Recreation time helps us replenish and recharge. If your energy reserves are drained to the point of being depleted, what can you realistically expect to accomplish next? Running on empty is never a good thing and if you keep on pushing yourself, something is likely to give – it could be your health. Here are some things to keep in mind as you strive for more balance and facilitate time for recreation:
• Schedule in leisure time for yourself…. and then remain committed to it. Don’t allow it to be the first thing you cancel when you feel time pressured.
• Pace yourself. When you are feeling motivated and energised harness that energy to get done what needs to be done. When you are feeling tired and listless, take a break.
• Get in touch with what helps you relax and then do it… regularly. Nobody else is going to do this for you.
• Do something you enjoy every day, even if it is just for a few short minutes.
• Learn what it means to let go and them let go of what you can and should. Seek professional help if this is too diificult to do alone.
• Make sure you are getting enough restorative sleep. Sleep is one of the most critical ways of reenergising and recharging. There is a reason why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture…
• Remember that if it is important to you, you should be making time for it.
• Use some of your recreation time to be active. Exercise is extremely beneficial in combatting stress.
• When last did you have fun? Do you even know what fun is anymore? Learn from children – they have fun regularly, without thought and with abandon. They laugh with ease. Get in touch again with what makes you laugh and what is fun – and then do those things. Regularly.
• Take your lunch break. Take your annual leave. They are legislated for a reason and there is no reward or prize for ignoring them.
Bronwen Oberholzer
BA(Ed) BA(Hons)Med(EdPsych)