Make Time for Yourself

For the longest time, I found myself worrying that I just never had enough time for me. I even put off starting this blog for years because I just had too much going on in life. Working, being a mom, teaching fitness classes, and trying to keep my house and family from a perpetual state of chaos took every last ounce of energy I had in a day. Sound familiar? Plus, I’m a sleeper, and when my head hits the pillow at night, I’m out. When I start to doze, there’s no turning back, and my productivity level is pretty much non-existent. I can’t stay up like my night-owl husband who can just plow through until 1:00 a.m. night after night. Nope. I gotta rest when the sun goes down.

So what did I do instead? I’ve finally started to get up at 5:00 a.m. for a little me time to create some healthy habits. My trainer is going to kill me when he reads this, because I refuse to get up and actually work out at 5:00 a.m., but I will write…and maybe squeeze in a few push ups too! My healthy habit is writing, and it’s becoming more and more powerful each day.

But let’s be honest – it’s not about me – it’s about you. Make time for yourself, and good things will happen. It doesn’t have to be writing, it can be anything. It’s whatever you need, when you can squeeze it in. Oh, and a little coffee helps along the way, especially first thing in the morning.

When you make time for yourself, you’ll start to feel more productive and accomplished. It’s really only about 45 minutes that I spend writing in the morning, but it is so satisfying to have those early moments just for me. It’s quiet, uninterrupted time to focus and deliver tangible results. I spent too many years talking about how I wanted to write and thinking that I never had time, so I finally did what I needed to do and made time. I can’t take too much credit, as it isn’t really a novel idea (writer pun intended…yes, I’m also a fitness instructor, so I’m a little cheesy too!). I’ve spoken to several people, including great authors I admire so much, who do this every day. Some get up before the sun rises, before their families hit the ground running, and they make it happen.

So here I am at 5:38 a.m., well into this post, and I think it’s coming together. Surprisingly, the words come to me early in the morning. When my alarm went off today, I didn’t even have to search for something to write. As my eyes popped open I thought about how I was starting to get excited to write again, and it came to me – write about creating some time for yourself.

So here’s a moment of truth: I try to have a plan, lining up my posts in advance and with a list of topics and tweets I’m excited to tackle, but sometimes you just have to roll in the direction of where your brain wants to go. Carve out that moment for you, every day, even if it is brief. So, stop hitting snooze, pour that coffee, and find that moment just for you. You’ve earned it, and the more you do it, the more you’ll grow to appreciate how important it is to cultivate your natural talents, your strengths, and what you love to do.