An Easy Way to Prioritize Yourself During the Workweek

The workweek is taxing. Whether you’re a full-time student or a full-time worker, the standard 40-hour workweek often seems to take more than 40 hours (more than 80 if you’re balancing school and work full-time). And that’s before you consider the time spent with friends and family, on your side-hustle, or elsewhere. No one is without time-consuming commitments, especially during the workweek. But if you don’t prioritize yourself amidst the chaos, you could be in trouble.

Between giving your energy to your commitments and having commitments take your energy from you, the workweek is often a prolonged stretch of constant outpouring. That’s part of why nearly 9 in 10 Americans suffered from burnout last year. Always pouring out and never replenishing isn’t a recipe for success. It’s a recipe for depletion. 

What’s the solution? Making sure you prioritize yourself daily, not just on the weekends. And there’s an easy way to do so.

Prioritize yourself by doing something just for you

You don’t always have to deprioritize others to prioritize yourself. You don’t have to go to the spa instead of your friend’s event or sleep in instead of going to the office early. You can simply do something just for you—something that you enjoy that isn’t for others.

This distinction is a crucial one. After all, some of our favorite things can become a lot more stressful once other people enter the equation. Someone who enjoys cooking, for instance, may suddenly enjoy the activity a lot less when they haveto cook for their family or roommates, especially at the end of a long day. Similarly, someone who enjoys graphic design might not enjoy the work they have to do for a client nearly as much as the work they get to do for fun on their own time.

So, do something just for you. Be it for five minutes or multiple hours, be it going for a walk or binging a few episodes of your favorite television show, endeavor to do to do something you enjoy. Something that makes you happy. Prioritize yourself during the workweek by doing something that fills you up daily. It doesn’t have to be the same thing every day. But you should do something every day. 

Don’t only pour yourself out during the workweek. Prioritize yourself by doing something that gives you life. Replenish yourself. It’s the only way you can continue being your best, both for yourself and others. 

About the Author

J.P. Pressley

J.P. Pressley is a graduate of Lindenwood University’s MFA in Writing Program, a former college lecturer, and an all around storyteller working as an Editor at a marketing agency by day and as a Creative Writer and Filmmaker by night.

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