I have always heard of the term “me time”, but I never really knew what it meant. Like, oh yes, me-time? I am with myself all the time. If anything, I would like a break from me.
The term “me time” is always tossed around as a term to promote mental health and a positive mindset but, to me at least, it feels like an overused term that everyone has forgotten the actual meaning of.
I do feel as though I now know what “me time” is, and boy, do I appreciate it more than anything. “Me time” is that time that you spend dancing with your headphones on in your room alone because you really like the song. Tt is the time that you take to watch the new show you are hooked on after a long day of classes. Even the time you take to paint your nails instead of tackling that pile of homework that you have already been on working for hours. It is any action you devote to yourself. Not understanding what time with myself was, is most likely why I did not have an appreciation for it. Now, I find myself staying up later than I intended to at night if I did not get my me time in during the day. It is that important.
Just counting little things out of the day, as something for you, makes the day feel like it was not all a busy blur. A busy blur that sometimes makes you feel like you never accomplished anything even though you worked so hard. It is almost like a little resistance to the days where you feel most run over and burnt-out, and for college students, this is easy.
So, when you start to count things for yourself, even the small things, “me time” makes it so that at least there was some aspect of self-respect and care in your day. Even if it is not time set aside specifically to do something you want, it still counts as me time.
An example of my “me time” would be when I listen to music in between my classes. Listening to my music as a buffer between my classes is my way of reconnecting with my positive mindset. Because let’s be honest, classes can have an overwhelming tone to them. But not if you remind yourself to separate some time out of your day for yourself to just be and do something you are drawn to, not that you have to do.
So, with this new definition I have provided you with of what “me time” is, I hope that you too will maybe try some me time.