For me this week has felt like it's been 40 years, they may be a bit of an exaggeration but it's been a long week. And I don't know about you but during long weeks the only thing I want to do is curl up in a ball, sleep, cry and occasionally watch Netflix. But I've learned that those aren't logical things to do when you have such a big to-do list. I've started to learn you have to give yourself a break whether it be for 30 minutes or two hours you need some sort of break when weeks go long.
1. Spend time with friends
Something that helps me when I need a break is to spend a little time with my friends. Whether it be getting Ice Cream from DG and watching the presidential debate and FRIENDS or whether it be hanging out and making brownies. Just take a break and spend time with those friends and they're sure to help you relax. It doesn't have to be a long amount of time either, just enough to help you relax. Go grab dinner or lunch or breakfast whatever you need. Eat a snack, talk about the week, talk about football or just talk. I promise just that little bit of time with your friends will be a refreshing time for your busy week.
2. Do something for you
Sometimes when weeks go long we need time to ourselves at least I know I do. Sometimes it's hard for us to justify doing something for ourselves when we have such a long list of things to do. But you don't have to go on a shopping spree or drive two hours away to do something big. Just do something small for yourself. For me, I sat down and painted my nails which is something I don't get to do a lot. But when my week was long I needed to take 30 minutes for myself. It could be anything, go on a run, go for a 30-minute drive and jam out, dance around your room with your hairbrush. Do something that's going to be for you. Take 10 minutes out of your busy day to do something for you.
3. Find community
Community is a big part of my week and it's my favorite part of the week. It's just a time I feel like I can relax and be around people that care. For me, one of the things I do is go to bible study. I go to Greenwood on Wednesday nights and the whole thing's refreshing. This week I rode with a friend and we talked on the way there and when we got there we hung out until it started and then we came back. But we were able to relax for about two hours. We had great conversations and talked about things we might not normally talk about, and we got to hear an amazing message from the leader of the bible study that got us both thinking. Your community doesn't have to be that, it can be playing indoor soccer with your friends, or watching the football game with a bunch of people, or contra dancing with a group of friends or it could be going to bible study or something like that. But I've found community is a great way to have a break but especially to have a break in these long weeks.
4. Take care of yourself
I don't know about you but when I get busy sometimes I forget I need to take care of myself. For me it's eating I tell myself I'll skip lunch and finish what I need to do and when dinner rolls around I'll skip that too. I just get so busy I forget and I feel like I don't have time to eat. But that's not good, even when weeks are long and you have a huge list of things to do you have to remember to take care of yourself. Take a break and eat, take a break and shower, take a break and exercise, take a break and take a 30-minute nap, take a break and do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself. When weeks get long we can't forget about ourselves even though it's easy to. You matter, you're important and in the end if you don't take care of yourself your work and busy schedule isn't going to matter.
5. Make time for Jesus
This is a big one for me, I try hard every day to remember to read my bible and pray. And I have the best intentions but sometimes my days get so busy that I push it off and don't. That's awful and not something I need to do. I've made a goal for myself to start getting up 30 minutes earlier to read my bible and spend time with Jesus before I start my busy day. But getting up early isn't always as easy as it sounds when morning comes. I'm still working out when the best time for me to sit down and read my bible is during my days but you can pray anytime. That's something I forget sometimes, whether it be walking to class, driving to an internship or job, just whenever there's a free moment there's a moment to talk to Jesus. I seem to forget that in my busy weeks sometimes and it's not something that should be forgotten.
I encourage you as I encourage myself to take breaks in your weeks that seem to last forever. In reality, that week isn't really going to last forever, so Make time for friends, do something for you, find community, take care of yourself and most importantly make time for Jesus.
