Slowing down for the winter months in an RV or sticks and bricks home just feels right. It’s the time of the year to spend more time with family and be present and available to soak up the things we love in life. One of the gifts of RV life has been the ability to welcome in seasons of slow all the time. I touch on this often when I write and that is the gift of time. How in prioritizing our daily tasks we can open time for the things and people that matter most.
I cannot even begin to tell you how often I’d say to my children “give me a minute” and I am not saying that has totally gone away in RV Life, but it has drastically reduced. The close proximity in space helps so much, we are able to spend more time together even during those everyday tasks such as cooking, cleaning and folding laundry.
How can you start to become more aware of how you are spending your time?
I don’t know about you but truly I never feel as if we have enough hours in the day to complete the things we want to do. An excellent way to create time is “prioritize” the things we want to accomplish and although that sounds easy to say, often it is very hard to accomplish.
Time blocking is not just for when you’re at work it’s also a great way to set priorities, limitations, and to let others know, you’ve blocked time for yourself or for them. One of the things we absolutely love to do as a family is to take time for ourselves, as well as time for each child one on one. Simple activities such as a walk together, a trip to the library, park or even a café for ice cream helps to build out the time we need and to nurture relationships.
We have found that by dedicating time in our calendar, we are more likely to follow through. By time blocking you give yourself a visual reminder of the time you have saved for an activity and often it’s that gentle nudge that we need to follow through.
Just Say No
Lastly, welcome in the word NO to your vocabulary. This is a tough one, but this is often one of the best ways to ensure that you’re creating time and space for the people and things you love. The more you say no the better you will become at it. RV Life can really throw curve balls at you when meeting new friends or only being in a place for a certain amount of time and that can make it hard, because you want to do all things! Setting boundaries has really helped us stay in routine as best as we can. I love to live by this one rule… if it is not a HECK YES! It’s simply a NO.
As we approach this holiday season, make sure you are doing all the things that fill you up and are not draining you. Embrace creating space for you and the ones you love, practice the art of saying no and above all else lean in to giving yourself a bit of grace.
With love,
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