Life is busy… life is hectic… Combining a (fulltime) job with taking care of your family often takes up most of your time and energy. At night you end up tired and exhausted, falling asleep on the sofa. You tend to put others first, pleasing others is your second nature and you want to make sure everyone is content and satisfied… Sounds familiar? Keep on reading then!

Now you may not notice these things overnight. It’s not that your battery runs low as fast as the one from your smartphone (thank god!). But as time goes by, you’ll notice you can’t keep pouring from an empty cup. And I speak from experience… I used to go go go all the time until all of a sudden lights went out and I suffered from a burn-out (of which you can read in this blogpost). So to make sure you don’t learn the hard way, continu reading and find out how you can turn the tide!

In between the caring and worrying, the cleaning and cooking, the crying and cursing, you might want to find the time to have a long hard look at your diary… when did you ever made an appointment with yourself?! Yip… with yourself! Let’s be honest… I bet you never did! And still it’s as easy as that…

Making time for yourself will make you stronger and more balanced. This means you’ll be able to connect with yourself which will in the end be beneficial for your connection with others. It really and truly is a win-win situation.

So if you want to prevent yourself from burning up like a candle, if you want to make sure you can be there for others when they need you, I want you to take your diary and add a minimum of 3 blocks of me-time every single week (if possible add a block each day!).

It’s up to you to decide when/what/how long/how often… everything is possible for as long as it’s ME-time… time spent entirely on your own (and no, reading a book to your child does not count even though you might get a lot of satisfaction out of that). You’re meant to be working on YOURSELF, refilling those batteries and you’re making sure that your cup is being filled so you can pour out of it without a worry. Nothing selfish about that!

Now… what to do… the possibilities are endless. Be creative, be adventurous, be boring, no matter what… just find things YOU enjoy! To get you started, to give you some inspiration I list some things below… feel free to delete and add as you wish, just make sure to do these things ALONE so you can reconnect with yourself and don’t have to worry about others 🙂

• go on a 15-30 minute lunchbreak walk while you let your hectic office behind…
• go to a museum and stay in front of a piece of art as long as YOU want instead of being rushed by your company…
• go to a bookstore and take out as many books YOU want without hearing your company sigh when you take out yet another book…
• go to the cinema and see that film you desperately want to see that no one else wants to…
• soak in the bath and give yourself and at home facial… Lock the door to keep the kids out!
• go shopping… no company to force a dress on you you actually don’t like…
• while shopping, go out for lunch on your own and treat yourself to a glass of champagne… here’s to me-time! (When I go out for lunch on my own, I usually bring a magazine to browse through whilst waiting for my lunch).
• …

As I said, this is just a short list, things that I like to do on my own. If you have difficulties finding things to do on your own, think of the times others annoyed you when you were actually having a good time. Did you go bikeriding with your best friend and did she hold you up all the time? Go bikeriding by yourself and set your own pace without worrying about others… Did you go to the market and did your partner rush you as he only wanted to stop to buy a hamburger while you wanted to stroll past the flower stalls? Go by yourself and stop at all the stalls you want…Went to the theatre and your friend fell asleep because she thought the play was boooooring? Why don’t you go to the theatre by yourself and meet up with your friend after the play!

So many options! I bet you can find lots more.

Being alone might scare some people. You might feel watched, you might feel uncomfortable, you might be afraid as you have to find out things by yourself now instead of relying on others…

But think of all the positive things that come out of some well-deserved me-time! It’ll spruce up your self-confidence, it’ll give energy to your body, mind and soul, it’ll warm your heart, it will help you to connect with yourself and with others… it will fill up your cup, so you’re able to pour from it again 🙂

Good luck… and enjoy your me-time!

Love, Kathleen