It’s been a few weeks since children started school again. By now most of them have re-adjusted and are back to “normal”, even though they continue taking the necessary measures for the pandemic.

A working mum myself, I was looking forward to this long awaited day.  When it finally came I started thinking, planning, making scenarios about how to use all this “free” time that I now had in my hands. How to make the best of it for me and me alone. Of course I had lots of ideas: “I’ll devote more time to my business; I’ll take a bit longer enjoying my coffee in the morning; perhaps I’ll even read this book I’ve started a while back; maybe I can do coffee with my friends; I could even go shopping; I could visit my parents more often; I could look into all the pending jobs, all the “shoulds”, waiting to be finished”. The list was endless.

There’s one thing I didn’t take into consideration though. And that was how tired I’ve been throughout this quarantine – both physically and mentally. I realized how much my “self-time” had been squeezed in order to keep the balance, to “keep calm and going” and how much in need of personal time I was.

I’m sure you do understand. I’m also sure that somewhere in your mind you’re thinking thoughts like: “But I have so many things to do and now that kids are at school I can use this time to…work more on my business; to organize the house; to do all the things I keep on postponing….” Feel free to fill in the blank as you see fit.

I can relate to your thoughts. But feeling that you now have all the time in the world to do what you couldn’t do before while being so tired wouldn’t take you anywhere. Unless we pay attention to our needs, unless we pamper ourselves first, we’ll keep on being tired, even exhausted at times. And this is a one way ticket. The one that leads to frustration, miscommunication and more stress. It’s like a vicious cycle. You cannot take care of others unless you take care of yourself first. It’s exactly what the flight attendant tells you about putting on your safety belt first before you put on your child’s.

So, let’s take an honest look at ourselves, at our own personal needs. Let’s evaluate our current situation. Let’s give ourselves the gift of self-time. You may go for a walk, read a book, take a nap, paint, cross-stitch, listen to your favorite music, dance, work out, meditate, take a bath…whatever works for you. Self-time is a treasure for life.