Recently I’ve fallen into a common routine - I’ll arrive home from work between six and seven in the evening, slump down on the sofa for a rest, eat dinner, then faff around on the computer for a bit. Next thing I know, it’s 11pm and bed time.
This routine is lovely and lazy, but isn’t really helping me get stuff done - I have a ton of side projects, I want to play my guitar, I want to occasionally spend time listening to music as a primary activity (rather than in the background while I’m doing something else), etc etc.
It’s also been very easy to fall into the trap of thinking I simply don’t have time to do all these things - I mean, I get home, eat dinner, spend a small amount of time on the computer and now it’s bed time!
Be Selfish!
Recently, I’ve been trialling having an enforced “me time” - one hour per weekday, in the evening, where I’ll stop what I’m doing (within reason!) and go and do one of the above things.
So far, it’s working out really well. I’m fortunate to live in an apartment large enough to have a room available for filling with the kind of toys required for this - so far it’s decked out with a model railway, a fairly decent audio system and a small guitar rack with an amp. Best of all, it’s right at the opposite end of the apartment to the living room and above the entrance hall to the building, meaning I can make a racket without bothering my fiancé or anyone else.
Now I’ve settled into the routine - I’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks now - I’m actually finding that I’m enjoying my evenings way more and I still have plenty of time to do the things I’d normally do anyway - I can eat dinner, faff around on the computer a bit, play World of Warcraft with my fiancé and still have an hour for Me Time. My fiancé heartily approves because it means she can watch her crappy girl TV without me complaining about it.
So, if you’re finding you don’t have time to do the things you’d like to do in your spare time - I’d thoroughly recommend giving an hour of forced “me time” a try - it doesn’t even have to be every day!