Twenty-four hours is a lot of time. Yet each day often races by. Whether it’s school and extracurriculars, work and family, church and cooking, parties, walks, or something else, there are always activities that take up the day. Of course, busyness isn’t bad if it’s linked to productivity. But even then, if you’re not careful, your individual responsibilities can lead you to deprioritize your alone time.
So, be careful. Your alone time is valuable and should be prioritized as such. After all, consistent alone time can generate positive results for you and others in both the short- and long-term.
Prioritizing your alone time benefits more than just you
Just like a kettle (because in my household, we drink tea), you can’t pour unless you’ve been poured into. Further, you can only pour out so much before you’re emptied and need refilling. I know, it’s not a novel analogy—I expect you’ve seen something similar across social media at least a dozen times—but that doesn’t make it any less true.
There will always be people and things to pour into. If not school then your family, if not your family then your friends, if not your friends then your job, and so on and so forth. It never ends. There’s always something else you can spend your time on. There’s always something else worthy of your time. But pouring out and never refilling isn’t sustainable.
And alone time is a way to refill.
Alone time can be however long or short you need it to be. Extroverts don’t have to set aside hours and introverts don’t have to limit themselves to five minutes. Additionally, alone time can be more than you sitting alone with your thoughts. You can play a video game, watch your favorite movie, read a book. You could even gameplan your next career and life steps, setting short-term goals and long-term goals to pursue as you strive for a better future. Do whatever it is that helps you reset and go forward. And do it however long you need to do it. By yourself.
Keep living life. But as you balance your responsibilities, remember to prioritize yourself during the workweek. Prioritize your alone time. Future you will be glad you did, and they probably won’t be the only one to thank you for it.
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