August 13th, 2008
Your Turn: Time Out
When I was a teacher it soon became obvious that children who were unhappy were less able to learn. If a child was going through a trauma such as grieving or going through an unfriendly parental separation they would be unable to concentrate. Although this may seem blatantly obvious, it is often not obvious to those involved. For us as adults to be efficient at whatever we do, we also need to be happy. Consider for a moment anyone you have known who has been bullied. If it goes on for a while and is not dealt with, that person stops functioning well, stops believing in themselves and eventually becomes ineffective or breaks down.
We need to find ways to help us be happy and that can often mean time away from stressful jobs, busy families and never-ending chores. This space gives us time to breathe, reflect and assess what we are doing. In itself going to the gym can be someone’s “time out”. I once knew someone who went running and they did it, not for the physical exercise but for the mental freedom it gave them. For others they do their thinking while cooking or listening to music. Many gardeners enjoy the outdoors and their time to potter.
My new “time out” place is a garden room, where I go to write. (It may look quite big in the picture but actually it’s tiny. An estate agent once told me to make a building look bigger take the photograph from a corner view.) When I go there I can sit and listen to the birds, nobody can contact me by phone and I can avoid all the TV sports programmes my husband likes so much. One of my cats often comes and joins me and sits on the desk, which does distract me from writing, but when I come back to the real world I am refreshed and ready to go.
Your Turn
So where do you go and what do you do for “time out”? Does it help you sort out problems or just give you a breather and if you’re not managing any escaping moments, what could you do?
August 13th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I love the beach, and commune with the ocean whenever possible, but it’s a four-hour drive, so for my time-outs, I usually go with a bubble bath, a good book, and a glass of chilled chardonnay.
August 14th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I live at the base of the Rocky Mountains and nothing helps me refresh more than going for a light hike in the foothills. When I can get above the city and look down the front range of Colorado and out over the plains towards Denver all kinds of possibilities open.
I’m also there with Melissa…on all points!