Do this one thing if you want more time for you

I was overloaded, stressed to the max and on the edge of burn out and yet I kept on saying yes.

To doing the job of a colleague going on maternity leave, in addition to, not instead of the 2 people’s jobs I was already doing, to more and more local events where I could selling jewellery as my side hustle, to every social event under the sun even when I really just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.

I was scared, you see that if I wasn’t working hard I would be labelled lazy or not good enough. As a child of the 80’s and 90’s the women around me were ALWAYS working. Some of them outside of the home, all of them inside the home, but always working to fulfill the needs of others. I didn’t have anyone who modelled taking time for them to do something THEY wanted to do.

So even when I was on my knees with exhaustion and my boss asked for a word at work. My mind would immediate spiral, telling me that I wasn’t working hard enough and that I just needed to push myself more. That’s what we were told wasn’t it? Work hard and you’ll have everything you want.

What a crock of shit.

For a start I didn’t even know what I wanted, my mind too influenced by the opinions of others, my judgement too clouded with worry about what others might think of me.

But secondly the only thing I ended up with by pushing myself near constantly, was burn out. Definitely not something I wanted.

It was only then that I let myself actually do it.

Actually give myself permission to say no and instead to rest, to do things that bought me joy just because I loved them, not because they were considered productive.

So now it’s your turn to give yourself permission to do something you want, before you get to the state I was in. Please, I implore you make that change today.

You know that connecting with Nature and spending more time in your garden is on your list of joy inducing things to do, but you’re worried that you don’t know what to actually do out there.

I got you. A paid subscription will ensure mindful gardening activities drop into your inbox weekly, so you can stop overthinking and just get your hands in the soil. You can upgrade below.