TGIF! - How to Reward Yourself
Friday is my favorite day of the week. I always make Friday my “do nothing much day.” Even if I have a ton of work to do, I try to plan my time and workload so that I don’t have much to do on Fridays, or, if I can’t avoid working, I try to find some way to take a 1 - 2 hour break during the day (usually at lunch) so I can go and relax.
I started doing this years ago when I realised that I was not taking any time for myself. My weeks were always busy, and on the weekends I was so tied up in social stuff and housework that I was never taking time for myself. So I decided to take Fridays as “my” day to just relax and treat myself. It was one of the smartest things I’ve done.
Treating yourself is very important. Too often we get wound up in work and life, and we forget to give ourselves a break to unwind and just enjoy being alive. If we don’t take some time off to be nice to ourselves, stress and tension can overwhelm us and then we start to get sick. This is especially true for anyone suffering from depression. When I was depressed, I wasn’t being very good to myself at all. I was a total workaholic, and even when I home on weekends, I was so tense that I couldn’t unwind enough to enjoy myself. When my therapist recommended that I should start taking time for myself, I decided to take her advice and I forced myself to stop working so hard on Fridays. It took a lot of work to force myself to stop working, but eventually I was able to “get away” on Fridays and take the day for myself. It worked like a charm.
Anyway, I have collected a few articles on the importance of treating yourself well, and some of them have some pretty good hints on little things you can do day-to-day to treat yourself. Enjoy!
Sara Noel at Frugal Village wrote a great article called “Simple Pleasures” which is all about the importance of simple (and frugal) indulgences. In Sara’s words, “Make the decision to give yourself permission to be selfish.”
From lifehack.org comes “9 Things You Can Do For Daily Stress Relief.”
Finally, Miguel Trijillo runs Think Happy Thoughts Happiness Blog (You can’t get happier than that!) and he has some great tips on how to have more fun in “7 Questions that Create More Fun.”
Happy Friday!
Life Relaxation reward-yourself Stress
Jennifer responds:
Posted: February 16th, 2007 at 8:55 am →
Every day is Friday for me!
jennifer responds:
Posted: February 16th, 2007 at 9:28 am →
This is a fabulous idea! I’m right with you!!! Jennifer
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: February 16th, 2007 at 8:40 pm →
I wish I could do that. If I chilled too much on Fridays I’d have to put in more than twelve hours on Saturday and Sunday :-/
Elaine Vigneault responds:
Posted: February 17th, 2007 at 7:04 am →
You’ve been added to the 2000 Bloggers project.
Your blog is pretty cool. I like the concept of it.
David Zemens responds:
Posted: February 17th, 2007 at 12:35 pm →
Who are you trying to kid, Mike? When was the last time you only worked twelve hours in one day?
Scott Davis responds:
Posted: February 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm →
[shameless plug]Mike, you’ve got to put in so much extra time because you are making stylish, cutting-edge, functional and all around great web designs, all for a reasonable price and with an extra dash of positive attitude and personal flair![/shameless plug]
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: February 17th, 2007 at 4:28 pm →
@David: True that, lol.
@Scott: Thanks
Rolling Blogroll 5: Finding your marbles – A mental health survival guide » All Tips and Tricks responds:
Posted: February 20th, 2007 at 4:23 pm →
[...] Your Marbles can help you choose a therapist, or how to reward yourself, or even how to survive a party. In case you don’t see why you need to survive a party, think a [...]
Melissa R. Garrett responds:
Posted: February 27th, 2007 at 3:30 pm →
I’m may have to take that Friday break tomorrow. Or sooner!
Jill responds:
Posted: March 8th, 2007 at 12:45 am →
I guess it doesnt need to be Friday, any time during the week to take to yourself will do. I have a friend who has a ten minute bubble bath every morning to give herself the chance to unwind at the beginning of the day.
I take my “me time” on Thursdays. Since I go to school Monday to Friday, work Saturday, and spend Sunday with my family, I had to find a time when I was “less busy”. I picked Thursdays. For me, it is eating whatever I want for supper, even if it isnt “supper food” and neglecting all work and homework from supper until my TV show. It is a 4 hour break that I could use to do homework, but what good is my homework going to be if I am so stressed that I cant think straight? Not that good, B- maybe, but definitely not an A.
Another thing I have found helpful along the same lines is worry time. Instead of spending my whole day worrying about the what-ifs of the world (as many GAD people do) I now delegate a certain period of the day for my worries. The rest of the day, I work to put my worries aside until it is “time to think about them”. I use my commute time in and out of school as the time of day when I deal with all those worries and decide which are rational and which arent. It wasnt easy in the beginning but now it really pays off.
All that to say that you have a wonderful idea there Scott and I will be working hard to keep my Thursdays free for my own down time.