Making Time for You | 4 Tips for Better Self-Care

May 22, 2020

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
-Charles Buxton

This is going to be short and sweet. Do you struggle to find time for yourself? Do you always feel like you are giving, giving, giving and never have time to do the things you want to do? Are you burnt out, tired, stressed out, resenting your spouse or kids because they always need something? Do your kids or pets run your home?

If any of your answers to these questions were yes, read on. I have some very simple answers for you about how you can MAKE, not find, time for yourself.

Wake up before everyone else. Trust me, this is worth the half-hour to hour less sleep or you could go to bed that much earlier! YOU ARE IN CHARGE! You can use this time to meditate, exercise, write in your journal, or just have a cup of tea or coffee in the peace of your quiet home. I do most of these daily.
Plan time for you. Get yourself a planner! I use a combination of Panda Planner and iCal. I use iCal to communicate with my husband and kids. They all know when it’s mom’s time…at least most of the time! They support it too, because they all think I work too much, and unfortunately it’s true!
Communicate what’s happening to the people around you. Let them know that you are trying to care for yourself better. You’ll be better for your family if you take care of yourself. You aren’t good for anyone if you aren’t well yourself!
If you are unsure what lights you up or makes your heart sing, spend some time, pencil it in your calendar so you actually do it, and write down what you enjoyed when you were a kid, write down places you’d like to go and see, things you’d like to do. These should be only things for you. Allow yourself some time to just think about you and dream a bit! Be patient, if you are out of practice and used to supporting everyone else’s dreams and activities this can be a bit of a task. You’ll get the hang of it if you honor yourself enough to stick with it!

This past week I had an illness to deal with and other things come up. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t get to these things every day. I will say that if I didn’t set up my month, weeks, and days to include some time for just me and communicate it to my family, I’d be a mess! I was a mess there for a while because it got way out of balance. Remember, you are in charge of your life. Put the dog in the kennel for an hour (my family tells me this daily). From time to time you’ll need to tend to things but overall there isn’t an elaborate enough excuse to justify lack of self-care on a regular basis.

If you need an extra push or inspiration get the book You Are a Badass Every Day. It’s based on the book You Are a Badass but it’s short, simple statements that you can just pick up and read in the midst of your busy schedule. It will get you going and out of the self-careless funk!