Before having my son, I never really had to deal with stress. Sure, I had it at work and sometimes at home, but I was pretty good at handling it all. I could leave work-related stress at the door and never carried it home with me. Any other stress I could let easily roll of me with the thinking that everything would be alright.

Now though…it’s like “Oh hello there stress!” I have so much to get done throughout the day that it has become a bit overwhelming. I stay at home with my son, which is an opportunity I wouldn’t trade for the world, but I also have to find the time to work. I am a freelance writer, and sometimes that means deadlines need to be met. I am also a blogger, which also comes with deadlines, especially since I manage 3 blogs.

Not only do I have the stress of impending deadlines, I also have the financial stress that comes with needing to get the work done in order to be paid. Add to that the need to keep the house clean, laundry done, and the baby taken care of, and you have quite a bit of weight piled on your shoulders!

Some days are great, and I get everything done that I need to. Other days, however, my beautiful little boy likes to fight sleep, which means no naps during the day. No naps means no work time for mommy. No work time for mommy means a huge amount of stress. I try to work in the evenings when my hubby is here to care for the baby, but then there’s cooking, cleaning, bath time for baby, and just relaxing with my hubby that I need/want to do. He helps out as much as he can, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day!

So, how do I de-stress? My first step is the gym. We go to the gym 3 times a week, and I try as hard as I possibly can to focus on myself and my workout during that time. I try not to let work, home, and baby worries get to me while I’m kicking butt (or rather, getting my butt kicked). It usually takes a few minutes for the stress to go away, but it is true that exercise is a great stress buster.

Another way I de-stress is sex. Yes, probably the most common stress reliever in the world. It does the trick though, so long as I/my hubby can get me in the mood. Once I’m in the groove, all of the worries of the day just float away. It’s even more fun when we make the time for foreplay and/or toys.

Masturbation is yet another preferred stress reliever for me. I don’t have a lot of time to do this, which is why I think it is so great when it happens. Since I’ve been reviewing toys the past couple months, I have really started to accumulate a nice stash of toys to assist in my efforts for de-stressing and taking time for myself. I always have quite a selection to choose from when I need to get away from all the worries for a while.

So, there you have it. My three favorite de-stressing methods. Most of the time, one of these three activities will help me take my mind off things in order to regroup and tackle whatever it is that is getting to me at the moment.