Whether it’s meetings, work, children, family, and everything in between, including the laundry, dinner, cleaning, getting groceries, picking up and dropping off the kids, caring for your significant other, the pets… Oh! Have you shaved your legs or showered today?!? Sound familiar? Chuckle and keep reading. Where and how do you start to find balance and restore time for yourself?

As cliché as it sounds, this is critical for your healthy self. 

The notion may make you may wonder, where do I find the 
time? The truth is, we all have the time we need. We have extra minutes, possibly even hours, that we waste. Instead of spending up to several hours on social media every day, learn how to incorporate time management tools and mantras to reduce anxiety and stress. 

Practical Ideas 

Go to work and give it all you got. After putting in the hard work, gift yourself with a break. Go check your phone, take a stretch, walk to the bathroom, or a co-worker’s desk or, even better, take one minute to breathe in and out (Apple incorporated this feature into their watch), or read a few pages of the book sitting in your bag or on your desk.

Work time is not your time. What this means is if it is work-related and a task, then it is still work. For instance, you want to visit a new place because you are interested in cross-promoting. Recognize this is not an act of self-love, it is still a task. Go, do the work piece and enjoy it, but remember to set different time aside for yourself and personal interests so you can enjoy and explore. For some of us this may take some thought; we may not have not really thought about time for ourselves in a while.  

Get rid of the doubt and overthinking. Just do it! One helpful idea is to set goals on a weekly and monthly basis. While our daily chores are very important (by no means are we discounting them), how can we balance both the chores and the pleasures we deserve? 

Completing tasks, chores and errands certainly help us to feel less anxiety and, more important, to feel complete in our “functioning life.” Begin to adjust the balance by incorporating heavy use of smartphone reminders, planners and calendars apps. They exist for a reason: they work! 

Time Management for Ourselves - Personal Growth 

Now you know you can use smart tech to set weekly and monthly goals. Next, be honest with yourself -- make those goals realistic. Say you want to meditate daily. First, pick a time that works for your busy life so it’s a realistic goal. If 10 minutes sounds impossible, then set a reminder three times a day for three minutes each time so you don’t feel overwhelmed by the whole session. Just start somewhere. You can do this.

Maybe this month you want to run, read, paint or work out: find a block of time and schedule one hour for your personal time at least once a week. Or break it down into ten minutes a day. By the end of the week your goal has been met. This will promote happiness and you will  have more confidence and less stress. 

For longer-term goals, find an event or interest and pursue it. Some ideas: maybe learn another language, a new sport, an instrument, come up with a new business plan, attend a workshop, volunteer…the choices are wide open but look for something inspiring to you that will promote your personal growth. Never stop exploring and learning. 

Mantras 

Is a little voice in your head stopping you? Do you often think, “I have no money, no time, no willpower, no love”? Change those negative thoughts ASAP!! Reframe those thoughts into more positive mantras that actually support your efforts. Try saying, “I am enough. Money flows to me freely. I have time and I manage my life exceptionally well. I am love and I am thankful to have love.” This way you are always projecting from a place of abundance and not loss. 

And remember, it’s called practice for a reason. We all slip, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a scheduled break. Let it go and move on. Today is a gift. Give love and thanks daily and then begin again.

Sherri Gallina is owner of YOGA 203, a yoga and wellness studio located at 3-5 Wall St, 2^nd flr, Norwalk. For more information or to register for classes, visit Yoga203.com or call 203-918-6757. See ad, page 21.

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Recommended Reads

• She’s Killin’ It: A 21-Day Journal for Manifesting a Kickass Life, by Katherine Zenkina 

• You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sincero 

• A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson