When we wake up in the morning and think of our busy day ahead, sometimes it’s important for us to take a few minutes or call a “personal time out”.
The Internet is filled with tips and blogs about how to do this. Here are a few ideas that could be beneficial:
• Allow yourself to sit quietly, whether that’s at your desk, on your favorite chair at home, or outside on a park bench. For five minutes each day, create time and space to sit, breathe, and simply be. It can be hard to find that space, but it’s there. Get up five minutes earlier, go to bed five minutes later, or make it a lunch time routine. No matter when in the day you do it, you’ll reap the benefits. You’ll be energized,more aware, and in tune to your day.
• Develop a personal practice. Consider reading a book before bed, or taking a regular walk in your neighborhood. Find a practice that nourishes you, beyond your roles and responsibilities, one that enables you to escape and reconnect with yourself.
• Allow yourself to say no. Being able to know your own capacity for commitments stems from self awareness. It’s not easy to say no, and requires diligence to execute. It requires you to look at your responsibilities objectively and remove the items that don’t fit there. If a commitment, action, or responsibility doesn’t better you, your profession, your life ambitions, or family, then it might not be a good fit. If all it does is add to your to do list and offers nothing of substance in return, then it’s time to let it go, and move your focus forward.
• Give yourself a break. Believe that you can afford to take this time out. You will be able to face your daily challenges with a better outlook.
