If you haven’t witnessed Maxine Waters reclaiming her time, click here. She’s my inspiration for the title and the focus of this article which is about reclaiming my personal time. I was sitting on my bed one day, when I noticed I had closed and then re opened Instagram 3 times IN A ROW.
What the hell was I doing? Just sitting there closing and re opening an app I just looked at without even thinking about it. I’m not sure what triggered it, but I had an “aha” moment. A-lot of people talk about what they want to do, few people actually do what they want to do (this included me until recently). Here’s a few examples of things i’ve been saying I want to do but for some reason haven’t until now.
- I’ve been talking about this website for YEARS, and I just now launched when it’s been ready for months.
- I’ve been talking about wanting to live in a city with amazing dance classes for years, been in new york 10 months and only taken 2 classes.
- Growing up I was constantly reading, when I thought back I had read one book since the beginning of the year.
- I always feel enraged by acts of injustice, and lack of resources for those less fortunate than myself..but I would never DO anything to help.
- I’ve spent a huge part of my life complaining about my body and health habits, but i’ve never been able to change them consistently.
I realized I was making a lot of excuses for myself to sit around and do nothing, I was too tired from traveling, exhausted from a 10 hour work day, tired from the 5am yoga class I teach, stressed out from the general stress the modeling life causes (i’m aware it’s glamorous but nothing in this career is guaranteed), the list goes on. Getting off work, and racing home to sit on your ass and watch TV is fine by me if you’re uninterested in continually developing yourself into a better person. I however felt compelled to make some changes, below are a few things I did to reclaim my time and start getting done all the things I kept saying I wanted to do.
have a chat with yourself – be honest with yourself, maybe you’re better than me but when I really sat down and thought about it I was wasting hours gazing into the screen of my phone, envying the highlight reels of other people, watching every housewife that exists cry, and telling myself i’d start making healthy food choices tomorrow.
Get off your damn phone – I get it social media is a part of our lives (and jobs for some of us), but how much time do you spend on your phone doing things that don’t make you any money either directly or indirectly? Do Not Disturb mode on a schedule is my best friend, I can block everything except favorites during certain hours and set my phone down on the other side of the room so I don’t pick it up and start scrolling without even thinking about it. Let’s be real most of us are not in the position where we are constantly getting business calls all day.
Utilize the little chunks of free time for good – Have an hour lunch break? read your favorite book instead of scrolling through social media, trust me the celebrities you follow don’t give a sh** about you. take the train or bus to work? write out goals or plans for your future that you can execute on at a later time.
Wake up earlier – I personally believe that you do not need copious amounts of sleep, you just need good quality sleep to feel great all day. 6 hours of no light undisturbed sleep and you’ll be ready for the world. I’m not a mother so I won’t speak on the raising kids life lol, I try to be up by 6am everyday. That way I can work for 5 or 6 hours and still have a huge chunk of the day to get out of the house, exercise, run errands, etc. Keep an eye out for my early morning email challenge, let’s get up together!
Write out some goals, and then work to accomplish them – what do you like outside of your career? sport you used to play? materialistic desires? always wanted to try some new course, class, or gym? Write these things down! If you can’t think of anything, dust yourself off and try again. For big goals, outline how you can get there. For smaller goals like trying out a new gym you were intimidated by, schedule it in for that Sunday you probably would of spent opening the fridge 8 times and re watching a show you didn’t like that much. I write out my goals almost everyday it helps me stay focused and excited about what i’m doing.
Meditate and exercise – physical activity and meditation have done wonders for my sleep patterns. Try the headspace app
Stream and strive – I might be coming across a little crazy, trust me I still get down with Netflix, HBO now, and all the other goods. I’m watching game of thrones season 1 as I write this (yes i’m behind, I read all the books first (yes i’m being a snob)). One good binge day a month is fine by me, but if you are living to get up go to work, go home and sit and watch make believe you’ve gotta branch out! It makes the chill time so much better when it isn’t all your doing.
Eat well – When i don’t eat well, it shows. I’m crabby as hell, emotional, self loathing, tired, and just generally not a fun person to deal with. In a downward spiral of donuts, pizza, and tv shows. I get that some some people can eat one donut every once in a while and not crave them, i’m an 8 donut in one sitting type of gal so that doesn’t resonate with me. Clean up your diet! It’s amazing how much your mood can improve just by cutting out processed foods. Like I always say….your diet should be at least half veg and you should be pooping every day.
I hope these tips help you like they’ve helped me.
YS
Miesha
Oh girl I’ve been waiting for this!! Thank you for this! Next week I’m starting my first ever 4 day week. My fifth day will be a day solely for creating art and trying to get into a position to earn some income from it. Started doing 6am workouts but have flagged a bit. This entry from you couldn’t have come at a better time – bring it on again. I’ll see ya at 6am tomorrow 😉
ypowless@gmail.com
YES! I love that idea! please let me know how it goes such a good idea to have a full day to focus on something you actually enjoy! and yes to the morning workouts, get it done don’t have to do it later!
Kiara Truitt Chambers
Loved this post! I was just talking to one of my close friends about this. We should always be looking to improve personally! It is so easy to get into a rut and inhibit yourself from actually growing. This post was exactly what I needed to get my ass in gear and get some things done.
ypowless@gmail.com
yasssss!!! It’s so crazy time flies and I do not want to be in the same place I am now next year! let’s get it.