7 Ways to make more time for yourself when your routine is packed

In the hustle and bustle of life, it can get difficult to take a few moments just for yourself – to disconnect for a few minutes and take a deep breath.

This me-time is clinically proven to reduce stress, boost productivity and strengthen our relationships – both with ourselves and others.

If you need to make some room for ‘me-time’, these tips could help you reconnect with yourself:

Learn to prioritise

Prioritising tasks will not only help you tackle your tasks in a systematic manner, but also incorporate some me-time in your routine to make it a regular occurrence. A clear and organised schedule for your day or week makes it easy to plan activities like a lunch with a friend or gym time.

Take the evenings off for yourself

The biggest boundary you can make is leaving your work at work or, now with the work from home, at the work station. Once the work hours end, the work ends too.

Keeping your evenings free for just yourself and a hobby, or a friend is key to maintaining a healthy balance between work and pleasure.

Your monthly me-day

Keep one day a month aside for just yourself. Plan ahead for this day and mark it on your calendar like a ritual. It could be a spa-day, laze-in-bed day or a day out – the choice is yours.

Take it as a monthly self-check in, a mental point to look inwards and cater to all that your body and mind needs to recharge your battery.

Learn to say no

Cannot emphasise this enough!! Your plate will always be overflowing if you don’t know when to take a stand and say no. This small word doesn’t come easy but it really is the magic word.

In a busy day, your time is currency that you cannot afford to spend it on things that do not serve you. Just don’t feel guilty about saying no, you know what’s best for you and you know when to draw the line helping you to take time for yourself.

Wake up just 10 minutes earlier each day

Early in the morning, the stillness of these few minutes can help you reconnect with yourself, centre yourself and mentally boost your mood before you take on the day and achieve all your goals and tasks.

Turn off your phone

How many minutes of our day do we waste on mindless consumption of social media and the internet? A surprisingly high amount. In those tiny breaks we get in the middle of the day, rather than scrolling on your phone with zero focus on what you’re reading, switch off your devices and just be in the moment.

Make the most of the Moment:

Mark out a few activities to do with your complete attention.

Focus on your food while eating. Have a cup of tea or drink water. Sit outside on your balcony/porch and just observe. These tiny moments will bring huge amounts of peace and calm into your life and help you recharge your battery and mood.

These points are simple and motivating but getting down to inculcating these in our daily routines can be hard. The first step is always the hardest, and that is to decide that you want to take some time for yourself.

Then smallest amount of effort that can set you off on the right course. Just a small step each day will help you build these mindful habits and carve out the much needed me-time you need.

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