Taking Time For Yourself When You Feel Like You Have No Time

I suppose the fact that I'm writing this at 9 pm sits well with the topic of this post. After welcoming a beautiful little fur baby into our family a couple of weeks ago, as well as my boyfriend, being home for summer it might be obvious that my time has pretty strained. And even though it's a positive thing that I have no time I'm still feeling the stress of not being able to have any time to myself. I'm someone who has always been a big believer in taking even just a few minutes out of the day for yourself and here are a few ways to do that when you feel like you have no free time at all.

PLAN,PLAN,PLAN

Planning is something I find integral to get on with my day anyway as it allows me to know exactly what I'm doing and when it needs doing by. But when your time is really stretched thin it's so important to have some sort of plan, of course, to some people doing this is monotonous and boring. And yes it really does take any spontaneity out of life but when you haven't got much time and you more than likely already feel stressed and not having a solid idea of what is going on just adds to that feeling. By the time the evening rolls around we're all feeling tired and want to just crawl into our duvet kingdom but taking 5 minutes to plan the next day or even the next week makes all the difference in the world and avoids any stress that could otherwise be avoided.

DON'T WASTE TIME DOING STUFF YOU HATE

Don't get me wrong, I'm not under any illusion that we all get to do things that we love constantly and even though life would be a dream if that could be the case it's not reality. We all have to do things that we don't like and that's just part of life but if there are things that you really hate doing and only find yourself doing them either through social pressure or to please someone else then there truly is no point. Time is too much of a precious thing to be wasted on things that aren't absolutely necessary just to appease other people. And saying no isn't easy but the more you do it the more comfortable you feel allowing yourself that time that you could more than likely use in a more productive way.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Time to yourself is very much a luxury I completely understand that. So many people are unable to take the time but if you are able to I think it's so important to make the most of it. For me, taking the time to myself isn't about being selfish or unsociable it's because I feel like it enables me to be a better person for myself, for my loved ones and especially for work. Maybe it's because I'm an introvert that I crave time alone more than most as that is how I recharge and energise. Working for myself does enable me to be alone a lot and then, of course, the loneliness does creep in but to me, there is something so sacred about time alone. And also enjoying time by yourself because having a positive and happy relationship with who you are is one of the most important things that you can have in life. People will come and go but you are with yourself forever.

POCKETS OF TIME

Even when we're really busy there might still be some time that we can turn into some sacred time alone. And those awkward little pockets of time are something that I've really had to utilise. Even the really mundane things like doing the food shopping [I always prefer to do this alone], washing my hair, even doing my admin are now becoming things that I really savour. And then there are things like a commute or waiting for an appointment of some kind that perfect for getting a few minutes of reading done. I find these little pockets of time that we might otherwise waste scrolling through social media can make a big difference. We don't always have the luxury to make a set thing of having some time to ourselves so embracing and finding the joy in those pretty dull everyday tasks is hardly that fun but it can work and it's something I've found really important in the last few weeks.

TIME MANAGEMENT IS TOUGH

Having great time management skills isn't something we all just have. It takes a lot of practice to get good at it and I'm sure many of us just feel like we're a constant work in progress. Adult life when you have a lot of responsibilities makes your day incredibly busy and things are always coming in and out that have to be accounted for and taken care of. Even writing this post I know I've made it seem like it's super easy but it's not and I think we all know what it's like to feel like we're floundering with all our responsibilities. So even if you need just those extra 5 minutes in the shower to make you feel like you can take on the world a little better than take them and don't feel badly about it.