The alarm goes off, it’s Matcha time! If you’re rested enough, maybe you fit in a little movement, but who are we kidding - today is just about making it to the end, not about you. Breakfast for the little ones is ready and it’s time to get the kids organised for the day. A quick shower and you are out the door with your takeaway PB toast. After school drop off, it’s straight to the office for a Super Greens + Reds at your desk. Sounding familiar? We thought so. We call this the Monday grind, and it’s a routine we are all too familiar with. If you find you are pouring from an empty cup, then this is the gentle reminder you’ve been waiting for. We are here to tell you that running on empty isn’t sustainable - and taking time for yourself means you’ll have a little extra in your cup to pour into others around you, your passion projects and the activities before & after work you just aren’t getting to.  

But who has the time? Well, if it’s always at the bottom of the list, chances are you’ll never find the time. But perhaps if self care is prioritised a little higher, you’ll start to carve out some ‘you time’ wherever you can. So step one to finding time for you is making it a priority. Now let’s talk about where we can squeeze that time in. Brushing up on time management skills can sound daunting, which is why we’ve enlisted some tools to help. Meet the time management matrix - sounds like a wacky science fiction movie right? While this kind of matrix may not involve Keanu Reeves, it’s very useful for laying out your commitments and assessing what you have time for.

The time management matrix consists of four quadrants. In the top left corner is Do It Now, these are the tasks that are important and urgent, such as urgent deadlines, tasks that need solving today, this is priority number one. In the top right corner on the same row is Schedule It, this is for important but not urgent matters. This quadrant consists of things like long-term planning. This is our favourite quadrant because the items that live within it are ‘future yous’ problem. On the bottom left half we have Delegate It, pop in here urgent matters that aren’t important, and maybe the kids or hubby can help out with this list? Lastly in the bottom right we have Avoid It, these are your classic time wasters, worrying about problems you are not in a position to fix or cannot fix - trivial activities. 

Let’s go ahead and schedule in 20 minutes with a cup of nourishing broth and your favourite book in Do It Now. The aim of the game here is to have one self care ritual a day in your Do It Now quadrant. Organising weekend activities can belong in Schedule It, and this can be chipped away at throughout the week. The dinner dishes can belong in Delegate It (thanks in advance for your help fam) and Christmas plans can probably stay in Avoid It for another few weeks, until it’s time to promote it to the Schedule It quadrant.

Recent stats have shown that 77% of people experience stress that affects their physical health and 73% of people have stress that impacts their mental health. One of the top causes and reasons behind stress was the inability to cope with responsibilities and tasks piling up at work and home. By finding some ‘you time,’ you are putting boundaries up that create less spillage of yourself and your time into areas that aren’t as fruitful. If you need a little help with re-establishing habits to fill your cup back up, here are some of our faves; a morning dip in the ocean, a journaling session, an afternoon run, a slow cooked meal and time spent with loved ones.