Most of the time, we are too busy to stop and take a break. There are work commitments – the never ending meetings, phone calls, projects, emails; there family commitments – field trips to attend, volunteering in the classroom, cooking dinner, cleaning the house. And of course there is the time that we dedicate to friends, to exercise and to reconnect with our spouse.
Every day we are so busy, trying to tackle the most urgent, if not the most important items, that we forget to make time to clear our minds. Quiet time, to just relax, reset and re-energize. But that is exactly what we need to do. In fact, a paper released yesterday by the New Zealand Productivity Commission showed that even if you work more hours, you are not necessarily more productive.
I know what you are thinking: “yes, it all sounds great in theory, but it just is not possible for me.” But I can assure you that it is. I am currently writing this post from the beach. A few weeks ago, my husband told me that he was going to Florida for a business conference in early October. I added it to our family calendar, so I would know he would be gone and we could plan accordingly.
But then I started thinking about how great it would be to join him. And yes, I also thought: “it all sounds great in theory, but it just is not possible for me.” After all, with 3 young children and a business to run, how could I even consider it? But I did consider it, and my “village” came together to help me – my mother-in-law offered to stay with the kids, some friends offered to drop them off after activities and clients were more than happy to accommodate a schedule change.
So here I am, enjoying some quiet time on the beach. And even though I cleared my schedule for the 2 days I am here, and did not plan on “working,” I couldn’t help but be inspired to write this post. It is amazing how, once the task of “writing a new blog post” was no longer on my long to-do list and my mind was clear and relaxed, it just “came” to me.
Think about how you can fit some “resetting time” into your calendar. It doesn’t have to be a trip to the beach. Where can you go to clear your mind? Maybe it’s taking a long drive by yourself, maybe it’s being surrounded by the beautiful foliage. It can even be a long bubble bath. They key is to use this time to do something that relaxes you. To clear your schedule for a few hours or a couple of days, and do things that re-energize you.
I am looking forward to retuning home, hugging my beautiful children and jumping back into our crazy life. These quiet couple of days, have helped me reset, relax and re-energize and I am full of ideas and inspiration for when I return! How are you planning on resetting this season?
