Does anyone else struggle with taking "Me Time" ?

lessismoreohio
lessismoreohio Posts: 910 Member
edited November 16 in Motivation and Support
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" ?
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Replies

  • wolfsbayne
    wolfsbayne Posts: 3,116 Member
    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
    Roxiegirl2008 Posts: 756 Member
    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.
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
    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.
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
    "Me" time is when I am at home, alone, and I get to do absolutely nothing while not having to worry about going to the gym, or reporting to anyone.

    Since I work full time + OT every week, have a girlfriend who lives with me, and a daughter 300 miles away who I go to see every other weekend, it has been about three months since I had my last bit of "me" time.

    This coming weekend will FINALLY offer me eight hours of me-time each day.

    I. Cannot. Wait.
  • Angelfire365
    Angelfire365 Posts: 803 Member
    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. :-(
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    giving myself "me time" allows me to be better at giving others my time.
  • briebee7
    briebee7 Posts: 224 Member
    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.
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
    briebee7 wrote: »
    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.

    I would love to do mine in the morning but I have such a hard time getting up early enough to do it...I always tell myself I'm going to do it and I set my alarm for like 6am and then 6 rolls around and I wake up and go "F It" and go back to sleep.

  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    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.
  • salad_bar
    salad_bar Posts: 66 Member
    Absolutely. However, I recently made the decision to make this my #1 priority.

    I'm sort of a loner to begin with. I just always enjoyed spending time by myself. I enjoy going out by myself, I enjoy working out by myself, I just enjoy being by myself.

    Feel free to add me as a friend. I can totally offer support because I've been through the same thing before. Being a people pleaser left me completely drained. Taking time for myself left me with guilt. It has taken a lot of courage and strength just to say, "sorry, I do not want to go/do this/do that/be there/participate/etc."
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    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

    9285851.png
  • Babygi6003
    Babygi6003 Posts: 356 Member
    My "me" time is in the mornings before work when I do T25 and then for an hour after work at the gym.
  • jeichelb83
    jeichelb83 Posts: 172 Member
    I get cranky without my "me time".
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    It was harder when my son was little. He's ten now. I drop him off at boxing and then I hit the gym. No problem.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    I used to frame it this way. :"This is what I do to set an example to my children of how to take care of themselves" so its not really me time its...lesson time for my kids,.lol
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    In the beginning I did but my husband encouraged me to take it so I got over it. I still try to plan my workouts in a way that doesn't detract too much from family time. My daughter is getting a bit older though so I can take some me time while she is doing something by herself or with a friend. That makes things much easier.
  • musicandarts
    musicandarts Posts: 187 Member
    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
  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,153 Member
    What makes everyone else more important? Do they think they are more important than you are? If someone has an issue with your "me" time for exercise/health then there are other issues to address. Everyone deserves "me" time. I don't feel a bit guilty about it - and in turn, if someone else needs their own ....he/she (whomever) is free to take it. If it's a case of neglecting your tasks as a parent/spouse, that's a different story as well.

  • Ibknute
    Ibknute Posts: 43 Member
    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.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Think of it like this:
    You're not really doing anyone a favor by not taking care of yourself. The best thing you can do for the people around you is to give them the best self you can.
  • denversillygoose
    denversillygoose Posts: 708 Member
    Nope. I work my *kitten* off for my family. They can deal.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited April 2015
    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

    That's a good point. I pay someone to come in twice a month to clean my house. Takes a very large load off my plate (and creates some serious happiness). I pay her $20 an hour and since I make more than that, it makes sense to pay someone else to do it.
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
    i still struggle to squeeze in me time but I'm getting better at it. when i do get me time i certainly don't feel guilty.
    everyone that has a relationship with you i.e. kids, spouse, siblings, parents, etc. always always benefit from you taking care of yourself first.
  • Moxie42
    Moxie42 Posts: 1,400 Member
    Omg I know exactly what you mean. I finally sat down with my husband and had a talk about it. I told him exactly how I felt- stretched too thin, guilty about never being "caught up," yet desperately needing time for myself to just enjoy. Things hadn't been easy for us and I knew a lot of it had to do with feeling burnt out and feeling like I had no life of my own. He was actually very supportive once I explained how I felt- before we talked about it, he didn't understand how important it was to have that time, and how it was affecting me emotionally and impacting our relationship as a result. Now I take time to do some things just for myself (meeting a friend for happy hour once in a while, spending an hour watching a favorite TV show while knitting, reading before bed, etc.) and it's really helped me maintain a life-work (including house-work) balance, and it helped our relationship, and it also helped prevent me from falling off the "healthy wagon" because I wasn't burning out and giving up after a month. I also found things that he and I could to together that were enjoyable but also productive such as gardening, which can also be good exercise, hiking, and going for walks together with the dogs.
  • MisterZ33
    MisterZ33 Posts: 567 Member
    i have me time in the washroom until one of my kids knocks on the door...
  • DaniDani82
    DaniDani82 Posts: 15 Member
    I feel really guilty as it is having to sleep during the day(work 3rds), so I work out at home or outside with the kids. It is tough!
  • dawnmcneil10
    dawnmcneil10 Posts: 638 Member
    I used to feel guilty for taking me time. I also felt guilty if I did get to the gym but only had 30 minutes because then I felt I was cheating myself. That was about the time I started thinking what I could do at home during that 30 minutes I could be on the elliptical and the decision was made for an elliptical at home, gym membership cancelled. I now know I can run the washer and get in a workout on the elliptical at the same time. I can toss dinner in the oven to bake and do yoga for 30 minutes. Heck I've even been known to start the grill (while hubby is home) run a mile loop, toss food on grill, run another loop, flip food on grill, run another loop and then poof dinner is ready and I got in a workout.

    I really think you have to find your own balance, some people get more me time than I'd know what to do with yet they feel they don't get enough of it. Others think they never have me time but don't realize they do however they don't use it in a way that they feel rewarded.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Of course we ALL struggle with me time. I try to get mine in first thing in the morning before the rest of the world comes pouring in with demands. Whether it is working out, meditating or just having a cup of coffee while watching the sun rise, I need my "me time" to be a better me.
  • DearestWinter
    DearestWinter Posts: 595 Member
    Ha. I struggle with not making all time "me time". Opposite problem although I think the key is to realize that balance is important. Now if only I could follow my own advice.
  • lessismoreohio
    lessismoreohio Posts: 910 Member
    Great insight; thank you all. Balance is the key I believe.
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