The importance of taking time for yourself (9 Benefits explained)
For some, taking time for yourself is a given, for others, perhaps, a difficult task to find any “time” to even consider taking for you, and for some, the mere idea of spending time alone isn’t enjoyable or just isn’t for you.
From my personal experience, taking time for myself didn’t come naturally.
It was something I had to practice and didn’t really enjoy until I had invested many practice hours and found value in taking time for myself.
Sometimes we need a reason, an excuse or a push to take time by ourselves.
In this article, I will share with you 9 of MANY benefits of taking time for yourself.
“Taking care of myself doesn’t mean “me first” it means “me too” -L.R Knosts
1. Helps with stress management & increases your ability to cope with loneliness
This point is more relevant than it ever has been.
The past year has taught us resilience, and facilitated our ability to cope with change.
We have had to maintain hope in the face of uncertainty and develop the ability to be alone.
Being able to sit with oneself alone and feel complete and not lonesome is so beneficial for developing one’s sense of wholeness as an individual.
Which in turn makes you less dependent on others.
2. Gives you time to get to know, love and accept who you are as an individual
Discovering and accepting oneself, who you are as a whole person, is crucial for personal growth.
Finding your likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, separate from your loved ones and peers, can help to steer you closer to your true self and the life you want to cultivate.
As they say, “You’re the only person that you spend your entire life with”, so it’s probably a good idea to get to know yourself and how you want to spend your time and energy.
3. Opens up the chance to practice/discover your hobbies and talents
Sometimes we don’t know what we like until we try new things.
Spending time for yourself gives you the time to explore your interests and learn about new experiences or hobbies that you may never heard before.
It also gives you time for self-reflection which helps evaluate whether or not you are truly doing the things you love or if you have just fallen into the habit of doing them.
4. Fosters your creativity
Everyone has the capacity to daydream and think outside the box.
Despite this, not everyones takes the time to pay attention to those dreamy musings that pop into our minds at any given moment.
Taking time for yourself can be positively impactful on your mental health and overall well-being.
Allow yourself the space to have fun and let your imagination run! Make an invention! Write a song! Paint a cup! Watch the clouds!
Visualizing yourself on your very own tropical island! Get your daydream on! Spend time in your happy place!
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” -Eleanor Roosevelt
5. Allows you time to determine your morals, boundaries and priorities
Another key part of who you are as a person is your set of morals, boundaries and priorities which help to guide your life.
Solidifying these will help you to have healthy relationships and interactions with others throughout your life.
Taking the time to reflect can heighten your sense of right and wrong.
This will help you determine what you will and will not accept from yourself and others. Then, you can set your intentions.
“Treat others how you’d like to be treated” is a great saying to live by.
Determining your priorities can help you organize, design and assist in developing what the bigger picture of your life plan looks like.
Once you have a plan, the next step is to create goals, benchmarks, on the journey toward living as your truest self.
6. Gives you time to set and achieve goals
What are your goals? Have you set any? Have you asked yourself these questions before? Do you usually achieve your goals?
Taking time to dive into goals is taking a step towards action.
When setting a goal, it’s best to pair it with a timeline, to help light a fire under that booty!
A daily goal can give you a sense of accomplishment and help to keep you motivated and on track toward meeting some of your long term goals. When setting your goals, try to keep in mind the “whole person”.
Include goals that facilitate growth in your physical, intellectual, spiritual and emotional bodies.
This will help to round your overall development, ensuring that you set goals not only within your comfort zone.
Naturally as humans, we gravitate toward the things we are most comfortable with, which can lead to an imbalance in our development as individuals.
Goals + timeline + Set aside time to work on goals daily = Real action toward achieving goals! → which can result in the eventual achievement of your set goals!
TIP: 1 hour is only 4% of your day, take some time for yourself!
7. Allows time for self-care
I am a BIG believer in self-care.
Having regular, healthy self-care practices can help boost self esteem, confidence and overall well-being.
Take the time to check in with yourself and ensure that you are running your life, and it isn’t running you! If it is running you, it’s time to take a pause and dive into some self-care practice.
To me self-care is any healthy action taken with the intentions of nurturing oneself.
It can take some trial and error to determine what your self-care looks like for you! Perhaps you enjoy taking baths like myself, or maybe you think soaking in your own personal stew is disgusting (ha ha!).
The most vital part to me, is the word HEALTHY.
That translates into avoiding any action that, although might feel good at the time, has negative reproductions or is excessive.
I must address the “Treat Yo’self” or “YOLO” (you only live once) mentalities in regard to self-care.
If your supposed “self-care” act harms you in the short or long term, it can no longer be defined as self-care and is now indulgence. Indulgence can increase your stress levels.
Wanna know more? 👉 In this article we discuss why yoga is important for students and how it can help you if you are one!
8. Helps you to grow your sense of wholeness
We live in a time where many people feel they are not fulfilled.
There may be a sense of unrest and a lack of purpose or drive.
Whether you feel this lack in your professional life, personal life, friendships, romantic relationships, financially, emotionally, or physically, the truth of the matter is, you are whole right now, in this moment and always.
If you don’t feel whole, take a look back at your goals.
Working toward those will give you a sense of purpose and direction in your life instead of the sense of drifting through day to day, just surviving instead of thriving.
Feeling without or incomplete in some areas of your life doesn’t directly translate into not being whole.
Life is a process, not a destination.
I challenge you to take a 1 minute hop outside your comfort zone (if it is, indeed outside your comfort zone) and try a grounding exercise right now!
- Step 1: Place both of your feet firmly, evenly on the ground.
- Step 2: Stack your limbs and joints so you are sitting up straight, tall, engaged but comfortable.
- Step 3: Take a deep inhale through your nose, closing your eyes and pulling the breath deep into your diaphragm and lungs.
- Step 4: When you reach the top of your breath (fully inhaled) hold your breath in for 1…2…3…
- Step 5: Slowly exhale all the air out of your nose. Open your eyes.
- Bonus: Name something aloud that you can See, Smell, Hear, Taste, & Touch.
9. Relax and recharge with unstructured time!
There is always the looming feeling of wanting to be productive.
I had a friend tell me a beautiful thing the other day.
She said, “Your value is not determined by your level of productivity.”
This struck me and I don’t believe for one second that I’m the only person who needs to hear this nugget of wisdom.
So get back to yourself!
Live in the truth of the moment and not in any day drama.
Allow yourself guilt free time to do anything.
Sit on the floor for 20 minutes, stare at a wall, listen meditation music & chill, dance in your kitchen.
Scheduling guilt free, zero pressure “time wasting” time, is not a waste of time because it allows you the space to be.
Having unstructured time once in a while, where there is no plan can be incredibly freeing. It is process based.
The doing is what is important.
About the author
Jenna Rene is a Canadian Yogini who has a deep passion for travel, yoga, plants and people. Her current vision for her life is to work alongside like-minded people and eventually open her own Yoga Studio space. She would like to encourage others to live mindfully and purposefully.
As a young woman she has traveled to over 25 countries to date, explored several diverse career paths, founded her own business, spent countless hours on her yoga mat and continues to strive each and every day to evolve as a person.
Follow her on Instagram at @Jennasyogamat or check out her up and coming Yoga studio @bendeebeeyoga, which will be planting Bee friendly flowers for each student who practices with them.