Personal Time
Who can remember the last time we had nothing to do? When the house was empty and we had no bills to pay, phone calls to make, children to pick up, or work assignments. For a lot of us it has been years since we have had this lack of responsibility. Modern technology ensures that we are always available. A coworker or family member can call or text us and expect a quick answer. Jobs are more demanding and the 40 hour work week is mostly a thing of the past. It is true there are benefits to the new way of life but there are also some down sides. We often lack time for self-reflection and we lose out on opportunities to clear our minds. Being aware of this is the first step to helping regain our personal time and helping us to unwind properly.
A True Personal Day
Most of us have plenty of vacation days and personal days available to use through work. Our employers want to ensure we are well rested and mentally focused and these days help keep us leveled. However, many of us fail to use these days to achieve the goal of being rested. Vacation days are often used for family vacations, which are enjoyable and memorable, but can be tiring in their own way. Travel can be exhausting and this can be made exponentially more tiring by traveling with children. It is true we make memories that can last a lifetime on these trips but we often return from them as tired and worn out as when we left. Other common uses of paid time off are doctors’ visits, school activities, or other social or personal obligations that don’t really give us a break. Ask yourself when was the last time you took a vacation day to focus on yourself. Schedule a full spa day or simply sit in bed all day readying a book or watching a movie. Most of us feel like we are too busy for this or we have too many work and family obligations. This is the exact reason why we should take a day like this on occasion. Some quiet time without the answering e-mails, calls, or texts. It might not be relaxing to some people but you never know if you will enjoy it until you try.
A Scheduled Night Out
A lot of us are very schedule oriented and would go crazy just sitting around the house. A day of nothing could be more harmful then good to these types of people. So how do they relax and forget about the stresses of life? A simple answer to this question is to have a simple weekly or monthly night out. Once again, it is important to ignore our phones during these nights to get the most enjoyment out of them. The options of what we can do is limitless and based on the individual’s preferences. Some of us would enjoy signing up for a sports league while others simply want a quiet dive bar to go to. What we do really doesn’t matter, what is important is that we take the time for ourselves. This can be a joint activity with friends or can be something we do solo to leave all our normal connections behind. The best part about the internet is that we have a limitless resource to explore. If unsure of what to do spend some time online searching some options. Think about what makes you relax and about what activities you enjoy and start searching. Invite friends or go solo, that really doesn’t matter. What matters is that we have some time to unwind and relax.
Use Your Time
One of the most used reasons for not using vacation time is we have too much going on. That in reality is an excuse. Vacation time is earned through hard work and we have a right and an obligation to ourselves to use the time. Some companies let you stack time up while others will take unused time away from you. Additionally, some companies let us trade in vacation days for cash. The extra money is a nice boost but does it really help us unwind? As stated earlier, one of the most common reasons we don’t use all of our time off is we feel like we are too busy. We feel that taking time off will set us to far back and we would not have time to get the job done. If you are working for a company that doesn’t give you the chance to succeed and doesn’t enable you to use your time off it is time to start looking for a new job. We must remember why we work. We work to live our lives. We do not live to work. This is an important distinction. We all want to be successful and move forward with our careers and sometimes this does mean putting in a few extra hours; however, a quality company appreciates this and rewards us by enabling relaxing vacations. So if you are unable to take your vacation time because the work load is too much and no one is able to help you or fill in, it is time for a new job or career.
Family Matters
We stated earlier that sometimes we all need time to ourselves and time away from our families. In contrast to that statement, we must recognize that we all need our families and friends. Love and friendship fuel our lives and even though we need a break from this, on occasion, we must make sure we save time to make memories. It is important to go to family events and celebrate the success of others. It is important to surround ourselves with people we care about and those who care about us. What is not important is how we do so. We do not need to travel or go to events to have fun with our loved ones. Sometimes the best activity is playing a game or telling some stories. Saving time for family meals is also a great way to bond together. We must spend some time every day to appreciate what we have and we must all feel loved. Love is the best part of life and it can be found in many shapes and forms. It can be found between family members, it can be found between in our bonds with our pets, and it can be found between friends. So if you are worn down, simply spend a little time away from the digital world and simply hang out with loved ones, it is often the best way to rest and relax.
We all have responsibilities and obligations, but we also must ignore them from time to time. We must find time to live life and find time to create memories. Work is important but there is so much more to life and it is important we all remember this. So take a day for yourself from time to time. Include others or go solo, it really doesn’t matter. What matters most is we rest and relax and have a great time.