Sometimes, you can be overextending yourself without even realizing it until someone else brings it to your attention. I had no idea that I was doing it until I had an appointment with my midwife today. We are actively working on preventing my blood pressure from going up during this pregnancy because that was an issue with my first pregnancy, and we are approaching the issue from a few different angles. I’m exercising regularly, I have made some dietary changes, and I have incorporated some vitamins and supplements into my daily routine.
Anyways, today she asked me to describe a typical day. As I went through what I do most days from morning till night, she began to look concerned. When I finished my description, she asked me whether I do anything to relax, or to relieve stress. Dumbfounded, I replied that I did not – was that something that it is important for me to do? She told me that even if I do all of the other things that I can do to manage blood pressure, I can still raise it quite high simply by doing too much and not taking time out for myself. Oops.
I explained that I do not have a lot of time to do things like work, and I have to try my best to use every moment of my time as efficiently as I can. I’m sure that this thought is shared by many home – based professionals. We try to squeeze in more work whenever we can, and we try to get as much done as we can during the time that we have available to work.
My appointment today reminded me that work time is very important, but it is only a part of the total picture of one’s entire life. Fortunately, the things that a person can do to relax and reduce stress are not things that are earth shatteringly complicated, nor are they overly time consuming. Some of the relaxation suggestions that I received are things like taking ten to twenty minutes to have a cup of tea and read a few pages of a good book, taking a nice bubble bath instead of a quick shower, and resting for even just ten to fifteen minutes at a time. These are things that can be very beneficial to my overall health, if I am able to incorporate even two or three of them into each day. That seems doable, and I have even realized that it is likely to make my work time more productive because I’ll be less “wound up” when I sit down to work. Writing is easier when one is relaxed instead of feeling hurried and “under the gun to get it done”.
If this sounds like you, don’t wait until other people notice that you are headed towards burning yourself out. Take a little time out for yourself a couple of times a day and see what kinds of changes you experience. I’ve only done a couple of little things today, but I’m excited to be at work and I’m feeling very good.
Photo by natas on morguefile.com.