After a married man drives home, he needs to sit in his car for half an hour. Everyone has heard that this time for men has created a stereotype for everyone. In fact, the need to be alone regardless of gender, the American Psychological Association (APA) survey found that women’s anxiety rate is on average 25% higher than that of men. Whether in the workplace or at home, women are always easier to worry about and bear greater pressure than men. Therefore, women need to find their own Me Time apart from work and family chores.
How busy are women? Hong Kong women say that even 3 minutes and 30 seconds Me Time is useful!
An organization has interviewed thousands of women living in Hong Kong and found that nearly ninety of them have less than half an hour private time a day. In the survey, 52.2% of people are “dual-time” women who need to take care of work and family. They work up to 13 hours a day, and more than 82% of the respondents feel that they are under heavy pressure. In this context, the local area began to promote a “dayday330” campaign, encouraging everyone to spend at least 3 minutes and 30 seconds every day for a “micro break” (micro break) to relieve emotions.
Is 3 minutes and 30 seconds too little? In fact, this is just a bottom line. Everyone can squeeze out this time, which helps everyone develop the habit of taking a small break every day.
At this time, there are many things that can be done, such as looking at the sky in the window, doing simple breathing exercises, listening to a favorite song… You can enjoy this time at once, or you can try different things several times. “Small rest plan”, the point is to formally give yourself a promise to take at least 3 minutes and 30 seconds every day to take care of your body, mind, and soul.
Me Time, and what it creates…
Me Time can be self-relaxation or a source of creativity. The psychological picture book “I’m Tired, Come and Hug” from Finland can be regarded as the product of Me Time by the two authors to some extent.
On the cover, the big bear and the lion hugged tightly, which seemed to be healed. Illustrator Matti and psychotherapist Antti have known each other for many years. After finishing their work, they often gather in a coffee shop to talk about recent experiences or stories they heard. The collision of inspiration in the chat turned into a work depicting small problems in human hearts with black and white animal illustrations. Each illustration comes from the careful chewing of life’s big and small things.
In an interview, a reporter asked: “If you want to inject a kind of energy into the hearts of modern people, what do you want to give to everyone?” Matti replied: “What everyone needs is blank time and space. Creativity is from a blank sheet. It starts with paper, and it is scheduled for a period of time, do nothing, just
let it go.” We can also give ourselves some time to spare and wait for inspiration in life.
The “commuting time” you often complain about can also become Me Time
Who hasn’t complained about the daily commute time? But this year’s job search website Indeed.com surveyed more than 800 people working from home due to the epidemic in the United States and found that more than half of the interviewees missed commuting.
Respondents living in New York said that she used to complain about the one-hour commute every day, but after working from home, she unexpectedly began to miss the journey to and from work. Telecommuting at home seems to save you from going out, but the seamless connection between work and housework makes people even more tiring. In the past, the time to travel between home and work was entirely hers. The long commute gave her a sense of shelter. She missed the time of sitting in the car while having breakfast and listening to audiobooks.
The journey to and from work actually gives people a psychological buffer and plays an important role in human psychology. The global average commute time to work is 38 minutes, don’t waste it, turn it into your exclusive personal time.
In recent years, the term Me Time has become popular around the world. The reason why it is frequently mentioned is that in their busy lives, women increasingly need a period of time to be exclusive to themselves and not to be disturbed by work and family. In this issue, we will focus on women who enjoy the moment of being alone. Among them are 20+ single girls who just want to work two hours a day, 30+ office workers who like to go to the theater to relax as a new mother, and some who work hard to move in order to gain personal space. 40+ second-born mothers, 50+ vigorous aunts who fall in love with sweet pet novels… To steal as much solitary time as possible in life is their general psychological need.
Seeing their stories, you will find that what they really choose is not “entertainment” or “doing nothing”, but a bit of comfort that happens to come in a tired life, which is to free the physical body from the burden of reality. The beautiful expectation that makes the soul lighter.
