In the midst of your stressful routine, assure yourself that your healthy ‘me time’ should not harbour guilt. It is definitely not a sin to prioritize yourself including spending your time alone!
During the weekend or after office hours, sometimes it is hard to say ‘No!’ to your friends or family who ask you to go out and gather. While having dinner or lunch with them can be very fun, somehow you just don’t feel like being honest—or that you lack your social battery.
Some people will feel bad to refuse, but remind yourself that there is no way to force yourself and opt for me-time at your place if it is what you long for. Watching Netflix all day long by yourself, take on a spontaneous vacation alone, browsing breakfast recipe ideas, or simply just daydreaming on your bad, do it when your body and mind want it because actually, spending some ‘me time’ is good for your mental health—after all, it keeps you sane!
There is also a case when you are in a relationship and your partner wants your company all the time, please set it clearly how you two seek the balance between couple time and your ‘me time’.
‘Me time’ actually will allow you to understand yourself more. It is sad to realize that you may forget the last time you have a real talk to yourself. To listen to what you really want to achieve, recognize your fears and doubts, evaluate every decision you have made before, adjust your priority, then how you can depart from those issues. You may have constants questions in yourself yet the answers are nowhere to be found and having ‘me time’ means you provide yourself time and space you simplify any of that complicatedness.
Have you ever heard that creativity can grow from ‘me time’? Our processing system can discover a new way of thinking by activating the ‘metacognition’, the ability to critically think ourselves out of our social roles. Psychiatrist George Feist suggests, by spending time alone we will begin to reflect and focus more on ourselves thus will we can think more creatively. Thus, next time you have creative ideas popped in your head when having your ‘me time’, it is better to jot them down in case you want to take those ideas into action.
‘Me time’ never requires you to think yourself taking on a role as your role society has set for you. You are totally free. And by freedom means the feeling of being on your own comfort. As cited from a sociologist Eric Klinenberg’s book titled Alone in America, he conveys, “There is something very liberating for people about being on their own. They’re able to establish some control over the way they spend their time. They’re able to decompress at the end of a busy day in a city…and experience a feeling of freedom.”
So, if ‘me time’ allows us to think out of ourselves and gives us the total freedom, then consequently some ‘me time’ will lead to improvement of our empathy where you can try to imagine walking in others’ shoes and understand their perspectives, motives, or even feelings.
This morning you got mad at your colleague, you went ballistic and complained about little things they did. Then obviously you found another source of work stress. The best bet is, you get to have your own ‘me time’ to figure things out until you can finally find a solution that would work best for you both. If you pay attention to the pattern, any wise decision requires ‘me time’, because once you can think more clearly and let yourself be honest to you, only then can you position yourself in others’ shoes.
You would begin to dive deeper in their point of view and see if you were him or her, would you do the stuff differently? Would you guarantee that things would work better in your hand? ‘Me time’ definitely increases your empathy level too.
‘Me time’ can also help you maintain a well-rounded lifestyle. Remember that wellness does not always mean two-hour beauty treatments or a bowl of Acai Berry. The satisfaction you get when you manage to finish your book or creating your own papercrafts, anything that can be considered a simple joy in the middle of your routine may contribute to your wellness. The key is to find a balance between work, life, and yourself.