Make Yourself A Priority

There are a lot of articles out there about self-care and work/life balance and with very good reason. From my experience with business owners, and conversations with numerous creatives and entrepreneurs, making “you” a priority just never seems to happen. Your needs get pushed to the back burner in favour of family emergencies, work situations, lengthy to-do lists and much, much more. Then when you get to the end of the working week, it is no wonder that you feel drained both physically and emotionally.

You need to make yourself, and your needs and wants, a priority. Without it, you are unable to function at your best.

Think about your priorities in life. What do you value most of all? Make a list of your top five priorities. It could be your partner, your kids, your family, your friends, your health, your career, your study…it will be personal to everyone.

Now look at this list and work out ways you can spend more time nurturing those areas. If your top priority is your kids and you have not managed to schedule any quality time with them, then something needs to change. If study is in your top five and you failed to read any books, or sign up for any courses, then you are missing out on putting your needs first.

Whatever your priorities are, you need to physically put them into your schedule so they will happen. You cannot blame anyone else for you not being able to meet your own needs. The onus is on you. It is this self-awareness that will drive you forward and make it happen.

You may even conjure up excuses. Perhaps you are too busy? Perhaps you feel guilty for wanting to spend time doing something you enjoy?

The truth is we all need alone time, and we all must find time for our hobbies and interests outside of work and family life. This self-care and work/life balance must happen regardless of the self-talk or negativity which accompanies it. You have to learn how to say no to others to free up some of your time to make it happen. You need to honour those priorities in order to perform at your best.

Think about the last time you spent doing something you wanted to do. Chances are, not in the last week, right? You need to physically make the time to do what you love and schedule your life around it.

Here are a handful of signs that you must make yourself a priority before things snowball out of control.

• You have no time just to sit and be.
• You are busy all of the time.
• You haven’t had a day off as long as you can remember.
• You feel drained.
• You are constantly stressed/tired/overworked.

During the busy holiday season, it can be difficult to find quiet moments as there is so much going on. But if you don’t make yourself a priority now, when will it happen?

For the sake of your health, your family, your job and your sanity, you must make “you“ a priority. If you make one New Year’s resolution this year – then make it this one!