The Importance of Alone Time

Posted by Kimberly DeProspero in Blog Posts, Health and Happiness 14 Apr 2017

As a single mother of 2 boys for many years, time alone was a luxury I rarely afforded. I grabbed moments to myself like most of us do as women—sporadically and without ever really recharging.  I was on to the next project, the next meal, the next meeting.

 

I recently had the opportunity to attend a Yoga Retreat with 10 other women and it was a game-changer. I have never taken time alone away from work, scheduled travel, my husband, Hank, or my sons.  The time I invested in myself during this Yoga Retreat underscored my belief that being busy isn’t the same as being productive, and showed me new ways to create the quiet time I need in life to process, evaluate, change, and grow.

 

If I could go back and share something I’ve learned with my 30-and-40-something self, I would say this: spend more time alone.

 

Now, this isn’t wearing pajamas alone time I’m talking about.  It is intentional alone time.  The kind of structured, uninterrupted time that clears our headspace for thinking and planning.

 

How often do you have time alone for yourself?  What do you do during your alone time?

 

 

 

 

You don’t need a Yoga Retreat to gain clarity and focus, but you do need to find time to think and evaluate your life circumstances.  As a financial planner with over 25-years’ experience, I’ve learned that the way we feel about ourselves is often directly related to our financial health.  If we are out-of-sync with our spending habits and future planning, it impacts EVERYTHING.  However, it takes some dedicated time to sort out feelings about relationships, goals, and dreams before we can create a plan to act on them.

 

Regrets usually come from quick, emotionally-charged decisions made without thinking things through. Whether they are triggered by family members, coworkers, politicians, friends, or the guy at the gas station who looked at you wrong, you can pause, take a deep breath, and react to life from a place of balance.  After all, the only thing we can truly control is ourselves.

 

Do you set aside time for yourself to process things and make balanced decisions?

 

We are all busy.  Period.  It is up to each of us to carve out time for ourselves.  I know this seems easier said than done, but we cannot expect to grow if we don’t allow space to process, evaluate, and act accordingly.

 

My advice to the busy mom, overwhelmed caregiver, hurting divorcee, stressed out business-owner—to EVERY WOMAN—is this—the greatest gift you can give to yourself is alone time. It helps bring clarity to your confusion, and peace to your process.

 

Prioritize yourself today, you’re worth it!

 

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