Take a few minutes to yourself

Hey! I hope you're having an awesome day. Mine could be better - I'm having a world-class headache for the third day now - but it doesn't matter, it always passes, and besides, working with a headache builds character. (This is what I keep telling myself.)

My headache and building character aren't the things I want to bring forward with this article, though. You see, I wish to address a whole different matter, one that should concern all those who have a lot to do, or as they say, plenty on their plate.

It is imperative that every day, even for a few minutes, you take a moment to yourself. You know, rationally, that a few minutes is so little time that you can always find it in your schedule. What makes this important yet tricky is that it's often hard to remember to do it - to stop and just be for a moment. With the abundancce of tasks you must complete during the day, it's easy enough to forget this "me time".

But as the old Zen Buddhist saying goes, if you don't have 20 minutes a day to mediate, you should meditate for an hour a day. And while the "me time" I refer to in this article doesn't necessarily mean meditation - just sitting and thinking whatever thoughts you may have is enough - the saying applies here for the catch: if you're too busy to do it or remember it, chances are you need it more than most people.

So stop. Listen around. Look around. Feel around. Wonder. Think. Ponder. Forget the day's work, even for just a few minutes.

My personal preference is a few minutes at my backyard cliff after a morning run, looking down at the valley filled with now red and orange and yellow trees. It comes automatically already - I had to remind myself to go there in the beginning of autumn but now, I just run straight there, without thinking about it. It's a routine of sorts.

So what I suggest is that you find yourself a few minutes - as many as you need - at some slot during your day so that you can do it at the same slot every day. For example, just before lunch or right after getting home from work. That way it will become a habit and you don't have to remind yourself to do it.

A few minutes, for a busy person like yourself, could mean the difference between a burnout and a successful year.