Before we even begin this article, I want you to take you through a quick exercise.

Get a piece of paper and something to write with. Take out your cell phone or something that has a timer on it. Set the time to 45 seconds. Now once you hit “start” begin making a list of all of the things that you value. Everything that is important to you. And go!

Ok stop. Did you do this? (Smile). I sure hope so. This is a wonderful visual of what’s going on within your own experience. I have not walked in your shoes and I don’t live in your scrubs; we are all individuals.

So what’s on your list? Is your name or your health anywhere on your piece of paper? Did you write down (in my case) “Elizabeth” or “my health”? Where did you rank yourself? Are you in the top 10? The top 5? The top 3? Now I know I didn’t tell you to “list all of the things that you value in order of their importance”, but that was intentional.

Typically when we are given a time constraint and a task our minds quickly go to what usually comes up first for us. So even though I didn’t tell you to write down things in the order of their importance- since you were under the 45 second time crunch, you probably did.

Alright, so this is a quick exercise to assess what is really important to you, what you value. This list is a list of your priorities. When we start to think about time and “not having enough time” we are actually speaking out of turn.

WE have enough time. It’s just we tend to give it all away. We have time for ourselves. We just don’t typically use it that way.

We take care of work because if we don’t go to work we won’t get paid, we might get fired, and we need the money to pay our bills. We take care of family because we love them, we have to, we feel guilty if we don’t, and they need our attention. We take care of friends, siblings, aunts, uncles, adult parents, neighbors, and communities. We keep adding to the list the more and more we say “yes” to people. We take care of everyone but ourselves.

I’m not saying that we stop taking care of other people, go to work, or be helpful members of society. That would just be absurd. What I am suggesting is that we take a look at why, when, and how we can put ourselves at the top of our priority lists.

• Value you. When was the last time you told yourself you loved you? Say it aloud: “Elizabeth, I love you.” Sounds weird, right? We give, give, give to everyone else because we LOVE them, right? Do you love yourself? Do you admire and respect you? Do you appreciate your life?
• Useless giving. I’d bet 95%, probably even more, of us have flown before. And what do the flight attendants say EVERY single time before takeoff? Put your oxygen mask on your children or dependents before you put it on yourself. I know you’ve heard this before- but really hear it. Hear it for the first time! You will be no use to anyone else if you aren’t taking care of yourself first. You’ve got to give to you. You must move yourself to the top of your priority list.
• Let things go. Look back to the list you created at the start of this article. What on there is no longer needed? What can drop off? What can you let go of? A lot of times we “think” we need to be involved with something because it has become a part of our routine. But the reality is that part of our experience has passed. Where can you let go? What can you unload to leave more time for you?
• Selfish or not. Go ahead. Start being just a little bit more “self-interested”. No one is going to do it for you. And really it’s not- it isn’t selfish. It’s necessary. If you want to be around for all of those people on your priority list that you take care of; you’ve got to be healthy. Make and take time for you.

Where are your priorities? Do “things” take all of your time? How can you make more time for yourself by seeing you as number one?