I didn’t learn what “me time” was until my junior/senior year of high school. For those who don’t know what the MIRACULOUS “me time” is, let me tell you.

First off, imagine there’s bucket of water that represents your time and energy. You can give a scoop of water to others. Eventually, you will run out of water. This is not good!!! You need “water” for yourself.

Me time allows you to refill this bucket.

Me time allows you to refill this bucket.

Me time can consist of taking a nap, watching a Netflix show, having a spa night, or even working out.

The purpose, whatever you end up doing, is to spend time by yourself, doing something that relaxes you. The cool thing is, you can seriously do anything!Not everyone relaxes the same way, so find your own thing!

I am a firm believer in me time. The goal is to have time at least once a week to just spend time by myself to relax and refill my proverbial bucket. This usually ends up with me watching too much Netflix, but hey, I filled my bucket!!! Now, I wish I was smart enough to have come up with this idea of a bucket, but I actually learned it from my super smart dad. I’m not sure where he heard it (or if he made it up himself because he really is super smart).

The thing about me time is that how often or how you do it, if completely up to you. Being aware of how you are feeling and your stress level will save you from getting to the point where you have a breakdown. A simple way to keep track of how you are mentally doing is to see where your stress level is. If you aren’t too stressed, you’re doing OK. But if your stress level is high and you feel like you want to cry, you probably need some me time.It doesn’t have to be long.

Just give yourself a couple minutes to re-group and relax a bit.

Nothing is more important than taking care of your mental health. Work deadlines, friends, the gym, are all things that can wait. There is nothing more important than mental health and making sure you are OK. So please, take some time for yourself, because you are awesome.