3 WAYS CREATIVITY CAN HELP WITH ME TIME

Our lives are busy and time is a constant but limited resource. However, this should never be an excuse for cancelling on the time we only spent with ourselves. It results in dropping the responsibility we have to take care of and develop ourselves in order to become better people every day.

When you board an airplane, flight attendees brief us to put on the oxygen mask first before helping others. It’s the same in life. Take care of yourself first. Only that way will you be able to help others.

But here’s the reality: instead of learning how to stop for once and process everything around us we tend to ignore and also forget how to switch off. We keep accumulating not only materialistic purchases but we also consume moments of entertainment and distraction. It seems easier to immerse ourselves in someone else’s story than processing what maybe has shaken us during the week. I know a couple of people who cannot be with themselves. I don’t refer to the time they spent alone but still with their phones or notebooks in the hand. One friend of mine told me she was sleeping and switching off at 9 pm already only to find her being active and online on Instagram still around midnight. That’s not switching off. Another phenomenon I’m observing with some London people is that they never stay home during the weekend. They fly out on Thursday or Friday night and return on Sunday evening allowing no time to settle down and make London to their home. I believe they all fear boredom to some point so that they chose distraction because it is so, so easy to get. It’s also more comfortable. They are either afraid of getting bored by themselves or they don’t want to confront themselves with the unpleasant feeling of processing the (maybe not so nice) stuff in their lives. It’s not easy to deal with your own thoughts. It’s tricky. No one can really help. But hey, I really believe it’s a crucial way to raise our self-awareness and grow as humans.

Deep down we already know that our human nature can’t deal with that level of constant distraction. We all need to make time to reflect and switch off properly because otherwise we will run out of energy, and even the extroverts among us will do so.

Psychologist say that alone time:

• helps us to distance us from our day to day routine

• reboots our brain

• improves concentration

• makes us more productive

• gives space for self-discovery

• helps with problem solving

• enhances our relationships (yes, it does!)

The big question is how do we take that time out and truly connect with ourselves without feeling guilty to neglect anyone or anything, without feeling too selfish?

My answer is creativity. Creativity is a way of living and not limited to the ability to express yourself artistically for instance.

Here are 3 things that can help you create more me time with a creative approach:

1. Stop being an adult, channel your inner child or teenager again. Ignore rules and regulations, exercise to break rules and feel okay with it. Be free. Be a freak. Be weird. Risk to be an outsider. Risk the confrontation. Learn to be okay with just being with yourself. No one needs to like you. You need to like and enjoy yourself. That’s really all you need. Be that nerd!

2. Try new ways to travel and connect with nature. Break your old travel habits and book a trip to a place you don’t know and a place you don’t anyone who’s living there. Ideally, you cannot speak the local language neither. Sounds lonely to you? Well challenge yourself then! Travelling to an unknown area, especially when it offers a lot of great nature works perfectly as a stress relief. You calm down and you are able to increase your self-awareness. And yes, do not look at your phone. Connect with the nature around you, take it in and acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. I’m sure you haven’t done that in ages.

3. Start an artistic project. It serve as a perfect excuse to be by yourself. You can easily say, ‘oh I have already made plans’ when your friends and peers want you to join them in the pub. You want to draw that painting? You want to create that cook book? You want to produce that song? You want to write your poem book? You want to launch your video game? You want to film that documentary. DO IT! It boosts your confidence and it frees you from the limited thinking you are usually surrounded by.

All in all, the barriers to proper me time are:
is it okay to take that time out for myself when I have to be performing in so many different social roles and responsibilities at the same time? It is okay to drop the ball here or there? Does it make me a worse person when I focus a little more on myself? No, it doesn’t. I’m not encouraging you to be a total egoistical person from now on. But I really hope you start thinking about how to make some me time for you on a regular basis. I swear it will make you a better social butterfly, a better networker, a better parent or friend.

Want to share your opinion? Leave a comment or feel free to contact me. I’m always happy to have a conversation with you.

Illustrations: I’ve created them with Procreate on the Apple iPad using the Apple pen.