Taking a Break

Recently I was faced with the prospect of having a night all to myself. It’s not that I don’t love spending time with Friends and Family, but more that I do love a bit of me time but am often confronted with how to exactly spend this time. During this rare time I feel like I should be productive, clean, tidy up that sort of thing. The only thing was, this one particular evening I really didn’t feel like being productive. I just didn’t want to do anything.

What is it with our own expectations of ourselves these days that we always feel like we have to be doing something all the time? If we take some time to read a book, watch a movie on Netflix or binge watch a television series we feel like we are being lazy and wasting time. This really got me thinking that why can’t I just watch a few episodes of Dance Moms when I have a night on my own, when dinner is already cooked without feeling guilty? For some reason I feel like doing this is a waste of time. I’m not sure if that’s because of expectations or impressions I’ve got from society in general or if it’s because of a realisation I’ve come to on my own.

So, why can’t I watch a few episodes of something without guilt? Whenever I sit down to something just to watch, without doing anything else at the same time I always feel like I should be doing something else as well- in order to be productive. It’s like all of a sudden I have a list of things running through my mind at high speed of all the things I could be doing. What’s the opportunity cost of me having a rest and not doing anything else? It means that a blog post won’t get written, the laundry won’t get put away or my desk won’t be organised.

Maybe I expect myself to be perfect and organised all the time. It’s in my nature to have a list and be checking things off. But life’s short and at the end of the day what does it matter if something is delayed until tomorrow every now and then? My life won’t fall apart nor will things come to a complete standstill.

Sometimes it’s important to rest and relax, our bodies need time to recover from our hectic lives- and so do our minds. There are occasions when I find there’s nothing like some mindless television to curb the stress levels. It’s just like going for a walk, or writing or painting my nails. It all depends what sort of mood I’m in. But there’s a time and a place for a bit of everything, like they say everything in moderation.

Do you ever feel guilty for taking a break? For doing nothing? What relived your stress?