulaic way. I’m not suggesting it’s possible, or even preferable, to live each day like a precise recipe: two cups of Bible, one cup church, a half cup of nature, a teaspoon of social media, etc. On some days you might be able to find a lot of time to devote to Bible study, and on other days you won’t. One day in your week might be heavy on nature—a beach day perhaps, or a hike in a state park—while another day is focused on church. In certain seasons you might find lots of time for reading books, while in others you can hardly find time to read a chapter in that book that’s been sitting on your nightstand for a year.
For busy moms, one key consideration is what not to build your information diet around: the internet and social media. Seeing social media in the “use sparingly” top section (where “fats, oils, and sweets” were in the Food Pyramid)—should convict us all. Most of us have it flipped.
The Wisdom Pyramid is a reminder that a diet consisting solely, or mostly, of “food” from the internet and social media is the equivalent of eating only Twinkies, French fries, and frappuccinos. It won’t do your soul good. There are lots of better sources that are more conducive to your spiritual health. With whatever free time you do have, why not feed from these more nourishing places?
Practical Tips for Busy Moms
What does this look like in practice in a busy mom’s week? Here are a few brief thoughts:
Bible: Find a time each day when you have five minutes to be quiet and alone. Work your way through a physical Bible, preferably with a Bible reading plan that keeps you moving through Scripture. If that’s a struggle, consider choosing a “Bible in a year” program that has a smartphone app, where you can listen to the audio of each day’s Scripture reading while you drive or do errands.
Church: This one is most straightforward. Make church on Sunday a priority! If there’s one thing worth the (admittedly Herculean) effort of getting your family out the door to (or online) each week, it’s church. Ideally you invest in more than just Sunday mornings—a Bible study or small group, or a Zoom book group—but if showing up on Sunday each week is all you can do, it’s a big win for you and your family’s wisdom.
Nature: Find a time each week to go on a walk as a family (for us it’s Saturday mornings). It could be in your neighborhood, in a park, along the beach, or further afield. But prioritize being outside at least weekly.
Books: Instead of filling those 10-minute gaps in your day with fruitless scrolling on your smartphone, use it to read a few pages in a book! Pick two books to go through at any given time: one for when you have the capacity to think deeply, and one for when you just need escape. In both cases it will be time better spent than aimless scrolling or swiping on a screen.
Beauty: This one is easier than you think, and it pairs well with prioritizing rest. Take an evening to enjoy a movie with your spouse. Listen to a playlist of great music as you make dinner. Make music or create other arts and crafts with your whole family. Practice creativity and enjoy it. It’ll help make you wise.
Internet and Social Media: It’s not that you should quit your online activity cold turkey. If you did you wouldn’t be reading this! What’s important is going online with a purpose, and staying online only as long as you need to. Above all, avoid the “aimless wandering” mode of online life, where you open your phone at a stoplight or while standing in line at Starbucks, with no real reason except that it’s now an instinctive habit. When you have gaps in your day, avoid grabbing for your phone! In those precious free moments, it’s more fruitful to just be alone with your thoughts.
If you and your family can spend a little less time online and a little more time lending your hearts, souls, and minds to more trustworthy and edifying sources of truth, you’ll be on a sturdier foundation for a life of wisdom.
