Lately is seems that there just is not enough time to get everything done each day. At work we are implementing a new software, which has taken more of my time that I had imagined. When I get home there are 101 things that I need and want to do, but before I can get to half of them its time for bed. The other night I allowed myself to watch a couple of television programs, which I rarely do, and I felt guilty the next day because I should have been doing other things that I needed to do instead of letting myself “veg-out” a little by just watching something that did not require thinking or effort, sound familiar to you? We have such busy schedules trying to fit in work, family, relationships, daily chores, exercise, etc., that we are like a pin-ball in the machine that bounces from one point to another back-and-forth and when it tries to land at the bottom for rest, it gets hit right back up into the game bouncing around again, and we become exhausted. As I was thinking about this vicious circle and what to do about it, I began to think about when my children were small and they would be so tired but did not want to stop and they would then become cranky and start whining, they were beside themselves because they were so exhausted. So, what did Ido? It was time for them to have a “time out.” I would gather them up and have them lay down on their bed for 10 minutes, and guess what? More times than not they fell asleep or they would just look at a book or play with a toy alone quietly. They needed the time out just to “veg-out” from all of the stimuli of the day.
When you think about it time outs would be a good thing for us busy adults to put in our “to do” schedule. It is healthy to give yourself time alone just to think, read, write or whatever you need to do to escape for a little while even if it is just a couple of hours a week. Once you schedule it start thinking about what it is you are going to do and before you know it you will be looking forward for the time to come.
For further reading the link below has some good tips on how make your “time out”
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