Plenty of people find it difficult to get some time alone. We’re all busy with work, our home life, family, activities, and just life in general. It can be hard to find some time for yourself. But, more and more, I see that women and moms in particular, complain the most about getting some time for themselves – some ‘me’ time.

It seems that men either don’t require ‘me’ time as much as women do or they just don’t admit it. At any rate, it makes sense that parents are often the ones asking how they can get a little time alone and away from the everyday.

I thought about some of the ways that I manage to keep my sanity and balance out my life a little bit. Ok, well, maybe not my life, but my head at least.

7 Tips for Finding ‘Me’ Time

1. Take a break to goof around on the Internet. Whether it be a quick tour of your favorite social media networks or visiting your preferred blogs to read or just simply doing a bit of online shopping, you will be amazed how a few minutes online can easily give your brain a much needed break from reality.
2. Pretend you have to use the bathroom. I know this sounds crazy. Believe me, I do. However, when you’ve got too much going on and it seems like it’ll be a while before you can break from it, this may be a temporary solution. Just lock the bathroom door and give yourself 10 minutes of quiet. If you have a magazine rack in your bathroom or leave a book in there, you can even catch up on some of that reading you’ve been meaning to do. And sweetie…if you’re reading this…I never do this. Ever.
3. Take a shower. Or bath. Make it a LONG one. Don’t rush your shower. Take a few extra minutes to just let the warm water hit your back. Or spend a bit more time working the shampoo into your hair. If you can take a nice relaxing bubble bath, then even better!
4. Enforce bedtime. Make sure that your kids stick to their bedtime. I can’t tell you how much I love the 2-3 hours each night after my baby girl goes to sleep. Most of the time, I end up spending this time either working or watching some TV with my husband, but there’s times that I get those hours all to myself if I plan in advance.
5. Meditate. Pray. Reflect. Whatever you call it and however you do it, taking some time to think about things can do wonders for clearing your head of all the noise. You can easily do this while driving, cooking, or cleaning.
6. Exercise. Go for a 20 minute walk. Do a quick yoga routine. Or dance along to some music.
7. Go grocery shopping. It’s something that needs to be done anyway, isn’t it? Leave everyone else at home and go by yourself. You may even get the shopping done faster than normal (but not TOO fast, ok?).

These tips may not be glamorous. They may not include a night out on the town with your girls. But, they’re realistic and can offer some simple yet effective ways for you to feel like you’re getting a little ‘me’ time in for yourself. Also? I hope it’s obvious that if you have kids, you’ll clearly need to have someone supervising them when you’re getting your ‘me’ time. Especially if you’re locking yourself in the bathroom.

How do you find some time for yourself? What do you normally do with your ‘me’ time?