Years ago 10 minutes to myself sounded ridiculous. How could 10 minutes possibly help?
Well, first of all, you have to start somewhere.
Those of us who resist self-care, those of us who roll our eyes at the suggestion or believe we don’t possibly have the time, must start small.
I’ll tell you a secret, too. Taking care of ourselves 10 minutes at a time eventually increases our courage (and lessens our misplaced guilt) to make bigger changes.
If you need a break but don’t know what to do, consider something on this list. I encourage you to try at least one activity that raises your eyebrow, because you may be surprised about how it makes you feel.
- Take a drive.
- Take a walk without your phone.
- Take a walk with your phone and photograph lovely things. (Turn off your notifications.)
- Ride a bike.
- Stretch.
- Sit or stand bare foot in the grass.
- Listen to nature. Step outside and pay attention to what you hear.
- Lie down.
- Hide in your closet.
- Make a list of what you can delegate to others.
- Listen to music that makes you happy.
- Listen to music that relaxes you.
- Dance.
- Do or watch something that makes you laugh.
- Take a shower or bath.
- Draw. Doodle. Color.
- Do a “brain dump” and write everything you’re thinking.
- Chop vegetables. (The rhythmic motion can feel great! Bonus: You can get out aggression.)
- Read 1 chapter of a book.
- Read a poem.
- Do a jigsaw puzzle.
- Slowly savor a cup of tea / coffee/ hot chocolate.
- Practice something you want to learn. (Needlework, calligraphy, photography, painting, gardening, skateboarding, coding, bread-making . . . whatever your heart desires! Perfection is not the goal.)