I think it's important to remind yourself every so often that it's okay to do nothing.
Today is my first day off from work in a while, and I had a long list of things I wanted to get done. I think I've done two of those things. If I'd known yesterday that I wouldn't get these things done I might have been annoyed, but today I'm perfectly happy to sit back and relax, having not earned it at all because here's the thing:
You don't have to "earn" the right to relax. You're allowed to relax just because you want to.
I often feel like I have to justify times when I don't get things done- I'm tired, I'm not feeling the best, etc. I do this to assuage the small (or sometimes not so small) amount of guilt I feel. I think that in a lot of ways, we're taught that you've had a "good" day if the list of things you can say you've achieved is long. Perhaps we should rethink this idea, and focus instead on quality over quantity.
To-do lists are great, and if the rush of satisfaction you get from completing one is what you'd like to have at the end of the day then, by all means, be the most productive person you can be! But don't feel like you always have to do that. Sometimes productivity is exactly what you need, and sometimes you need to just do nothing. Remember that you're allowed to feel just as good about yourself after a day of doing nothing- you don't need to validate your own happiness. You deserve to be happy just by being you- you don't have to be a productive person to earn it.
So today, instead of doing laundry and organising meetings, I'm sitting here with my new friend.
If I do one thing today, it will be to name her. And even then, I might leave it up to the people of Steemit! Any suggestions? As long as it begins with the letter H, I'm happy. At the moment, I'm thinking Henrietta. Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading, and remember to give yourself some time to chill out. Not because you've "earned" it, but because you deserve it- and trust me, you do.
