About a year ago, I was in a bad place personally. I was stressed with school. I had just been through an unpleasant break up. Work was busy. One thing was piling on top of the other. In an attempt to make myself feel better, I began working out and eating better. But even as I was getting healthier, my emotions were sinking lower and lower.

Going to the gym and being healthier was affecting my schedule. Because of this, I began to only have time to go to class, go to work, do homework, go to the gym, more homework, and then go to bed. Other than occasionally spending time with friends, I did nothing else but school and work.

Because of my own limited time, I gave up on all the things I loved to do for fun. My hobbies include writing, reading, and crocheting. I wasn’t doing any of them. I felt that I didn’t have time for any of them because I would get so swept up in them. It seemed like a better idea to put them to the side for the time being and focus on the things that would improve myself instead of what I just did for fun.

Because of that decision, I began to make myself depressed. I never did anything I loved anymore, nothing that was just for me to purely enjoy. I like what I study in school, but it’s not necessarily fun all the time. I love both of my jobs, but work was wearing me out. Some people may like working out, but I don’t really. I don’t even like sleeping, if I could get away with never sleeping, I would. Basically, I was making myself miserable.

At the time, my hobbies seemed pointless. They seemed like such a small part of my life, like if anything should be pushed away, it was those. But as my spiraling emotions told me, this wasn’t a good idea.

The shift came on a late night when I came home from work. I needed to go to the gym. I needed to do homework. But, I just couldn’t. So, I sat down and turned on Netflix. After about 20 minutes, I grabbed a book that I had been wanting to read. By the time I was ready for bed, I had read half the book.

Over the next few weeks, I began working in time for my different hobbies. Even if the only time I could read was while eating lunch in between classes I let myself have the time. Sometimes I only crocheted for 10 minutes before I went to bed at midnight. But I noticed an almost immediate change in my mood. I was having fun more often and I wasn’t as tired all the time. I was able to focus better during the times that I needed to do work.

Allowing yourself to do the things you love and enjoy is so important. Never doing anything for yourself and only working all the time will cause burnout. The more you wear yourself out, the less productive you become. Even if in the moment you feel like not taking a quick break or not going for a quick run or not reading that one chapter, remember that after a while all of those missed moments will add up.

So, remember to take a little time for yourself every once in a while. If you like writing, set aside 30 minutes a day to write. If you enjoy painting, make time for it. Whatever it is you like to do, don’t give it up just because you are stressed or busy. Make everything else fit in around what you love and take some time for yourself.