Parents only Get 32 Minutes a Day of “Me Time”? Strategies to Get More Time for You!
In a distracted society, it has become harder than ever to get personal time. What we call personal time now is usually a time spent with some type of digital distraction. A new study reveals that parents get an average of only 32 minutes of “me time” a day! How can you get more “me time”? It is important to any person’s well-being to have a time that helps to build them up or just to relax and reset. We help you with strategies to help you find more personal time which can help you be successful in every area of your life because even Jesus took time away from everything to have time alone with His Father.
In a survey reported by Fox News, it was found that free time is almost non-existent for a parent who has a full-time job because they spend around 18 hours a week taking care of their children. It is so hard for parents to find personal time so much so that that a poll found parents hide from their children four times a week to have “me time.” This averages out to 32 minutes a day that parents have to themselves while many hideout from their kids to have this time. “That’s because 32 percent of parents don’t actually stop “working” until at least 8 p.m. when parenting duties have been factored in.”
It was discovered that 24% of parents surveyed use over 30 hours a week taking care of their children in addition to other responsibilities. Due to parents’ busy schedules, it also affects their diets negatively. “Eighty-eight percent of parents admit to being too busy to cook, and 96 percent reported that not having enough time to cook results in them indulging in less healthy food. In fact, parents are so busy that they actually skip 227 proper meals every year.” This causes parents to spend more money, the money that they just spent so much time working to make, on takeout since 54% of the parents surveyed get takeout because they are too busy to cook whereas money can be saved when you cook at home because it will only cost you pennies! Since cooking at home saves you money, maybe you can work less to be able to have more time to cook dinner for your family and to sit down and eat together too.
This is when it is time to look at all that you do and see what matters most and is effective in your schedule every day. The things that are taking time from you that can be spent on your personal time and even cooking dinner for your family may need to be cut out of your life if it is not important. We were created to work, but we were not made to work 24 hours a day, and we were made to take time to rest too. God even took a day of rest, and the first day Adam was alive he was introduced to a day of rest! At some point, we must trust God and know that we have done what we can in the day or week and take time to rest. It is important to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and to spend time with Him every day in an abiding relationship because it builds a trusting relationship with Him. You can get your free plan at iAbide HERE if you need a plan on how to spend time with Jesus today!
We have discovered five strategies to help you to find this personal time in your daily life. The first strategy is to make “me time” or rejuvenation time a priority. You are important! If you are not important to yourself, it is not going to happen. You need to be important to yourself and love yourself. You can only love others to the capacity that you love yourself. Jesus said,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39 ESV
Having truly alone time allows you to be with God and to hear from Him and just to be. Greg shares that some of the greatest revelations can come in this quiet time. If you don’t take care of yourself, then what do you have left to give to your family? You must plan for this rejuvenation time because if you don’t plan for it, it won’t happen and what you plan needs to be something completely different than what you normally do plus somewhere different than you normally spend time.
The second strategy is to evaluate what is presently filling up time in your day. Maybe some of your normal tasks or activities are something that someone else can do or something that you can cut completely out of your life. Is what you are doing important to your everyday success? Why are you doing what you are doing? Knowing what your why is, is important! Greg talks about finding your “why” in his book I Will Fight, and you can find out more by getting your free book HERE today!
The third strategy is to remove what is not necessary and prioritize what remains. Write down your plan and what is most important in your day. A task that takes more energy should be accomplished when you have the most focus and energy, which for most people, is usually in the morning. Also, you can delegate tasks to your children. Many parents today take on everything while their kids sit on the couch or in their room and don’t help. Your kids can vacuum, sweep, cut the grass, and other things that you feel they can handle. You can empower them to be part of the responsibilities, and they can help contribute to the family. If everyone in the family contributes, you all feel better! Virtual assistants can help you to do certain things in your life that can save you time too.
The fourth strategy is to find out the things that you enjoy doing that rejuvenate you and help you to be refreshed. Do you know what you enjoy doing? It could be reading a book, sitting at the beach, or having dinner with your spouse or a friend. It is important to take time to enjoy yourself.
The fifth strategy is to pool your resources and develop a network that can help you. As a parent use your resources to have someone watch your children while you take your rejuvenation time. Also, know the different types of relationships that you have and take the time with each of these people to develop the network you need. A virtual assistant is a resource too, like “Siri” on an iPhone, because it helps you cut down on time by scheduling appointments, reminding you of things you need to do, and help you to write out a task list plus much more.
You could be getting this wisdom at a perfect time to help you to take time for yourself. If you want to be a good parent, spouse, employee, business owner, and a good citizen, you need to take care of yourself! Time is short, so you need to take the time now to develop a better you because you don’t want to look back on your life and have regrets. Maybe you have some personal hacks on how to schedule “me time”? We want to hear from you! What do you think about taking time for yourself, and how has this segment helped you? Contact us through our VFNKB Community HERE or write to us at [email protected]. Greg and John shared in this segment.
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