I had it planned perfectly: I had a few things to do, then an appointment at 1 pm and after that, I’d have two solid hours of rest before I had to pick up my son from school. Just enough time to watch a dvd, chill out and relax a bit. And I needed the rest, because it had been crazy busy the days before and I hadn’t slept well either.

But you know what happens to the best laid plans, right? It turns out the ‘few things’ were actually ‘a whole list of things’. By the time it was 11.30 I’d been working non stop and I hadn’t even had breakfast. Then my 1 pm appointment called to say he was running late…and he ended up showing up at 5.30. It wasn’t his fault, he’d been in a small accident and had to go to the hospital. But the result was that I’d been working and waiting all day, tired and stressed and frustrated.

And you know what never happened? Yeah, those two hours of rest.

Rest

So the day after, as soon as my husband and son left the house, I made myself a nice breakfast. I parked myself in front of the TV, enjoyed my tea and croissants and watched a dvd. It was a wonderful, relaxing two hours that gave me the energy for the rest of the day.

It’s a truth I need to keep myself reminding of: you need to take your rest first. If you don’t, life will happen and things will get in the way. It may seem crazy, starting the day with rest, but I know from experience that often it’s the only way I can make sure I actually get in my rest.

How do you plan your rest and down time? How do you make sure it actually happens without life getting in the way?