The dishes need to be washed, the kids need a bath, your friend calls in distress, your boss wants you to work overtime this week, you are supposed to go to your kids’ school for a PTA meeting, parent / teacher day, and to help chaperone a class trip – and all in one week. Just writing this makes me weary – I couldn’t even imagine doing it all, plus more! Yet, many people do all of these types of things on a regular basis, and sometimes more. How do they do it? I can assure you that they don’t do it because of a yogurt drink, as some commercials would have us believe! The answer is that they don’t do it – maybe they do it for a little while, but people get burnt out pretty quickly on crazy schedules like that.
Don’t stretch yourself too thin; you could break that way! The key to surviving in today’s incredibly busy world is to find time for yourself. I know it sounds selfish when there are a million things to do, and a houseful of people who need you, but if you don’t take care of yourself, you could end up sick, tired or even mentally ill, and then who would take care of everything?
You don’t even need to ask for a whole day to yourself to feel rested; in fact, you don’t need to ask for any time at all. Most of the time, no one will know that you are stealing precious moments of alone and relaxation time. Start looking at the little things in life a bit differently than you have been. You might just find a tidbit of free time here and there, and before you know it, you’ve had a couple of hours of time to yourself!
For example, let’s say that you misjudged the time and you arrive 10 or 15 minutes early to pick up your kids from school or soccer practice. Instead of thinking about all of the things you could have accomplished in those few minutes, take that free time as a gift from above! You could put your seat back and close your eyes for a little while, or you could even go for a short walk to enjoy the outdoors. It would surprise you how much of a difference just a few minutes can make when you look at things the right way.
After you start getting used to having some time to yourself throughout the day, you can start actually thinking of ways to grab a bit more of it. For example, instead of taking the freeway home from work, take the long way for a change – especially after you’ve had a hard day! Do you think your family would rather have supper a few minutes later than usual with a parent who is relaxed and happy, or supper on time with someone who is uptight and stressed about their day?