“Ain’t nobody got time for that!”
The phrase that really got thrown around back in 2012, thanks to Kimberly ‘Sweet Brown’ Wilkins still seems to ring true today. Yet, how often do we decide we don’t have time for something, without even looking to see what the benefits could be?
You see, in some ways, not doing some things due to perceived lack of time can actually be potentially harmful.
That, my friend, is something nobody got time for – poor health | stress | unhappiness – which can often be removed or at least improved by taking just a bit of time to intentionally address.
All of that leads to: How do we find the time to take a mini-vacation?
Life is busy. It is as simple as that. It isn’t going to change.
So, what needs to change?
My first suggestion is to make it a priority to take a mini-vacation. If something isn’t a priority – odds are, it won’t happen.
For those readers that are ‘spur of the moment’ planners, it may be a bit of a challenge for you to plan this, but please hear me out. You can take these suggestions and tweak them to fit what feels best to you.
Here are the factors to take into account:
- Do you have vacation / days off time available from work that you can use?
- How much financially can you allocate toward this mini-vacation?
- How many days would you like this to be?
- Who is going? Is this just you? You and your spouse / significant other / best friend? The family?
- Where (*reasonably) do you want to go?
- <I say reasonably, because a trip across the world would most likely take more than a few days.>
- Once you have determined how many days you would like it to be – you then need to determine how long it will take to get there and back & then decide if that is going to need to cut in to your time away, or be added to it.
Now that we have a general idea of where you want to go, who is going and for how long, as well as, if there is any time that can be used toward it – we have the ability to create a plan of action.
At this point, you may be asking yourself, hmmm – I thought she was going to help me figure out how to create the time for this mini-vacation? You are correct.
For those of you that have the time available, and just haven’t taken action on taking a mini-vacation, your time that I suggest saving is getting help planning. (read on about my friend Denise)
Remember that connection that I shared last week? Well, I wanted to make sure to add it again – my friend Denise is a travel agent, and she helped us all get the great deals that we did, plus she handled all of the searching, creating an itinerary, and booking for us – it took so much pressure off of me during such a difficult time! The greatest thing is – “All travel bookings have a travel agent fee built in.” – which means I didn’t pay any extra for Denise to book it, in fact – she found better deals than I would have! You see, ” When you book on your own you pay for a Travel agent and are given an 800# but not given personal service. Paying for a service you don’t use is leaving money on the table. Why not book with a travel agent who has your back?” Denise certainly had our backs, and I am so grateful that it was something I didn’t have to worry about – i just told her what I wanted, and she made it happen. So smooth. So simple. So helpful.
I asked Denise, and she said that she would love to help our bloggers out – so, here is her link – let her have your back for you too! http://mandmmagicaladventures.com/dblassingame.html Denise can help you with everything from vacation packages to simply renting a car or getting a hotel room. You can also email her at deniseb@mandmmagicaladventures.com (let her know that you read about her on our blog – I know she takes great care of all her clients, but maybe she can bless you with something special!)
For the rest of us that are trying to figure out how to carve out the time to go even if someone else handles the planning, here are some tips.
- Take a moment to look at your calendar and determine which week or weekend has the best odds of being able to be used? (For example – if month end at work is insane and people can’t take off even with a death certificate – don’t chose then!)
- Look at that week and see what could be moved to another spot?
- Look at that week and see if there is something that could actually be removed from the calendar (just this once, doesn’t have to be a permanent removal). Say for example there is a monthly Home Owners Association meeting that everyone expects you to attend. Is it something that you could miss just this once?
- Determine if someone else could handle whatever is scheduled that week for you, perhaps in exchange for you covering for them next time.
- It is best not to ‘take work with you’, as you seriously need this time away, but let’s say that everything hinges on one meeting that you just can’t miss. Is it possible to attend that meeting virtually?
You have read over those suggestions, and you still are thinking – but what about everything else? Ok, let’s visit that.
- Groceries need purchased for while you are gone. Great – Instacart and Shipt are two ways to cover that. Yes, you pay a bit more – but how much is your time worth? You can even just do grocery pick up and fit it in prior to leaving.
- House hold chores need handled. Think ahead and do something crazy like paper plates and plasticware a couple of days ahead to cut down on dishes. Purchase pre-cut veggies to simplify meal prep. Also, there is nothing wrong with looking in to the programs that send you your meals and you just prepare them.
- Do a social media and entertainment fast for a few days prior – it’s amazing how much of our time is sucked in to that, yet we don’t feel refreshed after being glued to the screens. See just how much time this frees up.
- Ask for help. Honestly, a lot of our family and friends wouldn’t mind helping out a bit – if we just asked, and if they just knew what we needed.
The truth is, after getting some time away to re-charge – people like us more! So, that means that not only are you doing your own mental health a favor, but theirs too!
One of the benefits that you may not even realize, is that when we have something that we are looking forward to, it energizes us. We actually will find that we are able to accomplish more than we normally can, just because we are on a higher frequency.
You may even find that prior to taking the mini-vacation, that you are already feeling better, which comes from looking forward to the time away.
Want to know something extra cool about this? Once you have done it, it simplifies it for doing it again! Your next mini-vacation will come together so much easier, because you can repeat what worked, and tweak what didn’t. Isn’t that fantastic?
Since Jorjia and I both believe so strongly in this, I am also going to step out and offer our assistance. If you have been reading these blogs and still haven’t been able to see how you can take your mini-vacation – reach out to us. We will hop on a zoom call and brainstorm with you to see if we can help you figure it out. Reach out to us at conquerwithhope@gmail.com
For the rest of you? We would absolutely LOVE to hear how your planning has gone and tell us how your mini-vacation goes!
We would love it if you would share with us any of your vacation tips – on money, time or how to – as I continue this series and hopefully inspire others to take vacation!
Sending Smiles across the miles, Ms Amy
Thank you so much for spending this time with us! We appreciate every read, like, subscribe, comment, and share!