I feel like I’ve spent the last year figuring out my daily routine. During this pandemic, I have worked at least 3 jobs and each one required a different working style. But something I focus on above all things is making time for myself during a busy day. I chose my current employer because of their fully remote policy and the way leadership prioritized travel, adventure, and then working hard. Since I can remember I’ve lived by the motto “Don’t live to work, work to live” and I think making time for yourself and to relax every day is so important. On those days when you only have 10 minutes to relax there are my 10 favorite quick activities to get a little me-time.
Meditate
I haven’t been good about meditating but it’s a goal of mine now that I’m getting the swing of my new job to make time for morning meditation. Meditating is so good to center yourself and apps like Headspace have awesome guided meditations. If you’re feeling stressed, or coping or dealing with distractions Headspace has great courses you can do daily to improve your day.
Journal
If I’m feeling especially overwhelmed with personal stuff or problems with my relationship I find it so helpful to write things down, write down my feelings, and what’s going on. During the start of the pandemic, I felt so unsure and was dealing with a lot of emotion and anxiety making time to journal about the day was helpful to sort out how I was feeling about this experience. If you’re not about writing down your feelings take some time to write about your goals. Write a bucket list and manifest some exciting goals.
Go for a walk
A 2020 staple, getting out for a walk or a pick jog around the block was a great excuse to get out of the house. I remember last spring I would “treat myself” to a jog through my neighborhood and it made me feel so good and relaxed when I got home. Take a step away from work during your day is so important and something that’s often forgotten when working remotely.
Make a healthy snack
Another great way to break up your day is to take some time to make yourself a healthy snack. Working from home all the temptations of my snack stash is there all the time. So instead of keeping cookies, chips, and fatty snacks in the house, I like to keep fresh fruit and healthy options instead. Cut yourself an apple with peanut butter, grab some raw veggies and hummus or get some yogurt and fruit as a quick snack to get your focus back to finish your day.
Do some yoga flows
You don’t have to take a full 50-minute yoga class to get the benefits. There are a bunch of free videos on Youtube that you can take 10 minutes to stretch and move your body.
Start a craft
If you’ve always wanted to learn to cross stitch if you’re working from home like me taking some time to start a fun craft or creative outlet. Spending all day looking at spreadsheets and numbers it’s so nice to make time to just create. I have finally felt a lot more inspired to blog again and it feels so good to take this time for myself back.
Take ten minutes to write out your schedule
Sometimes I get really overwhelmed with my week’s tasks. The week before I head to Charlotte is probably my most frantic week as I try to cram in as many things as I can to prep. When I’m starting to feel spread too thin or like I’m losing focus I will take ten minutes to write down my day and week’s to-do lists as well as get all my activities, shoots, blog post days, and workouts on my calendar that way I can see everything at a glance and break everything down so it all feels a lot more digestible.
Set a timer and pick up your “office space”
Another thing I do to help me relax during the day is set a timer for ten minutes and clean my “office.” My desk is in the corner of my bedroom and I will be honest my bedroom can become a bit messy after a week of shoots and just daily dressing so I will give myself to tidy up my room so I can better focus rather than see all the clutter around me.
Call a Loved one for a Quick Chat
Even though the end of the pandemic is near we have still been living through a deadly pandemic and many of us haven’t seen many of our loved ones for over a year. In high school and college, I spent every summer living with my grandparents and I haven’t seen them in over a year because of the pandemic. So if you have a spare ten minutes on your lunch break or during your day call to connect with someone you love. It can even be a friend you saw last week. Check on your friends and family, this is still a very trying time mentally.
Organize your email inbox
I don’t know about you but just like my workspace being a distraction if it’s not tidy my inbox will also throw off my entire day if it’s messy. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed with your workload stop what you’re doing and take some time to clear it out, make folders for the clutter, you don’t need that email about your 401k benefits from Sandy in HR in your main inbox, put it in a folder with HR-related emails so you can reference it later. I also use tools like Microsoft To-Do or To-Doist is a free online to-do list software to organize my work tasks. As you’re sorting your emails and moving them to folders jot down what still needs to be done on your digital (or paper) list so you get a better sense of what needs to be accomplished.
Making some time to do something to relax is so important not only to break up your day but for your mental health and there are so many different ways you can do that, setting aside ten minutes a day isn’t as hard as it seems. What do you do to set time aside to relax?