Whether it’s your first deployment or your twentieth it always hard to adjust and their are always new hurdles to jump through. Ad my husband begins to prepare for his next deployment this has been weighing heavily on me. Trying to remind myself to stay positive. I have been working on a list for myself and I thought I might share the list with you. Bellow you will find some deployment tips that I have picked up along the way both through my own experiences and from my fellow military spouses!

Deployment Tips:

1. Be kind to yourself. First and foremost be kind to yourself. Everyone handles and process deployment differently. You are going to have days that you feel great and days that you don’t want to get out of bed. That is completely okay and normal.
2. Clean the house or apartment. This sounds kind of funny I know. Personally I hate cleaning. I mean I keep my house clean but its not an activity that I feel like would help me process deployment but it does! When you have a clean space you will be able to think better! Process better & take care of yourself. Get those dishes cleaned. Put his/ her stuff away, I don’t know about y’all but when my husband leaves it always looks like a tornado touched down in our apartment.
3. Start a new hobby. Try something new. Something that you haven’t done with him/ her before. That way it can be something that is completely your own. And it is something that you will look forward to.
4. Get outside. Doesn’t matter what you are doing but get out of your apartment/home. Go for a walk. Read a book in the sunshine. Meet up with friends for brunch. Breath in the fresh air.
5. Set goals. Setting goals to accomplish while my husband is gone really helps me. It also helps the time pass quicker at times. I try to set personal, physical and business goals for myself while my husband is at sea.
6. Plan trips. This will give you something to look forward to and it is something that will help you pass the time. I recommend visiting friends & family. It’s also fun to plan a trip at the halfway point.
7. Read great books. I haven’t always been the biggest reader myself but its something that I have been working on. Turning the TV off and picking up a good book. It’s easy to get lost in the pages and can transport you to a different place. Helps your brain relax and destress.
8. Find your tribe. This might be your family, a group of friends, or it could be your fellow military spouses. But find a group of people that you can talk to about things. Who are supportive. Who understand what you are going through. This is something I struggled with my first deployment. It’s hard to find a group of people that truly understand how you are feeling or what you are going through. But I eventually found them & I am so glad I did.

I hope you find some of these deployment tips helpful! Everyone processes things differently so these won’t work for everyone but they certainly helped me!

If your loved one hasn’t left yet and your are looking for some pre-deployment tips/ preparing for deployment tips check out this blog post.