surfing the internet, watching those three reruns of Friends, folding mountains of laundry that could just as well be assigned to the kids. The world will not end if the socks aren’t sorted properly or the towels are put away messy. We can free up time if we try. It helps to get a little creative with this idea. Most women are guilty of thinking they can do it all: remember that old commercial about the woman who can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let her man forget he’s a man? (Click here if you need a reminder) So many of us have integrated that ideal into our consciousness. I am superwoman, hear me roar. No help needed. But. Help can be good, especially if it’s given and received fairly equally. Learning to accept offers of support not only frees up time, it also provides the “helper” a sense of community and closeness—we’ve all experienced this. Let your neighbor shuttle your son back and forth to karate when she tells you she’s taking her son anyway. You know you’ll repay the debt babysitting her child after school on Tuesdays. When your significant other says, “I’ll do the dishes,” (he really does sometimes), say thank you and walk away. If your mother tells you she’d love to babysit, instead of waiting to take her up on it when you have a dentist appointment, ask her for a few hours on a Saturday and resist the impulse to be productive. Don’t clean the house. Don’t catch up on paperwork that you know is due next week. Set aside a block of time just for you, and then really use it. There a million suggestions for how to use it, but it’s doubtful you need them. Given a few free hours and the mandate not to accomplish a task, we all have our own individualized, coveted activity we’d love to finally get to. |60|
Here’s where the Guilt-Free part c de-stressing, doing some enjoyable leads not only to better mental an proven physiological benefits. Sev stress contributes to improved imm blood pressure and prevention/ma among other benefits. Different ty time activities have different perks a quiet jog or stroll through the ne such as swimming, bowling or eve endorphins that are released (as no Callan, Verite Winter 2013 Issue) w and mood elevators and reduce st to disease. If we decide instead to a much missed friend, the social su friendships has been shown to imp