Why It’s Important to Take Time For Yourself

If you find yourself rushing around until you finally fall into bed at night, it might be time to take a step back. Time for yourself is more important than you might think.

The medical community is recognizing more and more that stress is unhealthy. Chronic stress causes cortisol levels and associated hormones to be produced excessively, and this has been linked to everything from diabetes and obesity to cardiovascular and fertility problems.

The conditions often caused by sustained, elevated levels of cortisol can be life altering, limiting, and even deadly. Stress is more dangerous than you think!

One of the primary stress relievers is to get away from everything for a while. If you can’t actually go on vacation, than force yourself to take one at home: turn off all of your electronics: TV, phone, computer—anything that connects you to stressors in your life—and spend the day reading a book, planting a garden out in the sunlight, doing a craft, or going for a walk. If it makes you happy and relaxes you do it without interruption.

When you’re at the end of your rope, you’re often not physically or emotionally available for the people around you. In trying to hard to take care of everyone else, you might actually be missing out on the most important part of being with the people you care about.

Find ways to set aside things that you can or delegate to someone else. Cook dinner in a slow cooker so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on it. Hire a maid service to clean your house for you. Team up with your spouse to clean out the car or take care of the kids.

In the long run, if you are rested, you will have much more energy and time for the people you care about most.

Time for yourself is important, don’t hesitate to take the time you need!