As a student, I find myself incredibly busy most of the time. Between classes, labs, and work, there are a lot of things that require my time. This means that I have to allocate time from somewhere else in order to take care of my responsibilities. Usually what suffers is time for myself and the things I do for fun.
I recognize that it is healthiest to take some time every week, if not every day, to focus on yourself. Often times, the things we love take a backseat to the things we feel we must do. I need to start taking more time for myself because really, that’s what life is about.
Here’s five things that I want to make more time for.
1. Reading
I love to read. Stories are incredible. They allow us to experience worlds and situations that we may not get to. They have the power to take us to places that we could never imagine. I used to read a lot, every day, actually. While I’m in classes I find it difficult to want to read since we’re reading so much for class. I want to watch mindless television or easy movies, which does nothing for me long-term but relaxes me short-term. When I read, I feel so good after. I feel like I’ve learned about myself through the story of another. It just takes so much focus that I don’t always have at the end of a day.
2. Making Things
In high school, I learned how to knit and crochet as a way to facilitate my desire to create. I’m not very good at it but there’s something so satisfying about seeing something through from beginning to end.
3. Meditation
Before I started meditating last summer, I thought this was the weirdest thing. I didn’t understand it or why it could be beneficial. It’s so nice to be able to sit down and think of nothing and just assess how you’re feeling; to truly understand your body for a few minutes. I found that it made my more productive and more generous overall.
4. Exercise
I’ve never been very committed to an exercise regimen. I played sports in grade school but that’s really the only regular exercising I ever did. Now I’m an adult, trying to teach myself the basics of being a healthy person and it feels weird. It’s something I want but I’m not sure how to obtain. I want to try boxing and I want to commit more to my yoga practice and if I don't start now then why would I ever?
5. Doing Nothing
There isn’t a lot of time in my days to do nothing. I don’t think it’s healthy to live a life of constant movement. I want to be able to be comfortable with doing nothing for a period of time without getting ripped back into a stressful reality. This would be time that I take out my day for things like just having a cup of coffee or listening to music. Doing those things for the experience that they can provide and not as side-activities meant to supplement other work.
If I could consistently set aside time most days to do three of these things, I would feel successful. These are all things that bring my joy and de-stress but are rarely activities that I do. But I need to. For myself. I need to or else my life is robotic and constant stress. These things make me a rounded individual. As I try my hardest to make time for these things, remember, please, to also take a moment for you.
