Block Time for Self-Care
When was the last time you made an appointment with yourself? How about the last time you intentionally thought about putting a self-care break into your day?
We have so many things going on, and our calendars get inundated with activities, commitments, appointments, tasks, engagements - you name it. If you use a calendar to help organize the things you are doing on a daily basis, is there a reason you can’t block time off just for yourself? If you don’t use a calendar, are there times designated just for you during your week?
Many people whom I have informally surveyed say that they would definitely like more time for themselves. We make time for appointments, our family, and doing things for everyone else. We also need to schedule blocks of time to focus on ourselves and to practice self-care.
A Different Approach to Time Blocking
Time blocking is a technique people use to focus on certain tasks or projects throughout the day or week. It is a time-management tool that involves setting aside dedicated time on your calendar to think about one task at a time based on priorities.
I tend to block times on my calendar for both work and personal activities. My work tasks are very specific and my time blocks are structured based on the day or week at hand. I don’t go to the extreme that some people do by blocking every minute of the day, but I do like to set aside chunks of time to ensure I accurately account for the time needed for my most important tasks on any given day.
In my personal life, I will block a couple hours off here and there if I know I want to do something but probably won’t make the time if it isn’t on my calendar. I am one of those people that has to put everything into my calendar or I will forget to do it!
That said, I know that not everyone uses a calendar. The idea is that we can still try to use time blocking as a way to manage our priorities. One of these priorities should be taking time for self-care!
It is important to schedule blocks of time to focus on yourself and to practice self-care.
For example, I like to read. Unfortunately, I have a hard time really taking the time to stop, sit down, and take out a book to relax and enjoy it. To me, reading and taking time away from technology along with all the other things going on in life is a form of self-care. It helps me escape for just a little bit. Unfortunately, unless I actually schedule a block of time to read, I usually won’t sit down and do it.
Many of us really do need time blocked off in both our professional and personal lives to get things done - whether for work or play. The key is to understand that some blocks of time are meant to have structure, while other blocks of time can be totally unstructured.
Self-Care Challenge
My challenge to everyone out there is to block off time to care for yourself this week. Maybe you can only fit 15 or 30 minutes into that packed schedule, but it is important that you commit to doing something to practice self-care. In an ideal world, you should take time for yourself each day. There are many different viewpoints about just how long or how frequently we need to make time for ourselves. Each individual must decide what works for them to ensure they can maintain their optimal level of health and well-being.
Of course we all have different definitions of what it means to care for ourselves. If you need to deliberately carve out time on your calendar for self-care, there is no harm in putting that time on there. In fact, I encourage you to add it to your to-do list!
At the very least, we need to acknowledge that self-care is vital to maintaining our health and should be integrated into our personal and professional lives in some fashion whether it is on the calendar or not.
In closing, I would like to leave you with this quote. It pretty much sums up what I am trying to relay:
“By making time for self-care, you prepare yourself to be your best so you can share your gifts with the world. Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. Self-care isn’t selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”— Eleanor Brownn
