Free time…what’s that? Oh yeah, time to do what you want. Not what your friends, your boy/girlfriend, your mom want. What YOU want!
Now, what you want might include any of the before mentioned individuals, but it could also be a spa day, or a Netflix binge day, or a do nothing but sleep kind of day! (All great choices).
Dear Ellie,
I feel like I have no time for anything but those around me. It seems like I am always running around and taking time for everything but myself.
I know I have the time, but how do I dedicate it to myself and classify it as free time?
Do you have any suggestions? I love ‘me’ time, but can’t bring myself to take it.
~ Cutie Pie in Colorado
Caitlyn, today’s Dear Ellie columnist, has all kinds of clarity for us:
Dear Busy Bee,
First, I want you to take a deep breathe. Relax.
Second, you need to start pausing throughout your day and taking deep breaths more often.
I would recommend a planner to visualize your days and this will allow you to physically see any free time you have!
If you have a routine schedule that it pretty similar week to week, writing it all out and seeing where gaps or open space/time is available helps you to take advantage of them.
In these ‘gaps’ it is going to be very easy to find something else to dedicate it to, but you can’t. It might not seem like you can, I know, but you really do have to prioritize yourself once in a while.
If there aren’t big windows of time or gaps in your schedule you could start smaller. Instead of waking up and immediately checking your phone and social media, take a half an hour to yourself to do as you please. Start seeing this as ‘you’ time or free time.
Personally, I take my free time when I get home from work. I know I’m going to have to do work for college after, but I prioritize half an hour or so to listen to music and paint.
It gives me a breather to relax after work and prepare for the school work that is to come!
Finding that little gap isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it. And sometimes (once in a blue moon) you’ll find a day where the free time is just sitting in your lap and you don’t know what to do with it!
Speaking from experience, bask in those days and appreciate them. But for the times when you really believe there is none leftover for you, I promise there is.
You just have to look for it. Because even the busiest person in the world, has a second to stop and breathe and that is a little bit of ‘you’ time to hold on to.
Hugs + Lashes,
Ellie + Caitlyn
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