Making Time For Other Things Other Than Work
No matter what you do in life it's almost guaranteed that you will spend the majority of it working and trying to make big things happen. Which is awesome but there are so many more things that we can do in life that isn't hustling and doing the daily grind. But it can be incredibly hard to make the space for them and it's taken me years to finally work out some sort of balance so that I can do the things I love alongside working hard. So here are the certain things that I always have to make time for and the ethos that I go by to do so.
JUST BECAUSE IT DOESN'T PAY THE BILLS DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT IMPORTANT
I think this is something that's incredibly easy to forget that just because something doesn't directly add value in the form of money to your life that doesn't mean it's not important. Some of my favourite things in the world don't give me any profit but not everything can and I think that's an unhealthy mindset to be in and live by. If something makes you feel incredibly happy or healthy then that's just as important as money.
USE YOUR TIME WISELY & POCKETS OF TIME
As much as we might wish for more than 24 hours in a day it's never something that can actually happen. So using our time wisely is the best thing that we can do and it's a tough thing to do when your schedule is unpredictable. Something I find myself saying to myself far too often is 'oh I don't have time'. But the truth is I do have time and more often than not if I used the time I was using telling myself I didn't have the time to do the thing I wanted then I'd probably get everything done. Utilising small pockets of time is something that's incredibly handy when you live a busy lifestyle. I always find myself having little portions of time that I might waste otherwise by scrolling through my phone when they could be used productively. Like when waiting for a dentist or Dr's appointment instead of scrolling through Instagram I could be reading my book or answering my emails. It's those little time pockets that can make room for other things in your day.
READING
Reading was such a huge part of my childhood that it pains me to think how many years I neglected it as now it's back to being a big part of my routine. I really don't know how I went so long without it. In our generation, it's completely normal to spend any precious down time watching Netflix or binge watching your favourite show so reading has been left in the dust by many of us. Getting into the habit of reading a book over watching something on a screen can be tough. The great thing about reading is that it doesn't matter how long you do it for, it can be 5 minutes or it can be an hour. But it still feels great, personally, I like to read in the evening or in the morning instead of watching something or being on my phone consuming utter nonsense.
SELF CARE
Whatever self-care means to you it's always seen as a luxury in life. For me, self-care is unwinding and letting my mind slow down for a little while as well as taking care of my physical health. Self-care to some people might mean catching up with their loved ones or going for a run but whatever it means to you it's so important to make time for it. I believe in hard work and achieving whatever the best is to us. But for that effort to actually work being well-rested not only physically and mentally is key. I've experienced so many burn outs, especially in my 20's and whenever I go through a burnout everything else suffers because of it. So whilst working 16 hours a day might seem like the only way to be seen as succeeding it doesn't mean that it's always a good thing for anyone involved. Practising self-care can be done for 5 minutes or 5 hours, it doesn't matter as long as you make some time for what makes you truly happy.
FITNESS/HEALTH
For myself and a lot of people taking care of my physical well-being is something that is now no longer questionable in my routine. But I completely understand why people find it so difficult to fit it into their busy routine. So things like scheduling it in like you would do anything else or making it a date with a friend are two things that I know work incredibly well for other people. And if you don't fancy paying out for a gym membership then there are so many amazing workouts to do online that are only 5 minutes long so it's highly unlikely you won't have the time to do them. As well as general fitness I think cooking meals is something that goes alongside taking care of your health. Meal planning and prepping is something that I've found to be really beneficial when juggling a busy lifestyle. It takes all the pain out of cooking and makes it easy to eat great food instead of constantly getting take out which is a costly habit.
Do you have any tips for time management?
R x
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