The biggest fattest lie about taking time off

There's this myth that's circulating when it comes to time off, and it has to do with the idea that we need to earn it.

Like the list of things to-do — whether written by us or for us — is The Thing that we answer to when we want to take a break.

I call bullshit.

Because The List will never actually be done. The demands on your time, energy, and attention will not stop on their own. The belief that space for your Self will emerge when you've done enough is what has you running tirelessly very tiredly towards burnout.

Hustling to prove your work and earn your rest needs to stop.
And.
You are the one who has to say enough.

That's the story that's been playing in my head for the last couple days, because I know that I need a break. I also know that the little bitch in the back of my head is chanting "Just one more thing. One more to-do. You'll feel so much better if you just do one more thing."

But I've learned that she is full of it — I may feel a sense of accomplishment for checking one more thing off The List, but it's not going to fill me up in a last way, and it's not going to make me feel better in my Soul.

That's where I'm tired.

Six months of pandemic life are catching up to me, in spite of my regular Self-care practices. So today, I'm taking it up a notch and taking the whole day off.

(As soon as I finish writing this.)

That may not sound like a huge deal, but if you're parenting / preneuring / pandemicking / personal growthing, you know that "taking the whole day off" is easier said than done.

(To be honest, I can't even tell if writing + publishing this post counts as "work" and is "cheating" or "taking the day off wrong" but also — that's an example of the inner bitch raising her perfectionistic hand and I am not dedicating my bandwidth to that kind of spiral right now.)

The point is, I didn't accomplish all of the to-dos on my list this week.

And, I still deserve to take some time to myself.

To go for a walk without listening to a work-related podcast. To sit down and watch a show without also folding laundry. To take a nap at 10:30am because yes, I am going to schedule that into my day today.

It might mean that a couple of balls get dropped — like uploading a new blog post or replying to a few emails — but those balls won't break if they're dropped.

If I drop the ball on taking care of myself, however, I will eventually break. Because I'm human. (And so are you.)

So if you've been looking for permission to drop a couple balls so that you can keep the most important one going...this is it.