Self Time: How Can I Find Time for Myself Each Day?

by admin May 30, 2020

Self Time and Why It’s Important to Do Every Day

It’s important to take time for yourself every day for peace of mind.

Take actions:

Broadly define what taking time for yourself means to you.
Change your mindset
Schedule self-time for each day
Be aware when you might not really be having self-time
Check-in with yourself to see what you need

Certified life coach, author & award-winning professional life organizer Julie Coraccio shares steps and tips to support you in creating the life you choose, deserve and desire through decluttering your life, end of life planning, mindfulness and how to organize your life.

TRANSCRIPT

Julie Coraccio 0:03
Do you regularly take time for you and your needs? Are you even aware or unsure what you need each day? Would you like to learn a big switch that I made to my time this year? that’s helped me immensely. Learn about making time for yourself as we end our month focusing on time management. Do you control your clutter? Or does your clutter control you? unclear your clutter inside and out will teach you awareness as well as action steps to create change in your life. Come on. Let’s get started. Today’s episode was inspired by a life change I made this year and I have to laugh. You know I record a month over a week. So record four or five episodes over the weekend. Last night, I was on a webinar and it’s about astrology and numerology and really interesting stuff that I don’t know a lot about. And one of the things she mentioned for I can’t remember was my year because you numerology have a life path number and the year it’s actually very interesting things. I’d love to get her on the show anyway. One of the things she mentioned for the year for me this year was having self time. So another confirmation that I am in on the right path doing what I need to do. If you listen to podcasts in year 2018, was really challenging for me. And then last year in 2019, we downsize so not only letting go things but getting a house ready to sell. And that was a lot of work and then getting household moving. Thankfully, we didn’t have to do one darn thing to this house, which we’re really grateful for. And then I got all the books out at the end of last year. So really the downsizing and books took lot of my time and an incredible amount of energy and I realized I was really exhausted. And so at the beginning of this year 2020 and just to check in make sure you’re writing 2020 on your check, you don’t want to write 20 and then have someone fill in the urine say like, okay, but you wrote this and whatever I’ve been reading that I know we got that tip, the beginning of the year, I’m sure you saw over the news, but a reminder about halfway through the year. In the time that I’ve done this, I’ve been doing every day this year, because it’s how I’ve set it up. It really works for me. It’s definitely made a difference to me in my life. I feel unless stress, I feel like a more productive, I know more productive. I talked a few years ago how one time I was super burned out and in one summer I think it was July. I literally spent two weeks binge watching The Good Wife and you know, had some good and bad And then after I did that, I got more done in one day than I could have done the previous two weeks. I just wasn’t in the headspace. I think most of you or all of you can probably relate this like, man, I don’t do darn thing. Like I did my email those two weeks and answered emails, but anything, no productivity. I just couldn’t do it. And that was probably Gosh, four or five years ago, but I haven’t had to do that again. And so one of the reasons for implementing self time is hopefully I’m going to avoid that. I’m not going to get a position where and I’m not talking about vacation and downtime. I’m talking regular work week. I just couldn’t do anything. And from a creative standpoint, there definitely peaks to creativity. You know, I think that you can write, write, write, and then when I’m on a project, let it marinate and then I come back to it write write, write, write, write, marinate, edit. And I think it’s the same with any creative endeavor. And I get that and Being a solopreneur there’s always something for me to do. And if I don’t have a lot of brainpower, then I’ll do something like post on social media. So I have a little thing called Hootsuite. So I can post most of my social media posts but doesn’t take a lot of brainpower because I’ve already written it’s cut, cut and pasting, but it’s still something I have to do. So I try to do things that don’t take a lot of brain power from not really feeling it. Even if I have a really scheduled day, and one of the lessons I’ve learned is I don’t over schedule my day. I know in another episode, I talked the doctor’s appointment ran over by over two hours. It wasn’t near the house. So my day worked out because I didn’t have enough time to meet someone a person able to zoom. But implementing self time has been really great. No matter if you’re doing work like integration, work life balance, a hodgepodge of that time management, I’m going to encourage you to make self time happen

first Keep it loosely define. I purposely kept it broad. And I did this for a few reason. Because I didn’t want to add to my stress. If something starts to feeling like to do, you get burned out, you get overwhelmed with everything. And so I know a couple years ago, I did this breathing exercise and it was something you were suggesting, I think I was the only one in the group that committed to doing it to a year and I was in Hawaii for eight of those days. And I you know, I remember the day we’re flying out and I’m in the bathroom and doing my little breathing exercise and it took about 20 minutes to do everything but I was like, I made a commitment to do this. So I’m gonna do this. And but I didn’t write on my to do list breathing exercise. I just put, I’ve switched back to a paper planner, but on my old whiteboard, I just had a B, just to remind me so I wouldn’t forget because you know, just sorry sometimes even if I know I’m doing it daily, I can forget it. really encourage you to keep it loosely defined. Again, the big reason I keep it very loosely defined is I don’t feel like it becomes a chore. Here’s some of the things I wrote down a bunch of things that I consider self time. So what this means is, I’m going to do one of these items or something else during the day. So some of my self time includes exercise. Meditation, mowing the grass, and mowing the grass for me is super relaxing. I do a brain dump. I just feel like my brain can kind of barf out everything it needs to and I consider mine very meditative. So for me, that’s relaxing. And that’s why it’s on the list. Time with the cats, napping, reading, painting, just being playing cards with my husband or playing games. Hanging out with someone I like bubble bath, baking, cooking, laying around on the couch. snuggling with my husband because I feel nurtured when we do this so again all about self care doesn’t necessarily self care or self time isn’t necessarily for me solitary might be for you. Massage sitting on the deck with tea or coffee or cocoa, hugging a tree, hiking, spending time in nature. When I look at this list to me they’re self care. When I do these activities, I feel peace, relaxed, nurtured, happy, all good stuff, all positive stuff. Here are some activities that for me I’m not going to do during self time, they’ll paying. But if it’s going to leave mental clutter for you, it could be self time. Cleaning wouldn’t fall into this category as well for me because I see it as a chore to do Oh, whereas I know other people who like it’s good for my soul, I clear out the cobwebs in my mind. Social media is a big no for me. But if that’s how you connect with people, and you consider that connecting time, that might be self time for you. Define self time as it fits within your life and what you consider to be Now note here, you might be thinking well, you know, you are your own boss, you can have a ton of flexibility I work nine to five I’m in the car I can commute and I’m encouraged you to carve out pockets. Most of you should get a half hour or an hour break for lunch. So maybe that means that you take the time to close your eyes for half an hour instead of grabbing a bite to eat with someone and eat at your desk. Or if listening to podcasts, if you’re commuting and listening to podcasts right now and you feel like wow, this gives me this is self time. Because I listen to this podcast, it gets me thinking about things. I’m taking some self reflection, I feel that that’s nurturing my soul, then that’s part of self time. Even if you have a lot of structure in your life, you can carve out the time. I hear about moms closing the bathroom door to get away from it all. You can make it happen. Remember, you have a choice whether or not you’re going to make it happen. So don’t feel like if you have a nine to five job and if you have kids, even if you’re super busy, you can make it happen. I’m also going to suggest that you change your mindset make it a part of self care.

Part of self care for me is connecting with my husband, I know that you can have a relationship with someone and still not be connected. And so here are some areas in ways that I see people get tripped up. And so this is what I want you to be aware of and examine yourself like, hmm, what’s my mindset about when she’s talking about self time? How does that make me feel? Make me feel excited, and go, Oh, I don’t have enough time or woo, woo. To be aware of how you’re what you’re feeling as I talk. don’t see it as a chore. You know, I mentioned a moment ago, that breathing exercise it was about, I had committed to doing it for 365 days and connecting. And because I didn’t write it down on the to do list. It didn’t feel like a chore. If self care or self time is feeling like a chore to you, then that’s not good. Then you need to take a step back. Why am I thinking this is a chore Is it because Don’t feel good enough worthy enough for love is it that I feel like I don’t deserve time for myself or it’s my responsibility for everyone else. So I want you to check in about why you might be seeing it as a chore. Does the thought of clearing your clutter overwhelm you? Clear your clutter inside now has 21 standalone chapters to fit your schedule and lifestyle. not being afraid. gain clarity and go at your own pace. The clear your clutter inside not workbook lets you record your thoughts step by step as you go through the book. Free mp3 meditation with purchase. get control of your clutter, so your clutter doesn’t control you. reclaim time, money, sanity and resources. Learn more at reawaken your brilliance calm and also available for purchase on Amazon Are you busy with dizziness? The Art of being busy? Or are you actually doing stuff? I can think of one client and I saw this week and so that’s why she’s prominent my mind that could honestly say it. She’s super busy. But one of the things her homework assignment was taking time for herself throughout the day. And because of how her schedules, she has all this stuff to do during the day, there’s always something to do trust me, I get it. But how what she’s doing is setup she has to take a lot of calls at night. And so what I said then during the daytime, you need to whether it’s walking the dog, don’t ever need to do anything. I’m going to suggest that during the day you walk dog, you read a novel, whatever it is you carve out that time and I really believe that when you do this It does make you more productive. I know more productive when I’m lack relax, when I am in a headspace to focus 100% if I’m distracted, it’s going to take me longer to do something. But if I’m calm if I feel that I’ve been nurtured if I feel that I’m spiritually fed, if the cobwebs are clean from my mind, then I can get more done. So check in with yourself if you’re saying you don’t have enough time, and then I’m going to make you time how long you’re on Facebook and social media. actually do that. That’s a good exercise. I want you to time the amount of time you spend on social media told you that the iPad tells me every week how much time I’m online, find something similar. Another place you might get tripped up is it’s not a priority. So I want you to examine the rest of your life. Is it out of whack? And if it is, and you definitely might need to ask Even more self time, and maybe you need to say, Okay, I need an hour. Whereas if I wrote at home and exercise, which is self time for me, I’m doing 20 or 25 minutes, I want to build up to a half an hour more, but right now that’s where I am. It wasn’t a huge amount of time. 10 minutes closing my eyes are doing a quick little meditation is self time. It’s all about being aware and examining, how am I feeling? Am I feeling good about life? And you know, maybe and I also want to say if it’s not a priority, or you feel like you don’t have enough time, you most likely need to do this pronto. You most likely need to carve out an hour or so because if you’re too busy, it’s not a priority. It’s just been my experience that it tends to mean you know what you need this more so than ever. Examine your mindset.

What are you thinking? What do you think you need to switch To allow you to make time for yourself every day. Next, schedule it, write it down. This is become a habit for me. So I don’t write it down. And also because if I were to write it down, I would feel it as to do. No, I just thought of another example. We are downsizing again, going through everything we own this year. And so the cluttering is not a chore for me to cluttering, I know goes to support me in so many ways. So it is not seen as a chore. Because I’ve done this podcast, I have one little pile of stuff that I wanted to clutter. And that for instance, counts itself time because I know I feel fantastic after that’s done. If you’re new to this and busy, I’m going to encourage you to write it down. I would just write down so again, I talked about keeping it loosey goosey. So there’s not all this pressure like oh my gosh, well, you know well My gosh. has to be this this or this now and then write a list write a list of what you consider to be self taught. I gave you a bunch of things not too long ago of what I consider self time. So make that so if you have your list you’re feeling like Oh, you know what? Not sure what I want to do today. And that’s what I’m going to encourage you to close your eyes and check in with yourself. This is about also connecting to your soul and spirit. What is it I need right now? What is it I need to do today? Do I need to go out to lunch with people and connect? Or do I need some solitude? And the more I do the self time, the easier it is for me to figure this stuff out. And I’m honor it. So this week, for example. I recorded the podcast and I got a lot done. I could have gotten more done. But I have to tell you is pretty tired. I haven’t slept well this week and so had a nap Tuesday had a nap Wednesday. Definitely doing some more self time than the half hour that I needed to. So I honored that. And so then I know again, it gives me that clarity Give me that focus, and then I can get more done in less amount of time, and then know that you know what if I have to work a little more next week, that that’s okay, because I’m taking care of me. And as I mentioned earlier, I do work life integration. I know I have a lot of leeway. And if you listen, the first podcast of this month, I talked about what I would do on a day that didn’t schedule anything. So I have a lot of it makes it super easy to get this in. Again, if you’re on nine to five. Instead of turning on the TV, or hopping on social media, commit to yourself. Check in with what you need. part of your routine when you come home is to devote 15 minutes to your cell. It doesn’t have to be a big amount of time. 1015 minutes makes a huge difference. Whatever it takes, again, if you have to lock yourself in the bathroom, you have to hide in the basement if you have to sit in the garage, whatever it takes commit to it. I did an interview with Peter Walsh. And it is available. It’s been several years now. It’s on the podcasts on YouTube. And I remember talking about my sister in law and so the kids are 18 months apart. So it’s like so the time she would have had it probably, I don’t think how long it’s been this is easy for my math skills to six, five and three, is that right? About two years difference between the the baby and the tween him on Mac. So she had three kids was trying to work had you know, how stuffed do my brother’s incredibly busy with this business and I was giving her an example like, you know, this is someone that I would cut slack and Peter was like, ah, And he talked about that and he’s like, No, you know, it’s again, you’re making the choice, I want you to remember that you always have a choice. This is huge. This is a huge part of what the podcast is for you to not feel helpless to not feel like you’re in a position where you can’t make a choice. Be aware, is this really self time? Or are you using it as a distraction? Are you doing something that enriches your life? Or are you allowing yourself to hi? That your that was really hard, you know, I love to read, I read a ton and reading before bed, as part of my routine. It’s Gosh, it’s been my routine forever. I’m very grateful that my parents really instilled in us the love of reading. We’re very fortunate with that. And so that’s completely part of my routine. However, that really tough year.

I read a lot more about It was mainly as a distraction. Like, you know what, I don’t want to deal with anything in life right now. So I’m going to read. So was that self time? Yeah. That could be debatable. On one hand. Yes. Maybe on the other hand, no. So I just want you to be aware. And again, it’s good. And it’s important. If you’re doing it for the good stuff, the good reasons, and hopefully that’ll make sense. Nothing wrong with being distracted or procrastinating. But then it gets to how much is this part of a daily life that you’re doing? Have you I spoken with a woman I really like and she spent 20 years writing a book and trust me, I get completely how that happens. What we’ve talked about a little sense of fear there, which again, I completely understand. So some of the things instead of working on the book again, which to me, I would consider writing as self time because it makes me so happy and it brings me so much joy that doing other things instead of that or what you love or being afraid, so just Maul that over marinated on marinate on it and, and be honest with yourself, you’re the archaeologist, do some research, and figure out what it’s all about. And finally, check in with yourself. Try and ask yourself each and every day, what you need. And that’s reinforcing your intuition and yourself. because there’ll be some days if you’ve been dieting and your body’s like, hey, Ray, I want mac and cheese and honoring that maybe it needs that craving or comfort food because once it’s given that, it’s like, Okay, let’s go back greens, I can do this. Because your needs are going to constantly change and when you’re in the present moment, the more you do that, when you’re asking yourself, it’s gonna bring you into that present moment, not keeping past or future And that’s for your point of power to changes. And the more you do that you can trust yourself more you trust your instincts more. And you’re feeding yourself. You’re giving yourself what you truly need. It’s coming from that place of soul, that place of wisdom. This wasn’t anything that was earth shattering. But it’s made such a huge difference in my life that I wanted to share it with you and I want to hear how it’s going and what people think and if you found supportive, take action from today’s podcast. Broadly define self time for you. change your mindset. Schedule self time for each day. Be aware to make sure it really is self time. check in with yourself to see what you truly need next month or focusing on awareness. Go out clear your clutter to create the life you choose deserve and desire. When you clear your clutter, you can share your gifts with the world. Sign up for our free newsletter at reawaken your brilliance calm. If you’ve enjoyed clear your clutter inside now, please rate review and share us

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

About Clear Your Clutter Inside & Out

Clutter is stuck stagnant energy and prevents you from creating the life you choose, desire and deserve. We discuss clutter in all its forms: energetic, spiritual, emotional, mental & physical, relationships, health, finances and more. We share tips and take action steps for clutter free living and how to organize your life and death with end of life planning. We’re thinking outside the box on areas where people might not realize where clutter is blocking them. When we remove clutter from our lives we can discover our passions, lead the extraordinary lives we are all meant to live and share our gifts with the world.

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