As the spring an summer sun approaches, being outside becomes more and more of a daily activity. Walking downtown or to the park with friends can be a great time, however I’m a firm believer in the power of “me-time.” I’m not afraid to to the park alone.
As humans, we all need down time. We will go crazy if we’re constantly doing errands, work, or writing e-mails. We need that idle time to calm our minds and keep that creative juice, well, juice-ing. One of my favorite writers and Marketing professionals CC Chapman once said we must learn to idle well.
How we idle all depends on our personalities. Extroverts idle fine while being with others, it doesn’t tire them out too much being with others. However when introverts go out with others they’re exhausted when they come home because, even if this sounds horrible, social interaction tires them out.
No matter if we’re introverts or extroverts, the most valuable bonding time we need is with ourselves. If we don’t spend time independently, we’ll never learn to think independently. Part of “finding who we are” is spending time alone to just think, or not think. Do we order the same food and drink when we’re alone that we do when we’re with company? Do we possess the Mean Girls mentality while shopping? (“You wouldn’t buy something without having others plastics approve first, right?”) I’m almost the opposite when it comes to that. This sounds horrible, I know, but I mainly only trust magazines or Bloggers/Youtube Gurus for fashion advice. If I ask my friends if they like something and they don’t I’ll go ahead and buy it. I know what I like, and if I feel good and confident in it, I’m going to rock it. You’re shopping for yourselves, not your friends.
Picture from weheartit.com
That tangent aside, I just like to stress the important of taking drives by yourself just to drive, or taking a walk with only you and your headphones. Of course I absolutely love hanging out with my friends and family. If you’re close enough to someone, then hanging out with only them can feel like alone time.
Me time can be the most productive and soothing of the week. Try to fit in 5 minutes of absolute silence a day, and a bit of “me time” every week. Even going to Starbucks with a friend but you're both on your laptops can count. As a matter of fact, I'm doing that exaclty with my roommate right now. And no, G-Mail can not be your date. However Netflix can be, he’s way more cute than G-Mail.
PS -- working out the best me-time you can give yourself.
