How Busy Are You Really?

Health

How busy are you really?

By ALICE O’BRIEN

Churchview Psychotherapy, Millstreet

When we examine our daily and our weekly routine we don’t need to look too hard to see how busy we are. We spend all day at work, all evening managing our homes and most nights preparing for the next morning- and so the cycle continues. Then there is the weekend with all the arrangements- kids to matches, teenagers to grinds and try to fit in a call to the folks or a coffee with a friend. It’s a never-ending race with no finish line. Here’s a thought- are you really vital to all that? Could the wheel spin if you took some time out? Are you really so important that the machine would grind to a halt without you? The answer is no- none of us are so important that we couldn’t be done without for a few hours, even a day of we’re lucky. So what are the benefits of taking some time out? Spending time alone can help you to develop compassion and empathy as you reflect on the reality of life. Solitude can increase productivity as you see more clearly the tasks that are important and the tasks that you could easily do without. Spending time in your own company can help you to get to know yourself properly, to listen to your own inner thoughts and to discover the things that you really want to prioritise in your life. You also see more clearly the things you can let go of, the things that you think are important but that really are not. So, now you know the benefits of alone time, you know that you can be done without for a day- so what do you do! Some activities to enjoy alone include going to a walk, visit a museum, go to the cinema or simply wake up earlier and enjoy a coffee alone before the rest of the household rise and the demands of life begin.