As working women with very active schedules it can be quite the challenge to find alone time or have the opportunity to treat ourselves. Between working full-time, maintaining friendships & relationships, working out and having a social life, it’s easy to accidentally leave our own needs out of the equation. Despite all of the things we have on our plate, it’s crucial to find time to be good to ourselves to avoid burnout, be the best version of ourselves and keep a good perspective. Whether it’s reading, getting pampered, writing, or watching TV that makes you feel refreshed, it’s necessary to purposely make time for those special moments in the midst of an overloaded schedule.
I have been working full-time for a minor league baseball team for the past couple of years since graduating from college and I must say it is a completely different ballgame (pun intended). Now, I don’t have a family and kids yet but even then, the amount of planning and preparation it takes for me to carve out time for myself is embarrassing. As a self-proclaimed workaholic, there are days where I think about nothing but work and need to remind myself that although work is important, it cannot consume my life. If what we allow to take up most of our thoughts and energy is extraordinarily imbalanced, we can miss out on good things that are right in front of us.
Three Ways to Make Time For Yourself
Set A Day & Time (And stick to it!)
Setting a specific day of the week and time that you plan to do nothing but what you want to do is key. You may need to set a reminder on your phone or tell your friends/family/boyfriend ahead of time that you’ll be away from your phone or unavailable. Make sure you plan ahead and commit to that time as if it were a job interview. Do not let anyone or anything get in the way. You’ll leave that allotted amount of time feeling refreshed and ready to take on any challenge.
Random Acts of Kindness
As great as setting a day and time sounds, for some of us it’s not realistic and that’s okay. There are days you may randomly plan to do nothing but sit and watch TV, go on a long hike, get a mani/pedi, but then start to talk yourself out of it because you already have plans or commitments that seem more important. Now, I am not saying it’s good to bail on your commitments, but there are days you must press the pause button (when you feel the need to) and do something for yourself. Don’t be afraid to display random acts of kindness to yourself.
Wake Up Earlier
Doesn’t this just sound awful? But in all actuality this may be the answer for some of us. Taking that extra few minutes in the morning to plan, go workout or get some things done before the day starts can help tremendously. Getting mandatory tasks done ahead of time creates a great window of opportunity to do what we want to do later in the day.
I encourage all working women to stay committed to you first and foremost! Remember, if we aren’t at our best it can be difficult to give the world around us our best.
Camille Moultrie
Camille Moultrie currently resides in Fresno, California and is a Partnership Activation Coordinator at Minor League Baseball team Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A Affiliate of the Houston Astros. She got her B.A. in Mass Communication and Journalism at California State University, Fresno where she also became a life-long member of the international Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
When she is not working you can find Camille sipping on an iced Americano, creating workout regimes, taking road trips with her closest friends, sharing her most personal life experiences and lessons on her website, and staying updated on professional development. To hear more from Camille, you can find her at camillemoultrie.com.
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