My husband’s grandmother often talks about the time when she had five children to take care of. She would be busy with her kids all day, and although she knew she should go to bed when they did, she would sit up and read for a few hours to unwind and have a chance to do something for herself. Her husband preferred to get the few extra hours of sleep, but Grandma needed that time to recharge.
I’m not an at-home mom, but I feel the same way. I recently purchased a business, which is currently taking up a lot of my time, plus I take care of my house, feed my husband and myself, and arrange our social life. At the end of the day, I need a little time to relax, unwind, and just to be one with my thoughts. I typically knit or crochet for a few hours, then go to bed and read for about 20 minutes.
Many people are much busier than I am – they work and have kids, too. For some people, snagging a half hour to craft on a weekly basis is akin to magic. I completely understand! But, I also understand that one of two other things is happening: you are either burning the candle at both ends, or you are unwinding in another way. The latter option is good. The former one, not so good.
Taking the time to craft – or, really, to unwind in any way – is ridiculously important! Calming down before bedtime means that you actually spend time sleeping instead of lying there awake with your mind churning over the events and problems of the day. You also have increased endorphins from the proud completion of a project, which helps increase your mood. Plus, you have a meditative experience, which helps you balance out your feelings during stressful times. And then, at the end, you have an item you can actually use. There is literally no downside to crafting.
“But I don’t have time to craft!” you might say. I say, you have the time for anything that you make a priority. One of my past bosses made her job a priority; she rarely found more than an hour a day to spend time with her family, leaving her husband to do most of the child rearing, which he loved and it worked for them. But then, their child got sick, and she had me cancel her appointments that day so she could take her son to the doctor and spend time cuddling with him while he rested. She made it a priority. Then, the next week when she had caught what her son had, she didn’t bother taking any time off. Her well-being wasn’t as important to her, and as a result she was ill for far longer than her child was and she got me sick, too. We don’t just have to make time for emergencies, but for a little bit of daily relax time we can wriggle into our schedule.
For example, do you spend time in the evening watching TV? You can knit while you do that. Do you spend some time reading? How about switching to audio books so that you can crochet? Do you go for a daily walk? Maybe after you stretch instead of sitting there recovering, you add a few trees to your painting? We are rarely as strapped for time as we think we are.
I mean, do you really spend a full 18 hours a day working? I get it; I own my own business and I know the rabbit hole of time that I can go down. But, at some point when you are exhausted and you are working but not being productive, you need to stop. There are very few things that have to get done right this minute, and there comes a point where you can stop and pick back up the next day. Not everything is an emergency; you just have to choose your priorities wisely.
Phoenix Gate Crafts 