Does anyone else struggle with taking "Me Time" ?

My "me" time is the gym. I workout during my lunch break, so I don't struggle with it. I'm not taking time away from my kids...just my lunch and I'm fine with that.

Roxiegirl2008 wrote: »

Nope my "me time" is my running. I do that three days per week. I also have me time at the gym which I do the other four days per week. If I don't get my "me time" I am a beast.

I don't do the gym but when I was running that was my "me time" as well. I tend to be fairly introspective and i'm huge on music so having 30-60 minutes to just zone out on my headphones and think while I run worked out very well for me.

I have a hard time taking "me time". I feel justified in taking a few moments for myself, then I look at the house. . . . and something needs to be done. Or organized. Or fed. Argh. I have a hard time not feeling guilty. :-(

I used to feel really guilty about leaving my DH and kids to go out for a run (my "me time"). I have learned to get over that though. I figure that running makes me happier and healthier both mentally and physically which in turn makes me a better wife and mother.

I do however do most of running in the morning. Dh gets them up and fed while I am running and I am still back in time to finish getting them and myself ready for work/school/daycare etx.

Well... I work FT and we are just winding down from the busiest time of the year with 2 instead of the typical 3 people in my dept. I'm also a FT grad student. I have no kids (nor do I intend to have kids - don't have time, money, or patience for them), but I have pets and one of them has special healthcare needs. I do a lot of volunteering too. So I take "me" time when I can.

I live in a rural area and my gym is 1 hr. round trip, so I must have 2 hours in my schedule to work out for 1 hr. But it is warm enough outside now that I can walk/run outside and save a trip. If I won the lottery and never had to work again, I would have more "me" time than I have now. Otherwise, I take the little that I can get.

I'll add that I'm sympathetic to people who say they don't have time to work out 3-5 days per week. I get it... I've been there and I'm basically still there as far as going to the gym (6-10 hours per week, split up among several days in 2 hour intervals isn't in my schedule). There are some people who will tell you they had a really busy schedule and still did it, so you can too. I've yet to find anyone that had a busier schedule than mine as I was at the tail end of my undergrad studies. I was a FT student, worked a FT+ job (70 hr./wk+ at one point), had 2 PT jobs, did independent contractor jobs on the side, and yet I still put in more volunteer hours than 90% of other volunteers. But I also was not trying to lose weight or cared what I ate. When I ate, it was drive-through or convenience stores. And I could not have possibly added exercise to that... I barely had time to pee, much less exercise. Nor do I fault anyone who can honestly say, "I've looked at my schedule and I can't possibly find any more time to work out." I keep a schedule in Excel and I know where I can add stuff or move it around and where I can't. You are wrong if you haven't looked at that schedule and you think you can tell me that I can make time no matter what. It isn't always true. There are times when my schedule (in Excel) goes down to the minute. If things take less time than expected, I can maybe add something that takes time in the minutes. But if there are delays, then I have to skip something. I skip things more often than I add them in. There have been occasions where road conditions prevented a workout. A few times, I've been able to add in unscheduled workouts. Just do your best and be accountable to you. If you are not putting effort in to add a workout to your schedule, you are the one who will suffer for it.

lessismoreohio wrote: »

Wife, son, dog, job, parents, sisters, yard work, fix the car, etc. etc.

I sometimes feel guilty when I take the time to go to the gym; like I should be working on my "To Do" list or something. Deep down I know this isn't smart to feel this way.

Does anyone else struggle with taking "Me Time" ?

If there is no ME time, nothing else will get done. Guilt should only be felt if you're NOT also doing your TO DO list.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I get cranky without my "me time".

Are you taking on too many small tasks that are filling your plate? Why not delegate your work to other folks? Shed some of your possessions to make space for you?

https://hbr.org/2010/04/the-worth-your-time-test.html

It is difficult at times and not having supportive family and friends can make it even more so. I feel fortunate that is not the case for me. My wife and daughter (currently 15) both know how important it is to me, and to them, that I improve my health and fitness. If I don't, I may not be around nearly as long as I would like to be able to be supportive and encouraging to them as I would like to be and should be. Maybe this is a little morbid but you can't do anything on any "to do" list if you are in a box in the ground.

I am able to be the most consistent with my workouts by getting up early (4:45 to 5:00 am) most mornings and getting them done and be back home shortly after everyone else has gotten up. I know that doesn't work for everyone but it works for me and I feel much better about being able to get to everything else the day demands (work, errands, inside/outside work at home, attend events, etc.) without potentially feeling guilty about having to make a decision of me or them.

Another important aspect to this is planning. I find that if you put your exercise time as one of the items on the "to do" list, it is both easier to actually do it and others tend to support the idea more compared to just deciding at random times to exercise. You can become too rigid with trying to plan your time but I know from experience that at least a moderate amount of planning helps make everyone happy and more efficient.

The variety and uniqueness of life situations and circumstances makes it nearly impossible for there to be a single solution to your question. You are not alone in this feeling but you also are not alone in trying to make it better. Many great ideas have already been mentioned in this thread and I'm sure there are many more to come. I encourage you to take the feedback received and really sift through it to see what might work for you. Don't try to make too big of a change all at once and that easily leads to frustration and feelings of defeat which can end up putting you in a worse situation than before. Just like with losing weight, look for smaller gains and before you know it you can be in a much better place.