It’s the biggest thing in life, and the one we tend to ignore.  A frequently asked question is how to make time for myself, so we’ll talk about that today. How often have you thought things like these:

• wishing you had more time to yourself.
• wishing you had a different schedule and could say no.
• wishing there were more hours in a day.
• constantly thinking we don’t have time for things.

I’ve heard people say they don’t have time for things so often.  An old friend of mine had one child, didn’t work, yet constantly told me she didn’t have time to do anything and was run ragged.

I used to think people were judging me for making the time for myself, as if I must have somehow found the magic holy grail that extends hours infinitely, or that my life must be so much more empty than theirs, because I made time to spend on myself.

Perspective

Why should any of us feel bad, because we’ve consciously made the time to spend on ourselves?  It’s those who can’t fit it in who are the ones who need it the most.  When they tell us that they don’t have time for things we do, they’re really annoyed at themselves, but it’s easy to take it personally.  Honestly, don’t.  Go easy on yourself and help them find ways to make time for themselves too.

I hear you say ‘how do I do that when I’m busy all the time?’

Now, how to make more personal time to fit it in, is the six million dollar question…..  Just how do we keep juggling all those balls in a day, without dropping too many of them?  Well, you know what, we could probably drop one or two balls here and there, and nobody would be any the wiser…. I know I could, but choose not to.

It’s all about making priorities, and unless an emergency sticks its nose in, schedule the time in you need.   We know that doing something to relax us, helps us to be happier and healthier and helps us feel infinitely better about ourselves.

It’s even worse for those who are life carers.  I have three adopted children and had two parents with dementia, one of whom was totally paralyzed and lived with me, the other 90 miles away and needing checked on frequently. I also worked. Without scheduling in some me time, I think I’d probably have dropped all the balls…at the same time.. I had to spend some time to care for me too.

My advice is to:

• not feel guilty for taking some time out every day for yourself, even if it’s 10 minutes.
• choose the best way to spend your me time.  It has to be something beneficial for you.  I know people who choose a half hour snooze, where for me, waking and getting up once a day is hard enough, without having to do it twice.  That would be counter productive for me.
• write it into your diary if you struggle to fit it in.  Set an alarm on your phone if you need to.
• say no to things you don’t need to do.
• stop wishing you could do something for yourself, and find a way to get it into your days, weeks and months.  Only you can do this….