by Lynne Richardson, Dean, UMW College of Business
We are entering one of the most stressful times of the year. As women, many of us have more balls in the air than the men in our lives do. We work outside the home (well, we did before Covid!), we are the primary housekeepers at home, we volunteers in our community, and we may have a spouse/partner and children at home. Some of us are part of the sandwich generation and have aging parents to care for. Add the holidays on top of our regular life and it’s no wonder we’re frazzled and worn out. We shop for gifts, bake yummy treats, prepare for holiday meals, and decorate our homes. It’s enough to make us throw up our hands and scream!
So during what can be the busiest time of the year, let’s pledge to take time for ourselves. Maybe it is fifteen minutes a day, but carve out that time to do something just for YOU. Maybe you get up a few minutes early, grab some coffee, and just sit and look out the window for fifteen minutes. Perhaps you read a meditation. Maybe you’re a bit more energetic and take a walk or practice yoga. Some of you are readers; pledge to read fifteen minutes before bed each evening. I know we have some Netflix junkies. Instead of binge watching a show, schedule time to watch one show per day (either early in the morning or in the evening).
When our gas tank in our car gets to empty, what do we do? We fill up the tank.
As women, we need to fill our tanks so that we can do all of the things we need to do. Because if we let our tanks get empty, we have nothing left to give.
So make yourself a priority this month! Hopefully this new habit of prioritizing YOU will carry over into 2021… because life isn’t going to slow down anytime soon.
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