WHEN YOU FINALLY HAVE TIME FOR YOURSELF, BUT YOU DON'T REALLY KNOIW WHAT TO DO

All week, you find yourself thinking that you could really use a little time for yourself.

Then, finally, it happens.

A free afternoon. A couple of hours with nothing scheduled. A morning when nobody needs anything from you.

And what do you do?

Maybe you sort out that thing you’ve been putting off for days. Run an errand. Reply to a few messages. Pick up your phone “just for a minute.”

Or maybe you stop and realise that, actually, you’re not quite sure what you feel like doing.

And what do you do?

Maybe you sort out that thing you’ve been putting off for days. Run an errand. Reply to a few messages. Pick up your phone “just for a minute.”

Or maybe you stop and realise that, actually, you’re not quite sure what you feel like doing.

Having time doesn’t automatically mean knowing how to use it for ourselves

We’re very used to knowing what we have to do.

The list can be endless: work, home, children, groceries, appointments, phone calls, things to organise.

Much less often do we stop and ask ourselves:

“What do I actually feel like doing right now?”

And it doesn’t necessarily have to be something useful, healthy or productive.

It could be going for a walk. Or reading on the sofa.

Seeing a friend. Spending time alone.

Working out. Or doing absolutely nothing.

The point isn’t to find the “right” way to use that hour.

It’s noticing what would actually feel good for us in that moment.

Even time for ourselves can become something we feel we have to do well

Sometimes, we manage to turn even wellbeing into one more thing to get right.

If I have some free time, I should exercise.I should cook something healthy.I should go out.I should read instead of scrolling on my phone.

And so even a space that is supposed to be ours ends up being filled with more “shoulds.”

Maybe, every now and then, it’s worth leaving that space empty for a little longer.

Without deciding in advance how to make it useful.

And instead, starting with a much simpler question.

If you had two completely free hours tomorrow — nothing to catch up on and no one to answer to — would you know what you actually felt like doing?