Whether it’s meetings, work, children, family, and all that’s in between, including the laundry, dinner, cleaning, getting groceries, picking up and dropping off the kids, caring for your significant other, the pets… Oh! And, have you shaved your legs and showered today?!? Seems crazy, but nowadays it’s relatable, so chuckle and keep reading. Where and how do you start to find balance and restore time for yourself?
As cliché as it sounds, it is critical that you care for yourself first.
Simply placing a reminder in your calendar to do some self-love today is a good start but you may wonder where to find the time? The truth is, we all have the time we need. We have extra minutes, even hours, that we waste. For example, instead of spending up to several hours on social media every day, learn how to incorporate time management tools and mantras to reduce anxiety and stress.
Some advice…
Go to work and give it all you got. After putting in the hard work on that project, gift yourself with a break. Go ahead and check your phone, take a stretch, a walk to the bathroom, or a co-workers desk or, even better, take one minute to breathe in and out (Apple incorporated this feature into their watch and we can be thankful for it), or read a few pages of your book that has been sitting in your bag or on your desk instead of checking FB and IG.
Don’t do it if you don’t like it! What this means is if it is work-related and a task, then it is still work. For instance, you want to visit a new place because you are interested in cross-promoting. That’s fine, but this is not an act of self-love, it is still a task. Go. Do the work piece of it, but remember to set time aside for yourself and personal interests so you can enjoy and explore. For some of us this may take some thought because we may not have not really thought about ourselves in a while.
Get rid of the doubt and the overthinking, and just do it! One helpful idea is to set goals on a weekly and monthly basis. While our daily chores are very important (by no means are we discrediting them), how do we balance both the chores and the pleasures?
Completing our tasks, chores and errands certainly help us to feel less anxiety and, more important, to feel complete in our “functioning life.” Let’s begin by incorporating heavy use of smartphone reminders, planners and calendars apps. They exist for a reason: they work!
Time management for ourselves – Personal growth
Okay, so now you know you can use smart tech to set weekly and monthly goals. Next, be honest with yourself — make those goals realistic. Say you want to meditate daily. First, pick a time that works for your busy life style so it’s a realistic goal. If 10 minutes sounds impossible, then set a reminder three times a day for three minutes each time so you don’t feel overwhelmed by the whole 9-10 minute session. Just start somewhere. You can do this.
Maybe this month you want to run, read, paint or work out: find a block of time and schedule one hour for your personal time at least once a week. Or break it down into ten minutes a day, et viola! By the end of the week your goal has been met. This will not only promote happiness, you will also start to have more confidence and less stress.
For longer-term goals, find an event or interest and pursue it. Some ideas: maybe learn another language, a new sport, an instrument, come up with a new business plan, attend a workshop, volunteer…the choices are wide open but look for something inspiring to you that will promote your personal growth. Never stop exploring and learning. There are plenty of workshops, organizations and talks locally, so find your passion and pursue it.
Mantras
Is there a little voice in your head that is stopping you? For example, do you often think, “I have no money, no time, no willpower, no love.” Change those negative thoughts ASAP!! Reframe those thoughts into mantras. Try saying, “I am enough. Money flows to me freely. I have time and I manage my life exceptionally well. I am love and I am thankful to have love.” With mantras like these you can make sure you are always projecting from a place of abundance and not loss.
And NEVER forget it’s called practice for a reason. We all slip, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Let it go and move on. Today is a gift. Give love and thanks to it daily.
Recommended Reads
She’s Killin’ It: A 21-Day Journal for Manifesting a Kickass Life, by Katherine Zenkina
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sincero
A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson