The days seem to pass faster than I can say, “What day is it today?” Some days I feel like there’s no way to keep up with the pace of time – that life is on fast forward!

To help break up the day, plan 3 key times of your day that you are thoroughly excited about. My suggestion is to make it first thing in the morning, just after lunch, then have the last one when you finally get a moment to yourself at bedtime.

When you have something to look forward to in your day, the day seems to go by at a more manageable pace. Have you noticed that? There’s something about the anticipation of an exciting moment in the day that really seems to slow life down just a bit.

When you use time in the very beginning of your day to do something for yourself, your day just seems to be easier to deal with. The stress of the morning never seems quite as impossible to deal with when you have already done something for yourself.

Then, having something fun to look forward to in the afternoon means that those meetings that drag on through the morning are easier to get through. If you’re a stay at home mom and have young napping kids, you know you will get that little tiny bit of time to yourself. If your kids are school-aged, it helps to get through some of those pesky chores when you know you have something fun to do in the afternoon.

Finally, having something to be excited about at bedtime (when you get another moment all by yourself) it makes it easier to get through the witching hours or the extracurricular chaos!

Setting up these three little breaks through your day can be all you need to steal some time to really appreciate the days as they pass by, rather than getting to the end of the week and wondering where your time went.

These little breaks are created and chosen by you! Pick something that you are actually really excited to do. It’s not about productivity or planning. These breaks are supposed to be an actual step away to do something you love! I would also encourage you to pick something that is not on a screen! Whether that’s your phone, iPad, or computer. Get off the screen and do something where you’re not tethered to the internet! As an added mood booster for your break, find something you can do outside!

Pick your break based on times that actually work with your schedule. If you have a young baby and that baby is the reason you wake up in the morning, make your break time a time after you have fed and changed the baby! There is no sense in planning a break time that will be interrupted as a guarantee! If you are working and have meetings most days, plan a break time window. Maybe some time between 1:30-3:00 you can have a 15 minute break to do the thing you really want to do. At the end of the day, especially if you tend to be exhausted when it’s finally your bedtime, maybe have your break right after dinner. Use some time if the kids are doing their homework or busy with dad instead of you and take your break when you can.

The key is to pick something you really love! It’s hard to find something like that sometimes, but just dig down and do some soul searching. Pay attention to your own body as you brainstorm what ideas you could do. Add a star beside anything that makes you say, “Oooh! I could do that!”

Use your first break time to figure out what it is you could do at the next break. It will suddenly spiral, and your brain will take off with a multitude of ideas!

Take time to enjoy non-screen breaks through the day to get you through your week!

Thanks for coming home!