lanablack

enchantedbyhiddles:

Oh gosh, dear anon. That is all an illusion. *hugs* That idea is as fake as instagram models living in perfect houses.

I don’t find as much time for hobbies as I’d love, I eat too much fast food and order food too often, because I rather play a video-game than cook, I should have cleaned my room days ago, I promise myself to call friends, but then put it off until the next day and the next, I spent evenings in bed wishing I’d do something productive, but then end up not doing anything but day-dreaming because I’m too tired. And I have to remind myself that all of this is okay.

The most important thing is to do what you really have to do and remember that everything else is a bonus. For me that means: I have to attend lectures, I have to do certain homeworks, I have to go to work. Everything else is a bonus.

I plan cinema-trips in a way that I can do them right after uni or work, so that I save an hour of driving through town, Same with shopping. I listen to podcasts or read on my way to work/uni/etc. (I also plan trips that they might take five minutes longer, but give me 20 minutes of reading time). I thought of watching movies on my phone, but that is annoying to me. This way I get to be relaxed, when I get home from uni or work as I already had a bit of “me”-time on the train.

Multi-tasking is an illusion as well. If I do something for uni I focus on that. No “just checking tumblr or twitter”, no movie as a background, just a bit of music and focus for one or two hours until a break.

I have to schedule everything important though. I hate to be that person. One great advice I got is that you have to have two or three things as hobbies that you treat as important as a work-meeting. Like maybe two TV shows or three hours on one evening that you schedule for videogames or reading. Just so that you always get that downtime – no matter what happens. And it works for me. I look forward to see it in my schedule, everyone else knows they shouldn’t bother me around that time, I feel happy afterwards and that I have accomplished something.

Everything else happens as it happens. I try to be disciplined about homework. Really do that early, so that I don’t feel guilty if I spend time with my hobbies. I also have to remember that I can’t do everything. I miss movies, I miss TV shows, I don’t read all the books, games are unfinished and the list of gifs I want to do grows longer by the day. That’s fine though. Trying not feeling guilty about not having enough time is important.

Downtime should never be a chore. Do what you like. If you spent a few hours and feel relaxed afterwards, they were well-spent. Even if you didn’t do anything.