So much of what people share on the internet and on social media is what they’ve done and accomplished. We’re exposed to everything people are able to do, how well they do it, and how amazing their lives appear with all that’s on their plates. Take a minute to think about what you see on blogs, Facebook, and on your Instagram. My feeds are filled of people accomplishing workouts, losing weight, meal prepping, raising what appear to be perfect kids, and decorating their gorgeous homes. And who am I kidding? I do the same thing. Posting the good, selectively posting what I’ve accomplished.
An important step in my goal to prioritize myself is to take the time to recognize all that I didn’t do within a week. Most of my days are go, go, go, so it’s easy to feel like I’m doing it all. Reality is, there’s plenty I’m not doing that I should feel good about and these are other things I’m not doing that leave me feeling pretty blah! Prioritizing myself comes with needing to reduce some of the things on my plate, while also adding other items back on.
As the work week came to an end, I took some time to think about what I didn’t do this week. This week I didn’t…
-Drink enough water during the work day
-Workout every day
-Make my kids dinners from scratch
-Take on other people’s problems unnecessarily
-Go to bed at a reasonable time
-Get enough sleep
-Tackle everything on my to do list
-Take work home with me
-Stay at work late
-Allow people to make me feel bad about my choices
-Make my bed
-Clean our house
-Lose any weight
-Protect my lunch break from work and meetings
-Take the time to pamper myself (face masks, baths, etc)
Looking back on the week, I’m really proud of where I protected my mind and time. I’m glad I didn’t take work home, stay at work late, or take on other people’s problems. These are big for me and I’m glad I started to create those boundaries. On the other hand, I recognize that I wish I had protected my lunch hour more, gone to bed earlier, and had more water to drink.
It’s a balance, recognizing what you should and shouldn’t do. As I look to next week, I want to make intentional goals around what I spend my time on and the things I want to accomplish. There are some things from the list above that I definitely want to maintain and there are others I want to change. I can’t do it all at one time, so I know it’ll be important to focus on a few things to start.
I also want to start to test the time involved in some of these habits. For example, making my bed takes 2-3 minutes max, but the joy it brings when I walk back into my bedroom at the end of the work day is worth that 3 minute habit. Filling up my water bottle takes 30 seconds max multiple times a day, but again, it’s SO worth it! Similarly, taking on other people’s problems takes hours of my time and mental space, making it far from worth it!
It was eye opening writing down what I didn’t do this week and I’d encourage others to do the same thing if you’re struggling with how you spend your days and time. It’s a good first time towards prioritizing your time and choices.
