Five ways to find me time – morning, noon and night
Have you ever gotten to the end of the week and wondered how Friday arrived so quickly and so slowly—both somehow at the same time? All you can recall is that big ball of stress known as you bouncing through the week, somehow keeping you and the family alive and well but seemingly not much else.
We’ve collected some ideas to help you minimize those silent freak-outs and add some relaxation to your day.
In the morning
While you’re still in your comfy pajamas and the house is still quiet, wake up ten or fifteen minutes early, and begin the day with time devoted just to yourself. Take those moments to get you going spiritually, mentally or even physically. Pray, meditate, take slow breaths in and out, stretch (your doctor’s been bugging you to start anyhow), make three goals you want to accomplish in the day or just enjoy the simple pleasure of a quiet cup of coffee. Then wake everyone up or turn on the television and really start your day.
On the way to work and school
Skip the usual and take different route to the office. If your morning includes taking kids to school, change up that drive, too. Get your brain thinking differently with new sights and smells and sounds. When you get your mind thinking differently—even in small ways—you won’t have to apologize yet again for still feeling half asleep at 10 am.
At work
A day or two a week, pry yourself away from the computer or find an excuse not to grab lunch with friends, and treat yourself to a 15-minute nap instead. Yep, drive around the block, set your phone’s alarm and settle in for a power snooze.
In the evening
With dinner preps, the gym, sports practices, homework and any of the other end-of-day chores you just have to do, it’s difficult to find any time to squeeze in a few moments to just sit and chill. Break the stress another way by simply finding reasons to laugh. Like ab-workout kinds of laughs. Turn on a funny podcast while you make dinner, trade your best jokes with everyone in the car or just have a contest to see who can get the biggest laugh.
Before bed
Each night, take another ten minutes to relax. Like really. Wherever you hurt the most, show it special attention. If your feet are killing you, try a footbath or a lower leg rub. If it’s your back, get a full-length massager under you. If it just depends on the day, have a body massager handy. Then write down all those to-dos, goals and thoughts for tomorrow that are racing through your mind. When you’re done, give yourself some credit for a day well lived, and write down at least three things you’re proud you accomplished today.
Then, on Friday when you’re a smaller ball of nerves, look back at what an amazing week it really was and all those goals you met.