Taking a moment for yourself

I think we all know how hard it is to be selfish sometimes. With deadlines for work, family responsibilities, friends who need you, community gardens that need tending, and everything else, it’s almost impossible to get a moment for yourself.

It’s been a crazy few weeks for me, between preparing magazine materials (did you hear that I’m doing Crochet Now Magazine’s monthly yarn review?), my regular responsibilities for work, planning my own projects and the next tutorial, trying to spend at least a few minutes a day with my wife, and preparing for our trip to Florence in a couple of weeks. I’ve barely gotten a moment of peace to myself. I’ve been up early with photography, and late to bed with project planning.

This morning, I staked my Angie flag in the day and declared 90 minutes just for ME.

I started off with a cup of mocha coffee (1 teaspoon of instant coffee, 1 teaspoon of hot chocolate), my new skull spoons, and some chill out crochet. Yes, it’s a project I’m designing, but I’m designing it for selfish reasons, so it doesn’t count. I hopped onto the computer and settled in to (finally) watch the The Good Wife series finale. The craft and internet gods shone on me this morning, because for once, the wi-fi wasn’t painfully slow.

90 minutes.

All to myself.

After The Good Wife, I still had 30 minutes left. I had breakfast (eggs and toast) and busted out my Tropical Wonderland adult coloring book by Millie Marotta. I highly recommend it. I also stole my wife’s fancy colored pencils – it pays being married to an artist when you have a newfound coloring habit. She always has the best art materials!

Wouldn’t you know – it’s amazing how rejuvenated you can feel after taking just 90 minutes for yourself. By 9am I was ready to jump in with work and get started. And seeing as I felt much better mentally, I discovered that I was working more enthusiastically and effectively than I do when I’m feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

Funny, that.

So take 90 minutes for yourself this week. Do it for me. I’m telling you to do it. Do it now, do it tomorrow, do it this weekend, just DO IT. I promise you won’t regret it. I promise everything seems more manageable and sane after you reconnect with yourself.