Recently, my life has become pretty hectic. School is in full swing, and I received a very exciting job opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. While everything has been going very well for me, I have also been struggling with feeling the panic of worrying if I am “doing life correctly”. While some of these feelings are definitely normal feelings for a twenty-something nearing the end of her undergraduate work, they are also the result of neglecting my need for rest and reflection, me time. When I found myself crying for no reason for the third day in a row, I realized that maybe it was time for me to have some time to myself. I decided to cancel all of my weekend plans, besides work of course, and make some time for myself to reflect or just be quiet.

Part of being able to keep your sanity is to take the time to spend on yourself. Whether you are single or in a relationship, time to yourself is important. But why is it important, how can you know if you need some time to yourself, and how the heck to you fit it into your crazy life?

If you are always busy and constantly on the go, there is little time to actually look at and think about what you are doing. Eventually all of the things that you have had to make decisions about will creep back up on you and when they do, you may panic about the decisions that you have made. They may not even be bad or incorrect decisions, but simply not taking the time to relax and reflect may cause you to panic. Also, never taking time for you to think and breathe may actually cause you to make some poor decisions. Making time for yourself can be good simply because to allow yourself to relax and help you keep your cool.

Do You Need Some Time?
If you find yourself upset or hating things that you normally love to do, it may be time for you to make some time for you. If you are also just feeling extremely overwhelmed or just totally exhausted, it might be a good idea to set some time aside. If you find yourself unhappy when you know or feel you shouldn’t be, make a decision to fix that. Only you can make sure that you are taken care of and keep healthy in all aspects.

Making the Time
To restore yourself to a normal, or good, place, you do not have to do much. Take as much time as you can allow in your schedule. Maybe you can only fit a couple hours a week in on a Saturday night. Take it. Seriously, take it. Order in or make something not super complicated, give yourself a nice spa night, or settle down with a glass of wine and allow yourself to zone out to something random on the television for a while. It will not take anything extravagant to spoil and take care of yourself. Maybe you decide to go get a manicure on a free afternoon between meetings or classes. Do what you need to do to take care of you.

Taking care of yourself is important regardless of whether you are in a relationship or not. If you are in a relationship and feel like you need some alone time, let your partner know. They shouldn’t be too upset or irrational about this request. They should want you to be happy and stress free. And if you are single, girl, just do it. You will feel so much better when you take time for you.