5 Ways to Find Time for You
More and more, we are hearing that we need to put ourselves first, that we need to engage in “self-care.” But if you work full time, manage a home and have a family, carving out a few hours to look after you can seem like another chore that will not get done. Allow me to give you five suggestions for how to find some time to take care of yourself.
Take a day off
If your child, spouse or best friend needed a medical procedure, you would take the day off to be there. If you were redoing the floors in your home, you’d probably need to take at least one day off, maybe a few more. Use a day of leave just for you. Let your family know that you’re taking the day off to pamper yourself. Don’t accept any errands from them! Use your day off to sleep late, get a massage, binge watch your favorite show or catch up on your reading. When my children were young, I took a mental health day for me every three months. I’d watch videos (this was pre-Netflix); go out to lunch, or even go to a movie.
Spread Saturday’s activities into the rest of the week
I have a bad habit of scheduling 30 hours’ worth of activities for Saturday. I know better, but I do it anyway. I’m betting that you do the same thing. If I were going out of town on Saturday or had an all-day event, I would add Saturday’s tasks to the rest of the week. I could do a load of laundry one week night, go to the grocery store another night and pay bills one night. By moving these activities to weeknights, I open up my Saturday. Having a Saturday off just for you is worth the sacrifice of doing some extra chores during the week.
Hire some help
I’m a perfectionist. A part of me believes that only I can do certain things well. However, I’ve gotten better at farming out work. Perfectionism is time consuming. My youngest daughter can clean our entire house in two hours. No, she does not get every spot. It takes me three hours to get about half the house done. Now and then, I will hire a housekeeper to clean the house the way I want it cleaned. I will not take a Saturday to clean the house; it’s just not a good use of my time. I’ve had my taxes done by a CPA for about 10 years now. Yep, I could do it myself with an online program, but I don’t want to spend one minute lying in bed wondering if I forgot something, nor do I want to invest the time in doing my taxes. One more example, I had my house painted about 18 months ago. I hired a church friend to put things back in place. She was just starting her organizing business, and I needed help, so it was a good match. It would have taken me several hours over a few weeks to get the house back in order without her help.
Trade with a friend or relative
If you have a friend or relative, whom you trust, ask her to fill in for your one afternoon. Have her cook, tidy up and pick up the children from their practices while you have a little me time. Make sure you agree in advance how you’re going to repay her.
Schedule medical appointments for midday or early afternoon
This only works if your medical provider is usually on time. If you usually work until 5 or 6 in the evening, schedule your medical appointments for about 1 or 2 in the afternoon. You should be finished by 3:00 p.m. Don’t go back to work! Take those extra two or three hours and have some well-deserved me time. Last week, I was finished with my mammogram at 4:00 p.m. I spent 30 minutes sitting outside and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. Next, I went and had an early dinner. To top off my time with me, I went dress shopping. Some women are into shoes, I love dresses!
Have a “me day” or at least a few me hours once a month. By taking the time to love on yourself, you will be more loving and patient with your family and friends. Taking time to refresh yourself will actually make you a more effective employee. Everyone benefits when you take care of you.
