HOW I PLAN MY DOWN TIME
I talked a couple of weeks ago about how I plan my writing time (found here), and I thought that today I would discuss the same, but for the time when I'm not working. Like I said in that piece, I've always been someone who is organised. I've always preferred having a list I can check things off when I'm done, and I've always wanted to have a plan before doing things. Now that I've found a way for it to translate into planner spreads and on my calendar app, it made sense that I started to do the same with the time when I'm not working.
I've had a goal for the past couple of years to have at least two non working days a month. It doesn't matter if I missed a day for health reasons, or even other reasons, I do my work on working days, and I do not on days when I'm supposed to be relaxing and enjoying the time without the need to produce work. Of course I also post to socials on my days off, but I don't see that as work because I'm not having to do anything major to heavily promote. You may disagree, but for me it's not a work thing.
So how do I plan and decide which days are gonna work for me? I simply choose the last two to three (depending on the month) days of the month to take that time off. I know for some people that wouldn't work, but I'm someone who when I have time off, I wanna know that all those little bits and pieces for the month that need doing, are already done, before I kick back and relax.
Sometimes I'll plan something for that day, like going out with the family to a theme park, or taking my time and snuggling up with kitties and a book. But the point of these days, for me anyway, is not to fill them with things that gotta be done. It's to let them be whatever day they're gonna be. If that's chilling in bed, great, if it's catching up on a Netflix show, also great, but the point is to not have that pressure to do anything, and sometimes when you plan to the extent that I do, having a lot of time to do nothing is the best feeling in the world.
I don't know if people know this about me, but I'm a very anxious person. I'm someone who needs to have a plan for most things, so unplugging, not having that plan, started off being very hard for me because I genuinely didn't feel like I had any right to sit and read, and not be doing something. People will talk about switching off and rest, and while rest means something different to disabled and chronically ill, it's really hard to go from being on the go with your plan and checkbox list, to having nothing to do, and planning on nothing. So it took time, a lot of time, for me to really be able to sink into that state every month around the same time, which I'm realising now is a plan of its own! But once I got there, it got easier each time.
I have friends who work regular 9-5 jobs, and they've said like, why don't you take the weekends off? You shouldn't have to work all the time. My answer always varies, but it's usually because I, as someone with chronic illnesses and disabilities, have such a small window in which I can work. I don't like to waste it. I don't mean that I therefore push myself to breaking point, but I make the most of the days when I can manage to get things done, and make it work for me.
So remember that down time isn't optional, and even if it takes you time to get used to it, keep going with it. Your body will thank you later.
Any questions? Lemme know in the comments!
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