TIME OUT!
When did you last have Time Out?
And no, I don’t mean sitting in the corner as punishment!
I mean time for yourself.
Time to BE.
Time to DO NOTHING – without the guilt!
Definitely NO chores. No weeding the garden, no planning and preparing for whatever function is coming up next.
Time to:
Sleep In
Stay in your PJ’s all day (if you so desire)
Sit outside and enjoy your surroundings
Enjoy a cup of tea, glass of wine, bar of chocolate while relaxing
Reading a book (for ENJOYMENT – not because it’s another one on your list to further educate yourself!)
Watching trashy TV
Play with the kids
Take a quiet amble with the dog (or on your own)
Time to be able to hang loose, relax and allow your body to recuperate.
This is my current challenge – and I am getting the messages from all directions that I need to ensure that I have regular time out to do nothing.
Tech free time (OMG how can I go for a day without checking facebook!)
Time for my hobbies (without it feeling that I have to ACHIEVE something – just ENJOYING the moment)
How do we allow ourselves to get to this stage of constant DOING?
When I think back to my younger days we always had time to have a leisurely start to the weekend. Time to wander around markets and do what we loved.
And then children. And our lives changed forever!
Having a family and taking on that responsibility changes your life in ways you can never comprehend.
And somehow it seemed so easy for our priorities to slip away. For others to become the priority.
And that’s not to say it isn’t important to spend time with your children and ensuring that they are well cared for.
But it is just as important for YOU to have time out to relax – and do what YOU enjoy.
And to have time to DO NOTHING.
Brain recharge.
Creativity restored.
Enthusiasm through the roof!
It’s like a mini holiday.
Sound impossible?
It’s not.
Schedule it in
If you don’t allow the time for you to have time out, you’ll never get it.
Just like the principle of “Paying Yourself First” for putting money towards your savings before making any other payments, scheduling in “Time Out” for yourself is what needs to go into your diary BEFORE you schedule in anything else, otherwise I can guarantee you that there will be no time left for you.
So what happens when there then isn’t enough time for your children to do all the activities that they desire?
I understand.
We want to give our children the best opportunities that we can. And we’re willing to sacrifice ourselves for this. But believe me, your children will survive without receiving EVERYTHING that they desire.
Before you say “No!” to their endless stream of activity requests – is there another way that the activity can be incorporated? Can you organise a lift club with someone else doing the activity? Can the children assist with other tasks that you have so that you have other time available for YOU? (Children are quite capable of helping out around the house from a very early age, if you lower your level of expectations – and it teaches them life skills – and they will improve over time). You do NOT have to be responsible for doing everything around the home.
It’s all about NEGOTIATION.
If you don’t know what the terms are for your life, then you’ll never get what you want.
Start making yourself a priority in your life.
It’s not being selfish.
It’s putting your own oxygen mask on first.
It’s actually selfish NOT to take care of yourself.
How can you care for your family, your loved ones, if you’re not at the top of your game? Being able to give them the best of you?
AND it sets an example to your children on how to live their lives.
To take time to take care of themselves.
Be The Change!
Share with us below – do you schedule in Time Out?