Five Powerful Ways to Take Time to Yourself

If you were checking out my blog last month then you may have come across my post on 6 Easy Ways to Enhance Wellbeing. As I shared in this article, I truly believe that we can all stand to benefit from giving more prominence to our own personal self-care and wellbeing.

One of the ways that I am certain we can all enhance our wellbeing is to take more time to be alone with ourselves.

When you give yourself time to be alone with your thoughts, to process the events of each day, then you can begin to better understand how you really feel about different situations, relationships, and your life in general.

With the busy lives that so many of us lead, it can be difficult to find the time to be alone, as we dash from one thing to the next, trying to stay on top of all of the things that we need to accomplish in a day. Today I want to share five powerful ways that you can overcome this issue, and truly find the time to take care of yourself.

1. Set Boundaries

Setting boundaries within your relationships with other people is incredibly important for so many reasons.

Having clear boundaries in place can help to ensure that your relationships stay in balance, and that mutual respect and kindness can thrive.

It can often seem as though we should adjust our boundaries depending on each unique situation and relationship, but the truth is that in order for you to feel valued and heard, that the fluidity of your boundaries may need to be at a minimum. If you often find that you adjust your needs to suit the demands of others, then this could be at the detriment to your own happiness and mental health.

When setting your boundaries with others, it is essential that your need for alone time is a part of this conversation. This will help to ensure that this time is not encroached upon by others and that they are aware of your desire and your need to have this time for yourself.

Developing clear communication is key to succeeding at setting boundaries. A simple way to embrace this concept is to always say exactly what you mean, and follow this up by always meaning what you say!

Remember, it’s always ok to say no when somebody is asking something of you, and you only have to elaborate on your reasons for saying no as much as you feel comfortable doing!

2. Be Your Own Best Friend

Treating yourself like you would treat your very best friend is something I believe we should all be doing!

When you are struggling with negativity, such as feeling as though you aren’t doing enough, or being your best self, then try to talk it out with yourself and imagine you are having this conversation with your best friend.

How would you advise them to move through these feelings? Would you give them a hard time, or would you encourage them to take a time out and take care of themselves above all else?

3. Process Your Guilt

One of the biggest barriers to actually taking this time to yourself may be that you simply feel guilty doing so! When we have many responsibilities to stay on top of, it can feel selfish, and perhaps even indulgent, to take time alone. However, it is essential to become aware that caring for yourself and prioritising your own self-care is not a selfish act!

One of the best ways to understand and process this guilt is to write about it as you are experiencing it, and then to revisit these thoughts later. Keeping a journal of these guilty feelings can help you to get them out of your mind, and to really start exploring why these feelings exist in the first place. This helps to stop these thoughts from continuing to manifest in your mind, and can help to prevent your guilt from developing.

It’s so important to remember that the better able you are to take care of yourself, the better you will be able to take care of those you love. When you are worn down, low on energy, and struggling with feelings of negativity, then you are going to find it much harder to be present. Taking time to yourself can help to recharge those batteries and get you back on track!

4. Find What You Enjoy

Spending your alone time doing the things that you enjoy the most can really help you to prioritise making this time to be by yourself.

Examples of things that you may already enjoy doing that you could absolutely do by yourself are walking in nature, going for a run, going to the gym, cycling, meditating, painting, writing, and cooking.

When you find activities that you truly take pleasure from doing, then you will absolutely be able to do them alone and still have a great time!

5. Simplify Your Life

One of the biggest barriers to finding the time to focus on your own self-care can be that you feel as though you have so much going on and not enough time to get through it all. This might be the result of over-committing to projects and events, or could also be because of a lack of organisation.

Take stock of how you are spending your time and try to decide if there are some things that you would rather take a step back from. When your schedule is hectic then you are likely to feel as though you absolutely can’t take any time for yourself. This can cause you to be in a constant state of being on the go, which means that your mind never gets a real chance to relax!

When you eliminate the unnecessary stresses from your life and free up your schedule, then it will become much easier to give yourself the time you need to take care of yourself.

Overcoming Stress

Being able to overcome the sources of stress in your life can help you to feel more in control of your days, which can help you to find more time for yourself! This is something that I aim to help you do each and every week with my Get Inspired Newsletter!

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