Is it Time, for Time Out?

Today, I've done nothing.

Actually I've had 'me' time and it's been a great day!

How often do you get caught up in your job? Working on the computer or via phone? Continually saying, "I'll take some 'me' time when I'm done"...

Does it every happen?

I regularly talk to employers, employees and jobseekers about finding balance in their life but I wasn't following it myself. I've been so busy with Career & Employment expos, a University Marketing presentation and Aboriginal Women in Leadership workshops this month that I was just... 'too busy'!

This morning I poured a bath - normally a shower person for the last 15 years, I once was so dedicated to baths that I had one every Sunday night in my 20s. It was a meditative process as I never used to have enough hot water to fill the bath so I would have 3 big pots on the stove and the kettle boiling.

What a gift this morning's bath was!

Once I'd put the aromatherapy oils of Bergamot, Roman Chamomile and Rosewood in, mainly for their emotional properties, I then played the whole album of Mike Oldfield's 'Songs of Distant Earth'

Yep, I soaked for exactly 55:51 minutes - wrinkly hands plus!

No electronic devices, just me and my thoughts.

It was wonderful.

And it got me thinking... why do we give so much of ourselves to work?

I've been know to sacrifice family and friend's time just to get an urgent assignment out. Sometimes I don't feel the client really cared what I had to give up.

A recent example was a client had their dream job advertised and the closing date was in 4 days. I said I couldn't do it as I was interstate and also needed two days to create a full-day workshop that I was presenting on the third day... "please, I'll pay!"

Stressing a bit about bills, I said I could give them a couple of hours tidy-up - not!

I took their phone call at 7pm and finally sent their draft off at 4:30am... absolutely broken!

To wake up and find an email that said:

And the next message was saying the job's gone - at 2:50pm but they still hadn't rung to finalise their documents!

Long story short, the job was still open, the client uploaded final documents which were strategically targeted for this role and now we wait.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted and burnt out - if this application hadn't made the deadline it wasn't the end of the world.

I finally realised that I don't have to sacrifice my family, time or health for a job. I am not willing to be put in this position again. My 'bath time' gave me a real insight into how important just stopping and breathing really was.

At the end of the day, no one is going to be sharing at your eulogy that you should have worked harder, done more, or stayed up late to get a project done.

They will say that your time with them was valuable, you laughed, you played, you lived... I hope xxoo

When have you overstepped or put your own 'self-care' on the backburner?

What can you do to take time out for you?

I'd love to hear, and if you aren't happy with your career - let's chat: [email protected]