Mindful Time Management
Prior musings have outlined a method of optimizing physical, mental and spiritual health by focusing on self-care and embracing the mindful attitudes of non-judgmental acceptance, patience, curiosity, trust, non-striving,letting go and kindness.
A common concern is that there is no time for stress management or meditation practice in people’s busy lives. Our upbringing and our society reinforce being busy. Unplanned,open downtime is a rarity and can bring on feelings of discomfort or judgments of laziness. We equate our value with being busy and productive.
Breaking the habit of being constantly busy is difficult but ultimately very rewarding.Having a less crowded schedule allows for spontanaeity,creativity and going with the flow more often.
Leaving some open,unplanned time in our week allows for unexpected events to be managed with less stress. If no “extra” demands appear,the open time can be used to meditate,contemplate,plan or simply be.
Being busy is certainly contagious, but it is healthier to go at one’s own pace and comfort level with less comparison to others. There are time periods when high priority busyness is unavoidable, but it is important to ramp it down at the first available opportunity. Self-awareness is essential. Tune in to your body and mind frequently and listen to the messages that you are receiving. Who says you have to be so busy? Comparison with others, habit, avoidance, self criticism, fear of the unknown,pride and lack of awareness are some of the barriers to making helpful changes. The mindful principle of non-striving needs to come to the fore. Make sure your goals are not interfering with your well being.
Overbooking is to be avoided. Setting boundaries and learning to truly check in with yourself before accepting a new request is helfpul. Sometimes “no” is a complete sentence-justification is not necessary if you are being true to yourself with positive intent.
Some zoning out with screen time (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, video games, TV,etc) can be relaxing,but is not particularly nourishing. Often we have plenty of time for more nourishing pursuits such as nature,exercise,meditation,dance, music ,art,etc. The challenge is to break the “zoning out” and avoidance habits.
Mindful Home Practice: Spend some mindful time looking at your schedule and busyness.
See if some obligations can be reduced. Gradually lighten up your schedule. See if you can replace “zoning out” time with more nourishing pursuits. Self awareness and self-evaluation by journalling may reveal the benefits of less stress and increased energy,creativity and joy.