As a busy mum and wife who’s always on the go, I often feel like my work is never done. There’s always something else that needs doing. And sometimes there’s so much to do, I have no idea where to start! The silly thing is, I know that if I just took five minutes for myself, if I just sat down and gave myself time to gather my thoughts, life would be a LOT less stressful. But I don’t always do it. Why? Because sometimes, the stopping to take time for myself makes me feel guilty. The struggle is real and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. So how do you make time for yourself without feeling guilty?
How to make time for yourself without feeling guilty…
I recently received a question from a member of the A Simple and Contented Life community on this very topic. She asked:
“I love everything you share here and I wish I had time to do just some of the things you suggest as I know they’d make my life so much easier. But, just finding the time to pause long enough to gather myself and come up with a plan without feeling guilty is hard enough! Do you have any suggestions?”
Relieved I wasn’t the only one struggling with this, I started to wonder what could be done about it. Making our own wellbing a priority is so important and I’m a huge advocate for not feeling guilty about it. But that doesn’t mean it comes naturally to me. Why, when I have so much to do all the time should I be sitting down with a coffee to gather my thoughts and figure things out? BUT, that’s exactly what I should be doing…and so should you!
Pausing to gather our thoughts…
When thinking how best to answer this question, I knew exactly who to turn to. Instead of me just giving my perspective on the subject, I thought I’d reach out to Lee Lam of Journey Through the Guilt Trip for some advice. Lee does an amazing job of helping women to live guilt free and make their own choices in life – and that makes her THE BEST person to answer this question. Knowing we’d have a lot to talk about, I recorded our conversation so you could see what she had to say.
Letting the guilt go…
In the video, Lee and I go deep on the topic of how to make time for yourself without feeling guilty. We talk about:
- The main reason we stop ourselves from pausing to gather our thoughts.
- The importance of giving ourselves time and space to think.
- How to stop just accepting the guilt we’re feeling and pick it apart to figure out what’s going on.
- How to recognise whether the guilty voice we hear is our own or if it comes from the expectations of others.
- Why having something that’s just for you isn’t selfish and why we should do it.
- Ways to give time to yourself without feeling guilty.
…and much more!
The benefit of making time for yourself…
All too often we see ‘me time’ as something that’s selfish. Judging ourselves for daring to put ourselves first, we feel that by doing so, we’re disregarding those around us. But that simply isn’t the case. The reality is that self-care isn’t selfish, it’s selfless. The most caring and generous thing we can do for those around us is to look after ourselves first. And so, if you’re a mum who struggles with this too, rest assured you’re not alone. Head on over to the video for some great advice and give yourself permission to make time for yourself without feeling guilty.
That’s it for this post!
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