The Power of "Me" time
All too often we look after others before we look after ourselves. Is it so bad that we take some “me” time? I don’t think so.
A lot of tips I’ve written about (and have read recently) have been about time management and how you can use your time to be more productive which helps not just yourself but other people too. This is all well and good, and in fact it’s necessary in order to foster a good working relationship with staff and customers but what about your relationship with you?
Quite often we can all too easily neglect ourselves in favour of concentrating on others needs, putting them well above our own. This can have a hugely detrimental effect on both our mental and physical health leading to apathy, disillusionment or, in a worst case scenario, stress and related illnesses so the importance of taking time out for yourself is paramount.
There can be a sense of guilt surrounding taking time out for yourself. I have certainly felt that this month when I decided that enough was enough, I was facing complete burnout if I didn’t have some time off from something. Working 4 jobs was far too stressful (although the money was quite nice!) so I decided to up my hours in one job a bit and cut another one out completely. This has given me something I haven’t had in 5 years: time to myself.
Until I had a couple of entirely free days to myself recently with no commitments, I didn’t realise how much I missed and (more importantly) needed it. Having the freedom to stay in and watch T.V, go out to the cinema alone or with friends, or just do housework with no rushing was a novel experience.
Now most of you are probably thinking “Ha, Katy! I have ‘me time’ every weekend, what are you talking about?” But, when you think about it, do you truly use this time for you?
How much of the time you think you are spending on you is actually being spent on others? Think about the “You” time spent:
- Ferrying the children around
- Grocery Shopping
- Laundry
- Gardening
- Cleaning the car
- Housework
How much of that is stuff for you that you actually want to do and will give you some sort of personal reward or relaxation? Sure, we have to do these things but they’re not life-endangeringly important and could be postponed without huge risk or inconvenience. So, next time you think that you have a weekend to yourself, take a step back and look at how much time you’re actually spending on you and take some time out to grab some well deserved “me time”.
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