Make Time for Yourself and Your Priorities
Do you make time for yourself and your priorities? Or do you find yourself wondering at the end of each day where the day went, constantly pushing things into the ever-growing and always just-out-of-reach “tomorrow bucket”, feeling like another day is gone but you’re no closer to living the life you want? If you’re not making time for yourself and your priorities, what are you making time for? Where is your time going? Who or what are you giving it to?
For years, I felt like I was living so far away from who I actually wanted to show up as in the world. When two individuals deeply close to me suddenly passed away, I was crushed. Then, a few months later, when I discovered that what I thought was burnout was actually inflammation and autoimmune issues, I was too tired and in too much pain to even begin to put all the pieces of my life back together.
Because of this, I had to start standing up for myself, establishing some healthy boundaries and better habits, and being respectfully ruthless with the limited energy I had. Finally, I put my foot down and vowed to myself to make a change.
Mindset change
If you’re a recovering people-pleaser like me, making time for yourself and your priorities isn’t something that’s going to come easy. But the payoff for prioritizing yourself, your health, your happiness, and your wellbeing will be worth it because it will allow you to show up for those around you in ways you never thought possible. When you’re your best you, you can more easily lift up those around you to help them be their best selves, too.
But first, you have to change your mindset. Practice self-compassion. Take some time to meditate and reflect about what’s truly important to you. What do you wish you were spending more time on? What’s preventing you from accomplishing that? Get grounded in who you want to show up in the world as. And get ready to get respectfully ruthless.
Setting boundaries & holding yourself accountable
There’s only so much time in the day. If you want to make a change in your life, something actually has to change. After all, nothing will change if nothing changes. More time isn’t magically going to appear in your day. The only thing that can change is how you prioritize your time.
You have to set boundaries for yourself, and you have to hold yourself accountable to those boundaries.
For me, utilizing a calendar and a to-do list helped me get into my new routine. I set calendar reminders for myself to meal prep, to spend time with family, to start getting ready for bed, etc. If my energy levels were low one day, I looked at the next few days and adjusted my to-do list. I made sure the things I knew would make me feel accomplished and would put me one step closer to my goal didn’t get pushed too far out.
Additionally, I made sure to communicate my new boundaries with my loved ones. I let them know why I felt I needed a change and assured them that I was doing this to help be a better family member to them.
A color-coded calendar, a dynamic to-do list, and communication helped me set boundaries and hold myself accountable, but that might not work for everyone else. What are some “life organization” processes you already have in place that you can use to help set your own boundaries and hold yourself accountable? When making a change, it’s important to take baby steps to give yourself the time and grace it takes to adjust. Don’t try to lean on a to-do list if you’re not a list person. Do what works for you.
Remember what you want, stay true to yourself, and practice self-compassion, and you’ll get there.